Go Daddy Exec Chair & Founder Bob Parsons on Thursday announced that NASCAR driver Danica Patrick “will appear in both of the website domain provider's commercials during the Super Bowl,” according to John Marshall of the AP. The announcement resulted in “quelling speculation that the NASCAR star would have less of a role” in the company's advertising. Parsons said, "It was always fairly understood that Danica -- she's our spokesperson, has been in our successful Super Bowl advertising for the past." Patrick has been featured in the Super Bowl spots “since partnering with Go Daddy in 2007,” with her 10 Super Bowl ads being “more than any other celebrity.” But her appearance during the Super Bowl “came into doubt" last month when Go Daddy announced it had signed Deutsch, N.Y., to produce its two 30-second Super Bowl spots. Though Patrick is “still one of the most recognizable drivers in auto racing even after switching from IndyCar to NASCAR, her spot in last year's Super Bowl was ranked last out of 55 commercials by consumers in an online ad meter" conducted by USA Today and Facebook (AP, 11/8). Patrick said, "I definitely thought there was a chance I wouldn't be in them. It was a pleasant surprise that he announced I would be in both of them. I was thinking one. To hear two, it did surprise me a little bit" (LATIMES.com, 11/8).
SALUTE TO THE TROOPS: ESPN.com’s David Newton noted Go Daddy also announced it “would match up to $1 million in donations to the Semper Fi Fund, which benefits those injured while serving in the armed forces.” Patrick will carry the Semper Fi Fund logo “on the hood of her car" in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix Int'l Raceway (ESPN.com, 11/8).
