GoDaddy Controversy Spurs Social Media Firestorm

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- GoDaddy.com has been controversial from the get-go, airing Super Bowl ads that feature plenty of sexual innuendo.

Who can forget the ad with the awkward kiss?

But this year GoDaddy planned something different -- a cute ad featuring a lost puppy who miraculously finds its way home only to discover this.

"It's Buddy," declares the owner. "I'm so glad you made it home because I just sold you on this website I built with GoDaddy.  Ship him out."

When this ad hit the Internet, the outrage on social media was palpable  -- comments like "inhumane breeding and puppy mills are a serious issue" and "please fire the idiots."

It didn't take long for GoDaddy to pull the ad from the Super Bowl.

GoDaddy's controversial ad is no longer on TV, but it's sure all over social media.

And local admen say, maybe that was the point of creating the ad in the first place.

"I think it was strategic. I think they recognized that social media is out there to amplify everything, and I think they're taking full advantage of it," says Scott Morgan of Brunner.

Morgan thinks GoDaddy never really intended to run this ad on television, and Michael Bollinger at Smith Brothers Agency agrees.

"Creatively, I am not thrilled by the ad, but I immediately saw what they were up to, and strategically, I'm really impressed by what they're doing," says Bollinger.

At Smith Brothers, where employees' dogs have free run, Bollinger says taking on dog-lovers has yielded big results.

"Hashtag #godaddypuppy has had 3.2 million tweets in the last two days," says Bollinger.

Watch the full ad here:

And both say a social media splash, not a Super Bowl ad, was the goal all along.

"I think it was part of the plan, and here's why I think that.  They already have another spot ready to go," adds Morgan.

Meaning another sexy GoDaddy ad featuring Nascar's Danika Patrick will take the place of a puppy.