Controversy has surrounded NASCAR’s female racer Danica Patrick since the beginning of her career. As the first and only female driver in NASCAR, Patrick has captivated fans from across the world. Many companies quickly jumped on their opportunity to use Patrick to appeal to a wider customer base. However, Patrick’s popular partnership with web-hosting company Go-Daddy.co has but clouded her position for the advancement of women in professional sports.
Go-Daddy.co has created some of the most controversial advertisements in history, using female sexuality to captivate television audiences. The commercials tout women in scandalous clothing exhibiting a multitude of sexual innuendos. The partnership with Patrick consistently targets sporting fans with NASCAR’s female driver as only an icon for sex. Patrick currently has twelve SuperBowl advertisement appearances, more than that of any other celebrity. She also has two appearances reserved for the 2014 SuperBowl through Go-Daddy.com.
NASCAR, the National Association of Spring Car Auto Racing, like other private sporting organizations, has much say in the way their athletes promote themselves. The controversy lies in whether or not NASCAR is allowing Patrick to promote herself in this way to increase the viewership and popularity of the organization.
In the link below, Patrick is quoted explaining that the prominent sexuality in the commercials aided in edging Go-Daddy.co into the spotlight to increase the company’s user base.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/danica-patrick-daddy-ads-emphasize-sexy-elements-winning-004049655–nascar.html
NASCAR’s allowance of Danica Patrick’s Go-Daddy.co promotions is an example of Social Exchange Theory by using the cost/benefit to consider whether or not to condone the organization’s athlete proceeding in such controversial advertisements. By keeping costs low through choosing not to highlight her presence as a sexual idol, NASCAR keeps the rewards high through the gain in popularity by allowing Patrick to continue to advertise in such a way.
Below is one of the most controversial ads by the web-hosting company involving Danica Patrick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ojgcjJOAJI