Since the controversy blew up around a video of GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons killing an elephant, the video has been edited heavily.
Should the video have been edited, removed, or left alone? Tell us what you think.
Parsons is still in the video, but gone are the series of stills of Parsons posing proudly with the elephant’s carcass (as pictured above). Also gone are various pieces of text and captions that appeared over the actual footage of the elephant being shot.
For example, the captions used to read, “Bob Parsons fires first,” then “Bob Parsons fires again. Both shots hit home. One bull is killed. The rest stampede out of the field unhurt.”
A caption that appears now, is, “The plan works. Only one bull is killed. The rest stampede out of the field unhurt.”
The video used to begin with the text, “Of everything I do this is the most rewarding. This video shows one typical night and day.”
That’s now gone.
Also gone is the incredibly bizarre use of the AC/DC song Hell’s Bells, which used to play over top of footage of the villagers slaughtering the elephant’s corpse.
Also gone are the close-ups of many of the villagers wearing GoDaddy hats.
This was all detailed when we initially covered the incident.
Parsons says he expected the backlash. He is quoted by a Fox channel in Phoenix as saying, “I kind of figured that this might happen. So be it, I’m not ashamed of what I did. All these people that are complaining that this shouldn’t happen, that these people who are starving to death otherwise shouldn’t eat these elephants, you probably see them driving through at McDonald’s or cutting a steak. These people [Zimbabwe villagers] don’t have that option.”
If he’s not ashamed, it seems odd that the video has been mysteriously edited to this extent. If it is just a matter of PR, it also seems very odd that GoDaddy hasn’t issued a press release on the matter. As of the time of this writing, Parsons has not tweeted since April 1, at the height of the media and customer backlash.
Since the video hit the web and the backlash began, GoDaddy’s competitors have been capitalizing on it, offering deals to customers who switch to their services. NameCheap also used the opportunity to raise over $20,000 for Save the Elephants. Venovix launched a “NoDaddy” campaign with a similar goal, looking to raise money for the International Wildlife Foundation.
Another interesting nugget that surfaced over the past week: The Baltimore Sun referenced an interview they did with Parsons last year, in which he said he had majored in accounting by chance, simply picking the first thing in the booklet. He is quoted as saying, “Had I opened [the booklet] backwards and become a zoologist, I have no idea what I’d be doing.”
Has GoDaddy handled this scandal well? Share your thoughts.
