Driver thought commercial was funny, didn't mean to offend anyone
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Danica Patrick said Thursday she was "definitely disappointed" that a commercial for her sponsor, GoDaddy, did not air as planned during the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.
Patrick, appearing at the annual NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, was included in an ad that raised the hackles of animal rights activists, upset over a puppy being sold online. When GoDaddy board director Blake Irving decided to pull the commercial from the broadcast, it kept Patrick from padding her record of appearances in Super Bowl commercials (13).
"I wasn't in the Super Bowl for a commercial, but I was in a Super Bowl commercial," Patrick said. "It just didn't run."
Patrick also scuttled the notion that GoDaddy intentionally created a controversial commercial in order to draw attention to the company.
"GoDaddy had every intention to run that commercial, and I feel like I heard from a lot of people that it was choreographed and it was planned," Patrick said." I think that's so funny. We thought it was a really funny, slightly left-side joke, but it really was not intentional.
"So was I surprised? I don't think anything in this culture surprises me any more. People have opinions about everything, and especially when you get into that world of animal rights, tree rights or whatever rights. They all have an opinion."
The Arizona-based Internet domain registrar said when it withdrew the commercial that the puppy, named Buddy, came from a "reputable and loving breeder." But GoDaddy found one notable side benefit from filming the ad -- the company wound up adopting the commercial's star pooch with the job title of Chief Companion Officer.
"I think that Blake handled it as great as he could have," Patrick said of the company's board director. "I feel like he made the most of the moment and showed the character of GoDaddy and of himself and said fine, we're not here to rock the boat, we're not here to make people angry and we'll pull the commercial and run something else."
Though Patrick co-starred with Buddy, the dog she shares with boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still has her heart. The miniature Siberian Husky -- named Dallas Stenhouse, with just fewer than 4,500 followers on Twitter -- came from a breeder in Asheville, North Carolina, a fact that Patrick offered a faux apology for Thursday.
"I looked hard to find my dog online. Sorry. I did," she said. "I love my dog and I take great care of her. I was up at 1:45 in the morning taking her for a walk in the dark last night because she had to go out. She found a good home, so how bad can it really be? The Internet is a source for information. It was really hard to find a miniature Siberian Husky, but we found one."