Is it a smart move by Namecheap?

159 replies
I received an email from NameCheap:
"It's not often that we would disagree publicly with a competitor, but we at Namecheap are very disturbed by this video of a competitor killing an elephant for sport. (Warning: Very Graphic!)

We've decided to throw our support behind our Elephant friends by offering domain transfers at a price where we actually lose money.

Show your protest by saying BYEBYEGD again and transfer your domains to Namecheap for $4.99 for the next 24 hours through 11:59pm EST on 3/31/11 (limit 10 per user, valid for all com/net/org domains).

On top of that, we'll donate $1 for each transfer to Save The Elephants at Save the Elephants - Home

Use coupon code BYEBYEGD and let's help the Elephants together!"

It seems like a lot of people are moving their domain names away from Godaddy to NameCheap after this episode. NameCheap seems to add in the fuel to the fire by offering a steep discount coupon.

Is that a smart move by NameCheap?
#move #namecheap #smart
  • Profile picture of the author ladywriter
    To some degree I dislike that Namecheap is using this guy's personal activities to siphon clients away from his business....I might be pro-choice, and I'd be really angry if a competitor spread that info around as if it was relevant to my business practice.

    That said I've long heard bad things about GoDaddy's business practices and have been turned off by their marketing practices. This elephant thing cements my thinking to stay far away from them. Will I run to Namecheap? Dunno, and that's the gamble they're taking.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andy Crofford
      Originally Posted by rosegrower76 View Post

      To some degree I dislike that Namecheap is using this guy's personal activities to siphon clients away from his business....I might be pro-choice, and I'd be really angry if a competitor spread that info around as if it was relevant to my business practice.

      That said I've long heard bad things about GoDaddy's business practices and have been turned off by their marketing practices. This elephant thing cements my thinking to stay far away from them. Will I run to Namecheap? Dunno, and that's the gamble they're taking.
      Bob Parsons is using marketing in his personal life when he has the villagers all wear orange GoDaddy caps.

      While I understand there is an over-population problem with elephants in Zimbabwe, he did not have to make such a show of the killing. It is pretty disgusting in my opinion. I didn't like Parsons to begin with though, he is kind of a creep.
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      • Profile picture of the author Linda_C
        Originally Posted by Andy Crofford View Post

        While I understand there is an over-population problem with elephants in Zimbabwe, he did not have to make such a show of the killing. It is pretty disgusting in my opinion. I didn't like Parsons to begin with though, he is kind of a creep.
        Yup. I'm on board with that.

        When you add up the go daddy girls, the types of ads he runs and now this incident - it adds up to ick. He's got too much of the wrong kind of macho. There's good macho and bad macho. His is looking to be the back ick sort. And that's a pity. I used to like what he was doing before he got full of himself.

        I've used namecheap for years and love their services, for what that's worth.
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      • Profile picture of the author scrofford
        Originally Posted by Andy Crofford View Post

        Bob Parsons is using marketing in his personal life when he has the villagers all wear orange GoDaddy caps.

        While I understand there is an over-population problem with elephants in Zimbabwe, he did not have to make such a show of the killing. It is pretty disgusting in my opinion. I didn't like Parsons to begin with though, he is kind of a creep.
        I agree with your statement Andy...btw we have the same last name lol? Don't know if we are related! Anyway, elephants are hunted over there every day and there is an over population and it looked like the meat was going to be eaten, so I wouldn't call it animal cruelty. I think Parsons is an idiot for making a video of it. Didn't he even stop to think it might upset some people? I think namecheap just decided to capitalize on what he did.

        Steve
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        • Profile picture of the author SMS
          Namecheap just jumped on a bandwagon. There's been a lot of commentary in cyberspace about the elephant shooting, and companies like Namecheap are trying to exploit the situation.

          I prefer Namecheap's services to GoDaddy's, but in this case, I'd have to say - 'let him who is without sin cast the first stone'.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by rosegrower76 View Post

      Namecheap is using this guy's personal activities to siphon clients away
      He did that to himself, in my view, by putting his personal activites in the public/marketing domain. It's not as if they've been spying on him to "dredge up the dirt": he was the one who chose to promote and publicise this activity. ("He who comes to equity must come with clean hands.")
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  • Profile picture of the author GoGetta
    Shocking video, I saw this earlier on today on Facebook. I don't think Namecheap should have done this though. Word travels fast on the web anyway, they sort of lose a little respect in doing this.

    Just my opinion anyway!

    GoGetta
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    It's dirty marketing, same as when it's done in politics, a smear campaign. It's not like everyone at namecheap is a vegetarian so their concern for animals rings hollow and insincere.

    I don't agree with hunting elephants but it doesn't make me want to use namecheap either. A lot of people do things I don't agree with, I can't boycott them all.

    I'll stick with godaddy, I prefer the godaddy girls over desperate advertising.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by christopher jon View Post

      I'll stick with godaddy, I prefer the godaddy girls over desperate advertising.
      Honestly, I'm on GoDaddy precisely BECAUSE their CEO is such an "up yours, I'll do what I want" kind of guy.

      I don't think it's cool to kill an elephant for sport, but I think it's massively cool to do something your customers might hate you for doing and say "HEY LOOK AT ME" instead of trying to spin it or cover it up or play PR games.

      I don't like what he did, but I massively respect his sheer balls-out commitment to doing things his way and if you don't like it you can shove off.

      Similarly, if you saw your competitor do something politically incorrect on a near-Charlie-Sheen level like this, and you didn't jump up and say "OMG WTF look what he did!" - then you're a crap marketer and should just get out of this business.

      It's a hot-button issue. GD has played their card. NC has played their card. And both of them are absolutely, 100% justified in making their plays the way they did. Nothing dirty about it.

      (I have domains on NameCheap, too. But I won't be making any transfers.)
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    I think NameCheap is doing a great job and the fact they did this with that video is brilliant, afterall don't we learn that smear campaigns work every time there are elections?

    Personally I cannot stand Godaddy after what they did to me. I had all my domains on manual renew and they changed the settings in my account to auto renew. That's a fact because everytime I purchased a new domain or renewed a domain in the past I always went into the control panel and made sure it was set to manual renew.

    Way to go NameCheap!

    If Godaddy didn't want this to be public why did they shoot a video of it? It already made the news and anyone here would use the news media to strengthen their own position over their competitors. Marketers do it all the time so I don't know why everyone is so up in arms over this. Namecheap did not do anything wrong, they just made you aware of something they do not agree with that was already in the news.

    Not to mention, news stations who report the news use the stories to sell news papers, magazines, and get viewers to their tv channel so what's so different about Namecheap doing what they did?
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      I think it is a smart move by them.

      In general, of course, it's exactly the sort of thing that isn't a smart move at all, for some of the reasons mentioned above.

      But in this specific case, I think they've probably judged it well, just because it's (a) GoDaddy and (b) animal cruelty. I think that just about makes it not "dirty marketing", really ... they'll do well with this. I hope so, anyway. You did them a favour by starting the thread, I think, Joseph.
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      • Profile picture of the author donhx
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I think it is a smart move by them.

        In general, of course, it's exactly the sort of thing that isn't a smart move at all, for some of the reasons mentioned above.

        But in this specific case, I think they've probably judged it well, just because it's (a) GoDaddy and (b) animal cruelty. I think that just about makes it not "dirty marketing", really ... they'll do well with this. I hope so, anyway. You did them a favour by starting the thread, I think, Joseph.
        Yes. In my view GoDaddy has some ethical issues in their pricing, service and advertising. Perhaps this elephant killing is an extension of that. Parsons is out to bag anything he can. Namecheap is capitalizing on this and helping animals too. That's a positive approach to a negative situation.
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      • Profile picture of the author TessaOmimaro
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I think it is a smart move by them.

        In general, of course, it's exactly the sort of thing that isn't a smart move at all, for some of the reasons mentioned above.

        But in this specific case, I think they've probably judged it well, just because it's (a) GoDaddy and (b) animal cruelty. I think that just about makes it not "dirty marketing", really ... they'll do well with this. I hope so, anyway. You did them a favour by starting the thread, I think, Joseph.
        I agree with Alexa.

        If you put on your Marketing cap and block out the noise, don't you think this is a great marketing move?

        How often does Namecheap reach out to their customers this way? Probably never.

        Best,
        Tessa
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      • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I think it is a smart move by them.

        In general, of course, it's exactly the sort of thing that isn't a smart move at all, for some of the reasons mentioned above.

        But in this specific case, I think they've probably judged it well, just because it's (a) GoDaddy and (b) animal cruelty. I think that just about makes it not "dirty marketing", really ... they'll do well with this. I hope so, anyway. You did them a favour by starting the thread, I think, Joseph.
        LOL... Alexa's got her way with words.

        I dislike GoDaddy anyway and their elephant killing for fun/sport did worse to them in my books (I'm an Indian, and one form of God we pray to on every festival is in the form of an Elephant... I'm sorry I get drifted away at times).

        If I was Namecheap, I'd think twice before I put up this campaign, not because it would cost me money; but because of what people might think about my company's anti-competition behaviour.

        At best, I'd just hope GoDaddy (or whoever responsible) did some good to elephants and gain some turnaround-recognition [from PeTA (This would also help their brand name, but I'm overly hopeful here )].
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

          At best, I'd just hope GoDaddy (or whoever responsible) did some good to elephants and gain some turnaround-recognition [from PeTA (This would also help their brand name, but I'm overly hopeful here )].
          What most people here don't seem to realize is that elephant hunts are sold by the government of Zimbabwe for a very high price. If they do not sell enough elephant licenses, they cull the elephants in a much more unpleasant manner. They will kill off entire herds.. bulls, cows and calves.

          In order to buy a PAC Elephant License (Problem Animal Control), you have to kill a Problem Animal and the meat must be distributed to the starving villagers.

          Zimbabwe in general has an over population of elephants as do most of the countries in southern Africa. Elephants consume over 400 pounds of vegetation per day and large groups of them have the ability to drink water holes dry. This of course has a very adverse affect on the other animals that utilize the same eco systems and many of the same food types as elephants. The only way to help is to eliminate the problem which unfortunately means killing a lot of elephants through culling practices if sport hunting is not at a high enough level. Elephant culling is both expensive and unpleasant as entire herds are shot bulls, cows and calves.
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          • Profile picture of the author paulie888
            Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

            What most people here don't seem to realize is that elephant hunts are sold by the government of Zimbabwe for a very high price. If they do not sell enough elephant licenses, they cull the elephants in a much more unpleasant manner. They will kill off entire herds.. bulls, cows and calves.

            In order to buy a PAC Elephant License (Problem Animal Control), you have to kill a Problem Animal and the meat must be distributed to the starving villagers.
            Thanks for sharing this, Suzanne. It's very easy to see red when you hear about the supposed hunting of elephants for sport, but this certainly sheds some much needed light on what actually occurred. Namecheap was very quick to spin things in a bad light for Godaddy, but it looks like this is now totally backfiring on them.

            It'd have been far better if they just remained silent instead of trying to blow this event out of proportion.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
      Banned
      Namecheap isn't doing anything unethical here. It's not like they were the ones who took the video, the godaddy CEO took it and posted it himself.

      I agree with namecheap. There's a difference between killing out of necessity and killing for sport. Godaddy's ceo was obviously doing the latter, as he posed for pictures and posted the video on the internet.

      Killing for sport is cruel and wrong, as far as I'm concerned.
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      • Profile picture of the author Wills
        I thought it was a bit low of GD to start putting hats onto the local people. They all looked a bit stupid wearing them bright orange hats, probably not having a clue what they were.

        Besides I'm sure the villagers can look after themselves without yer man getting involved for some unhanded marketing.

        Putting that aside, none of this will affect any of my choices for hosting.
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      • Profile picture of the author seantanmarketing
        Originally Posted by Joshua Rigley View Post

        Namecheap isn't doing anything unethical here. It's not like they were the ones who took the video, the godaddy CEO took it and posted it himself.

        I agree with namecheap. There's a difference between killing out of necessity and killing for sport. Godaddy's ceo was obviously doing the latter, as he posed for pictures and posted the video on the internet.

        Killing for sport is cruel and wrong, as far as I'm concerned.
        I agree with that. NameCheap.com is not the one took the video and post it, so I don't think NameCheap has done anything wrong with that.

        NameCheap.com just grab the rare chance to bringing more businesses into the company. Smart move! :-)

        Personally, I don't like Godaddy because they have "hidden" cost in their services. I'm not sure if anyone here get the same problems like me before.

        Godaddy received an email complain one of my domain is spamming. They show me the email and that email is not written by me and I never send out that email.

        They want me to pay around $150 each year (I can't really remember the price because it's already few years back) to subscribe their services to help me to filter the spam complain.

        Otherwise, I will need to pay $75 for admin fee to close the case.

        I contacted their support and there's no way to resolve it. Either subscribe their yearly service or pay the admin fee $75.

        Finally, I choose to pay the admin fee and move ALL my domains to NameCheap.com at the same day.
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  • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
    These kind of marketing tactics are quite common in the corporate world.

    I am not sure about the right or wrong part, but I REALLY like the "I am writing to present you with PETA's first ever Scummiest CEO of the Year Award..." part.
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      We know that there are often emotional reasons for choosing to buy, other than purely business ones; but from a marketing point of view, it's a slippery slope to veer away from discussing the merits or otherwise of any competitor's service and into the realms of their personal activities.

      The smarter move for Namecheap would have been to start a "save the elephant" promotion and just allow the unsavoury GD episode to go viral.

      It would have been more subtle, yet more powerful to let people put two and two together, IMO.


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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
    Banned
    If he's willing to have his picture taken in front of an elephant he killed, then he should be willing to accept the consequences.

    I wonder how many people this would actually sway though. Animals get killed all the time.
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    • Profile picture of the author kyhell
      Originally Posted by Dave Rodman View Post

      If he's willing to have his picture taken in front of an elephant he killed, then he should be willing to accept the consequences.

      I wonder how many people this would actually sway though. Animals get killed all the time.
      I swayed... Just sayin

      Its always a good move from a business standpoint to capitalize on your competitions failure. I am however sure that godaddy has people signing up because of the hunt. so technically it could be a win win for both companies
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Whether or not Namecheap are practising good or bad business practises here, GoDaddys chief has been an absolute a**e head to be caught in this situation. The fact the mob cutting up the elephant the next morning are all wearing GoDaddy hats, was, interesting to say the least.

      Didn't look the kind of place where GoDaddys hats are the local in thing at the moment, well, they probably are now.

      Question is, if that was the head of Namecheap standing there, proud as punch over the dead elephant he so bravely shot, would GoDaddy's CEO not do the same? I've no idea.

      Either way, I think GoDaddys CEO's a bit of a prat to have put himself in this situation in the first place, even more so to hand out company hats and film it the next day.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    This sort of move occurs all the time in the corporate world, dirty or not. And sometimes without hearing the other side of the story, it's easy to just rush to a snap judgment without knowing all the facts - in Parsons' defense though, there seems to be a mitigating factor, as explained at the end of the video.
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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    In general that's not the sort of tactic I would approve of - however - if the CEO of GoDaddy really did post the video himself on a public site such a Youtube then I guess he has to accept that he has given his competitors ammunition (pun intended) to shoot him with.
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    animal cruelty
    Animal cruelty was the last thing on their mind when they made this move.

    Try this,

    google godaddy charity and namecheap charity, what are the results?

    I think you'll find that godaddy easily wins this one.

    Since when has namecheap ever done anything positive? My results came up empty, it's an insincere attempt to grab business. Anybody with any intelligence should be able to see right through what they are doing.

    Also, before jumping into over-reaction mode. It's easy to sit in our nice suburban worlds and criticize but you do realize that those elephants are actually a huge problem for the people who live there.

    Those big 'ol cute zoo attractions eat and destroy crops. If a coyote is killing livestock it's shot, it's a similar situation.

    Try living in one of those villages and tell me how you feel about those elephants while your family goes hungry. You might be singing a different tune.

    If this were a case of poaching it would be a different story but it's something that is allowed and controlled by the local government.
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    • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
      Being in a position such as his, posting the video was completely stupid and in my opinion he brought this on himself. A picture of the kill is one thing but footage of the people butchering it?

      It is relevant to consider the need for population control. Just like here in the US the estimated damage from vehicles hitting deer is in the billions per year with a few hundred human deaths. Deer hunting is pretty necessary since we have removed nearly all of the deer's natural predators. Still though, I don't feel there is any reason for anyone in any capacity of a public position to advertise themselves slaughtering anything. Just a straight up bonehead move.

      As far as Namecheap seeing and implementing their opinion of it with benefits on the side? Why the hell not?
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  • Profile picture of the author Derek Salfen
    We can complain about underhanded tactics all day long, but they work. If the GoDaddy founder is shooting elephants, well shame on him; can people who buy 1000's of .infos a month afford to be outraged? Probably not!

    It's probably a good marketing move, they aren't in the personality and respect business really... they sell commodities.
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  • Profile picture of the author daddykool
    Namecheap V GoDaddy!

    FIGHT!

    Stupid way to get filmed in such a high profile company / position.

    Stupid way to cash in on someone elses stupidity...

    But hey, that is the internet!

    Maybe Bob will crash his Nascar into Namecheaps Datacenter to get his own back and video it!

    Think the donate to the elephants is good, but why restrict it to 10 names only and for only such a short period?

    A years worth of donations would make a BIG difference to the charity!
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    • Profile picture of the author King Louie
      Why don't they start a "Save The Chicken," "Save The Cow," or "Save The Pig" promo? Aren't chickens, cows and pigs animals too?
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      • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
        Originally Posted by Content Winner View Post

        Why don't they start a "Save The Chicken," "Save The Cow," or "Save The Pig" promo? Aren't chickens, cows and pigs animals too?
        Yup, but you don't see Bill Gates or Richard Branson machine gunning chickens then letting the local farmers hack them up with Microsoft or virgin hats on...Or am I missing out on something? :confused:
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        • Profile picture of the author King Louie
          Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

          Yup, but you don't see Bill Gates or Richard Branson machine gunning chickens then letting the local farmers hack them up with Microsoft or virgin hats on...Or am I missing out on something? :confused:
          LOL... My point is that these are only animals and they can be hunted for sport or food. Of course, elephants are on the verge of extinction but they can be hunted with certain limitations. I don't condone animal cruelty but we humans are masters of the Earth and we are free to do whatever we wish to animals we want to eat or hunt for sport. But there should be limitations and that if we want to kill an animal we should do it in as humane a way as possible. Just my 2 cents.
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          • Profile picture of the author Cesar Sampaio
            Originally Posted by Content Winner View Post

            LOL... My point is that these are only animals and they can be hunted for sport or food. Of course, elephants are on the verge of extinction but they can be hunted with certain limitations. I don't condone animal cruelty but we humans are masters of the Earth and we are free to do whatever we wish to animals we want to eat or hunt for sport. But there should be limitations and that if we want to kill an animal we should do it in as humane a way as possible. Just my 2 cents.
            We can choose to be like a phage bacteria, mindless beasts that eat everything in their path until there is nothing anymore.

            Then they die of hunger.

            Or we can use the intelligence we have to actually live decently with all other life forms that have every right to exist and among ourselves.

            Just because we have technology does not make us masters of anything.

            In the end using two hundred billion neurons to act like a germ that does not have any seems very ironic in a sad way.
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            • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
              Banned
              Originally Posted by Cesar Sampaio View Post

              We can choose to be like a phage bacteria, mindless beasts that eat everything in their path until there is nothing anymore.

              Then they die of hunger.

              Or we can use the intelligence we have to actually live decently with all other life forms that have every right to exist and among ourselves.

              Just because we have technology does not make us masters of anything.

              In the end using two hundred billion neurons to act like a germ that does not have any seems very ironic in a sad way.
              So you're a vegetarian I take it? How could you?

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              • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
                First of all, I don't think there's anything at all wrong with hunting, so long as you make good use of the entire animal (feeding a village with it is a great use, IMO). Of course, I could never be a vegetarian, so I'm a bit biased.

                But as for using a video of something that you KNOW is going to offend a significant part of the population (ie PETA people), that is probably not the smartest business move. And what's with the GoDaddy hats on all the villagers? That was pretty over-the-top, to say the least.

                As for Namecheap capitalizing on the event? Hmmm... maybe a bit of a "cheap shot", but I wouldn't go so far as to call it unethical. They are just taking advantage of an obviously bad move by their competitor.

                But to be honest, I think that GoDaddy's biggest problems aren't their controversial commercials, but rather their their day to day business practices. Which is why I've been a Namecheap fan from day 1.
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              • Profile picture of the author netkid
                I give the "academy award" to both parties....Godaddy and Namecheap.

                They both practice the "art of marketing" where you create controversy and "become" the news and you are guaranteed millions of page views....worth its weight in gold regarding publicity.

                Just take a good look at Charlie Sheen.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Alaway
    The question should have been - Was this the stupdist thing ever by the GD ceo? Yes and yes. Yes to do it and even more stupid to brag about it publicly. Been using Namecheap for quite a while but I've been meaning to move some of my old domains from GD anyway and this just seals the deal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Alaway
    13 transferred with more to go
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  • Profile picture of the author alexts
    Do not get it. I like elephants but how are elephants connected to your registrar choice.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nigel Greaves
      Originally Posted by alexts View Post

      Do not get it. I like elephants but how are elephants connected to your registrar choice.
      They're not, directly, it's more about the morals and ethics of the person you're doing business with. If you're happy with someone who acts in this manner then it's not a problem and you're perfectly at liberty to do business with them.

      For me it's not just a moral and ethical issue, although they are paramount, it's also about Bob Parsons' lack of business judgement. He's acting legally but has succeeded in scoring an own goal comparable with Gerald Ratner's selling "crap" comment which, 20 years on, still comes back to haunt him.

      Ironically I don't like smear marketing either but of the two I'll take Namecheap's way of doing business every time.

      Nigel
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  • Profile picture of the author Jody_W
    Bob Parsons chose to publicize his actions and connect it with his business via the GoDaddy hats. I can't fault Namecheap for trying to take advantage of the fact that so many people will find what Parsons did objectionable.
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  • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
    Wow, such flagrant public "boasting" about your thirst for blood sure is a risky marketing strategy when your clientele are likely to be divided in their opinions and tolerances of such stuff.

    I'd think, however, that as a reasonably smart (if not somewhat distasteful) guy, he'll be well aware of this, and would (or should) have anticipated his competitors doing exactly what Namecheap have done, here. Fair game to Namecheap.

    Coming soon: pics of GD CEO being proudly "showered with ivory" - just because he can.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I think it's a smart move by namecheap - and I think the reason behind it is valid. If I were working with a site or a marketer and found they got pleasure from killing wildlife - I would never work with them again.

      I have my own standards and while I can't force my standards on others (nor should I) - I can choose not to work with those who don't share certain core values of mine.

      I have nothing at godaddy - but if I did I would be moving it immediately. Elephants are amazing animals - highly intelligent mammals that communicate with each other, form family groups and protect their young. I won't watch the video because it would make me sick. Killing as a form of "fun" is beyond my understanding.

      kay

      Honestly - if I owned a site and saw a competitor with this type of "bragging rights" - I'd do much the same thing as NameCheap. They probably know they'll get flak from some - but perhaps people running NameCheap are following their own core values.
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      • Profile picture of the author tamarindcandy
        I don't know if it's a smart move by Namecheap, but I do know it's a bloody stupid move by the GoDaddy CEO. Why take a video when you're doing stuff like that?
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        • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
          Originally Posted by tamarindcandy View Post

          I don't know if it's a smart move by Namecheap, but I do know it's a bloody stupid move by the GoDaddy CEO. Why take a video when you're doing stuff like that?
          Why not? He wasn't breaking any laws and the people needed the meat.
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  • Profile picture of the author alv22
    Personally, I feel Parson's stunt with the elephant was tasteless. Though, it was on par with the rest of his personality...

    Namecheap's stunt is also a bit tacky - but smart. This is a good offer, it's riding on the publicity of Parson's misadventures and will surely bring lots of customers to Namecheap.

    Think about it: Many people might have been on the verge of leaving GoDaddy for a while, and now it's a good move to give them that final push. If a giant competitor of your business is losing customers, they will surely go to someone else. Why not make it your business?
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    • Profile picture of the author mmixon
      Never-mind the fact that the elephant that was killed destroyed the crops of the villagers, and never-mind that the villagers went out and butchered the elephant for it's meat after it was killed.

      So, a dangerous pest was eliminated, and that provided food for a bunch of poor villagers. I think in normal circumstances, that would be considered a win-win situation. But when a group like PETA gets involved, what do you expect.

      When I eat a hamburger, I'm not thinking about the dead cow. When I eat sausage with my eggs, I don't think about the dead pig. When I hunt and shoot a deer, I am thinking about the free meat in my freezer.

      I am against hunting for the sport of it, but hunting for food or to eliminate a clear and present danger? Animal rights activists - go to name cheap. Pro hunting activists - go to godaddy. Whatever makes you happy!

      Name cheap is using the politics of personal destruction, clear and simple. And I predict that it will be a wash, and people will vote with their pocketbook at each company, as they should.
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      • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
        Originally Posted by mmixon View Post

        I am against hunting for the sport of it, but hunting for food or to eliminate a clear and present danger? Animal rights activists - go to name cheap. Pro hunting activists - go to godaddy. Whatever makes you happy!
        I'm neither an animal rights activist nor am I "pro-hunting" (nor anti-hunting, really), but I think I'll stick with Namecheap, purely on the basis of their website being far superior, easier to navigate, and their not trying to stick me in the a** every two seconds with hidden charges, recurring payments and useless up/cross-sells.

        GD are a wholly distasteful company, I think. I don't like their CEO, nor their apparent overall ethos as a company. And this sort of thing doesn't surprise me in the least.

        Which is why, though I wouldn't encourage anyone in business to take direct snipes at competitors under normal circumstances, I think it's absolutely fair game for Namecheap to do so, here.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    He shot it legally and as the video clearly showed, the meat was much needed. I'm not seeing a problem here.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

      He shot it legally and as the video clearly showed, the meat was much needed. I'm not seeing a problem here.
      You don't see a problem, other people will, such is life.

      mmixon - So, a dangerous pest was eliminated
      I'd be interested to see who causes more destruction in Zimbabwe. Elephants or man. Who kills more people, damages and pollutes the crops. Good old Robert Mugabe, far better for Africa than a nasty mean elephant. :rolleyes:

      I think the biggest pest on this Earth is Man. The most dangerous thing to this Earth, is Man. We pollute the world, make animals extinct, kill each other and make laws to justify anything we do.

      You may find other animals consider us, dangerous pests.

      mmixon -When I eat a hamburger, I'm not thinking about the dead cow. When I eat sausage with my eggs, I don't think about the dead pig. When I hunt and shoot a deer, I am thinking about the free meat in my freezer.
      Funny though isn't it. Man gets eaten by a shark at the beach and we go off and hunt the shark, we couldn't possibly catch the shark, so we kill any shark and feel all good about it. Shark probably just thought we were food in his sea. Just like the alligator, polar bear and grizzly bear. But I guess that doesn't fit in with your hamburger theory.

      By the way I'm not an animal rights supporter, I love meat. I just happen to appreciate it without some pompous attitude it's our god given right to do what we want to every other species, the Earth and fellow humans and then just make up a law to justify it.

      Either way, this won't impact if I use Namecheap or GoDaddy.
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    • Profile picture of the author scrofford
      Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

      He shot it legally and as the video clearly showed, the meat was much needed. I'm not seeing a problem here.
      There really is no problem if he wants to have a crap image. Nobody is questioning the legality. People don't like the image Parsons and GD are portraying.
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

        There really is no problem if he wants to have a crap image. Nobody is questioning the legality. People don't like the image Parsons and GD are portraying.
        I have accounts with Godaddy and Namecheap and while I think Parsons should have kept his video private (couldn't he foresee the backlash), it doesn't offend me at all. In fact, I'm a bit more offended by Namecheap's desperate marketing tactics, using the video to build their business. Either way, my domains will stay where they are in both accounts.

        Parsons says:

        I stand by my decision to help African villagers. I believe elephant management is beneficial. I have the support of the people who really matter in this situation, the families of Zimbabwe -- people who need help to survive. I have the support of tribal leaders and the government.

        As Time points out, there are in fact issues with elephants in parts of Africa. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been quoted as saying:

        Not only are elephants being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas, but farmers plant crops that elephants like to eat. As a result, elephants frequently raid and destroy crops. They can be very dangerous too.

        While many people in the West regard elephants with affection and admiration, the animals often inspire fear and anger in those who share their land.

        Elephants eat up to 450kg of food per day. They are messy eaters, uprooting and scattering as much as is eaten. A single elephant makes light work of a hectare of crops in a very short time.
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        • Profile picture of the author scrofford
          Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

          I have accounts with Godaddy and Namecheap and while I think Parsons should have kept his video private (couldn't he foresee the backlash), it doesn't offend me at all. In fact, I'm a bit more offended by Namecheap's desperate marketing tactics, using the video to build their business. Either way, my domains will stay where they are in both accounts.
          Yeah it doesn't offend me either...but I am sure it offends a lot of people! I also agree that namecheap acted a bit desperate with their tactics also. I have had domains with GD in the past and now I am with NC. I just think both companies ought to think about the consequences of what they do as far as image and marketing go.
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          • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
            Banned
            Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

            Yeah it doesn't offend me either...but I am sure it offends a lot of people! I also agree that namecheap acted a bit desperate with their tactics also. I have had domains with GD in the past and now I am with NC. I just think both companies ought to think about the consequences of what they do as far as image and marketing go.
            This isn't a desperate marketing tactic by namecheap, not by any stretch of the imagination. They may not be as big as Godaddy, but they're still big enough to be making plenty of money.

            For all we know they are truly offended by godaddy's ceo and are showing their support by making it easier for people to stop doing business with godaddy.

            I've never used godaddy. I found that they are the least user-friendly service around. I went the namecheap because it was intuitive and easy to use. Plus, they're a lot cheaper than godaddy. They offer free WHOIS protection, where godaddy charges for the service.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lyanna
      Originally Posted by Trent Brownrigg View Post

      I'm not buying his theory that he was helping the farmers by getting rid of a pest or providing food to people that need it. Any one of those farmers could have killed the elephant themselves. There's plenty of guns floating around Africa and I bet they are much better hunters than he is. They didn't need some rich dude coming over there to fire off a couple shots. I'm sure it probably did help them but that's not why he did it, he's just using that as his excuse.
      It definitely looks like a "great white hunter" thing to me.

      Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

      He shot it legally and as the video clearly showed, the meat was much needed. I'm not seeing a problem here.
      Setting aside the elephant hunting, I also have a problem with that part of the video.

      Why were people mobbing the dead elephant? Did he just throw the dead animal down and say "hey freebie!" to people so he could film it in a dramatic way?

      It seems exploitative, IMO. The proper move would have been to give the meat to whoever was in charge (for example, the head of the village) for them to properly butcher and then give away the meat for free to the poor. The way he did it smacks of disrespect towards the poor.

      I mean, would the a Walmart executive go to a poor ethnic neighborhood in the US, throw down a bunch of free groceries and say "hey everyone dig in and grab stuff" then film everyone while they mobbed the pile of goodies? That's obviously a stupid move and the CEO of GoDaddy filming that is very insensitive.

      Originally Posted by sellingonline View Post

      side note: I don't agree with public slaughter for no real reason, if the meat was needed, they would simply have hunted the elephant by themselves instead of getting a rich man to do it - for him it WAS FOR FUN, everybody who has read about Bob P. knows he is ticking "that way" - the excuse of helping the people is ridiculous)
      Obviously true!

      On the other hand, I wouldn't say the rich white guy was useless, they probably earned money from him as guides and local businesses like hotels, restaurants, car rentals no doubt made money, too.

      If he really wanted to help the people there he could have done something much more useful that the people couldn't do by themselves, something like installing solar panels for their school so they could have free electricity. Killing the elephant was clearly for fun and not really to help people there get meat.
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  • Profile picture of the author Torreylee
    It's a BRILLIANT MOVE on behalf of Namecheap and it worked on me. Smart businesses take advantages of opportunities and this is major. In business you kick your competitor when they are down especially in a cut-throat business like domaining/hosting.
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  • Profile picture of the author imfusa
    I can't believe my eyes what people can do for competition and making money.
    Come on i don't believe a work, and that elephant is FAKE!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Marvin Johnston
    It appears this is a case of a competitor trying to take advantage of both political correctness, and probably some supporter ignorance as pointed out by christopher jon.

    To take an opposing viewpoint to most of the posts here, GoDaddy has been controversial in many of their ads, so why would this be a suprise? Polarization has been a well known and tested marketing tactic for many, many years. Now if they start taking advantage of it with some factual data about the destruction wild elephants cause as opposed the warm and fuzzy PETA concepts, they could well have a winner on their hands.

    And as an aside, GoDaddy has been pretty aggressive in their marketing. As such, they must have balanced out the number of people who would be offended as opposed to those that either don't care or would support what was being done. So the number of people deciding to move their accounts has most likely been taken into account before releasing the video.

    [EDIT] It is also interesting to note that quite a number of comments against the video could be taken as showing how effective the "animal rights" marketing campaigns have been.

    Marvin
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  • Profile picture of the author Cesar Sampaio
    That's great to me. I already did dislike GoDaddy due to their slimy business tactics and this just settles it for me that I will not want to do business with them and their CEO.

    If I can get a discount to release the only domain I had the bad idea to sign with them forever... more power to Namecheap.

    By the way Namecheap services are stellar. Never had a problem with them. I never even had to contact their customer support once because of that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cesar Sampaio
    Hey! "actually live decently with all other life forms that have every right to exist and among ourselves" That does not preclude eating a good steak! The ones raised on grass are even tastier!
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  • Profile picture of the author onemind
    Really a hard thing to decide on. I never liked godady anyway but damn this makes me like them less. I'm no tree hugger but anyone who kills animals is an idiot, kill humans they are far more harmful to the planet...
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    • Profile picture of the author scrofford
      Originally Posted by onemind View Post

      Really a hard thing to decide on. I never liked godady anyway but damn this makes me like them less. I'm no tree hugger but anyone who kills animals is an idiot, kill humans they are far more harmful to the planet...
      Hey that's a great philosophy! Lets just go on a human killing spree yeah! Are you a human too? And then let's not kill any animals and not eat! Great idea! I realize some people are vegetarians, but the majority of us humans aren't. If you eat meat, then you have partaken in...OMG THE KILLING OF ANIMALS! Get real.

      The whole problem with what Parsons did doesn't have much to do with killing animals. It has to do with the image he portrays that turns people off. Some people don't like the kind of image he is coming across with. I think it could hurt GD personally. But killing animals being looked bad upon? As long as humans need food, they will kill animals.
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      • Profile picture of the author onemind
        Reading Comp FTL. That was not meant literally it was meant as a thought provoking statement. These things tend to go right over the heads of emotional people and people who don't understand the world around them. Also my best way to weed out people whom I would not want to talk to or do business with, (I refuse to suffer fools lightly).


        Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

        Hey that's a great philosophy! Lets just go on a human killing spree yeah! Are you a human too? And then let's not kill any animals and not eat! Great idea! I realize some people are vegetarians, but the majority of us humans aren't. If you eat meat, then you have partaken in...OMG THE KILLING OF ANIMALS! Get real.
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        • Profile picture of the author scrofford
          Originally Posted by onemind View Post

          Reading Comp FTL. That was not meant literally it was meant as a thought provoking statement. These things tend to go right over the heads of emotional people and people who don't understand the world around them. Also my best way to weed out people whom I would not want to talk to or do business with, (I refuse to suffer fools lightly).
          "I'm no tree hugger but anyone who kills animals is an idiot, kill humans they are far more harmful to the planet..."

          The above is EXACTLY what you posted. So you didn't mean what you said? It was supposed to be "thought provoking?" Hmmmm...so we are supposed to read your mind and not take literally what you said?

          You seemed to say it in a literal way. My point is that if you are going to post something on here, you really need to try and make sure you are getting across what you are really saying. Nobody can read your mind on here.
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          • Profile picture of the author Charles E. White
            First off, I wouldn't use GoDaddy for anything. Been there-done that!

            What I find difficult to understand is this...have you ever seen them break a wild elephant for the circus? They tie it spread eagle with big chains hooked to trucks then they have shifts of people come in to beat it continuously for days. Yet, every one takes their kids to the circus!

            Gee, wonder why elephants go on a rampage? Hell, shooting it would be better than that!

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          • Profile picture of the author onemind
            No doubt dude, I don't want to make war, but people need to wake up and see what is in front of their faces. Though taking what I said literally would be pretty knee jerking and stupid, I understand that most minds are conditioned not to read between the lines and can only be taught by literal meanings. I was hoping there were some people here who could tell the difference. Maybe IM really is for stupid people, who knows? You don't need to be a mind reader to understand logic.


            Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

            "I'm no tree hugger but anyone who kills animals is an idiot, kill humans they are far more harmful to the planet..."

            The above is EXACTLY what you posted. So you didn't mean what you said? It was supposed to be "thought provoking?" Hmmmm...so we are supposed to read your mind and not take literally what you said?

            You seemed to say it in a literal way. My point is that if you are going to post something on here, you really need to try and make sure you are getting across what you are really saying. Nobody can read your mind on here.
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      • Profile picture of the author paulie888
        Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

        Hey that's a great philosophy! Lets just go on a human killing spree yeah! Are you a human too? And then let's not kill any animals and not eat! Great idea! I realize some people are vegetarians, but the majority of us humans aren't. If you eat meat, then you have partaken in...OMG THE KILLING OF ANIMALS! Get real.

        The whole problem with what Parsons did doesn't have much to do with killing animals. It has to do with the image he portrays that turns people off. Some people don't like the kind of image he is coming across with. I think it could hurt GD personally. But killing animals being looked bad upon? As long as humans need food, they will kill animals.
        Exactly - the meat was apparently killed for food, not just for sport or thrills. While I can understand vegetarians getting into an uproar over this, the majority of the world does eat meat, and this is what occurs in order to obtain it, whether you like it or not.

        Parsons could have been a little more discreet and not posed with his prey, and I'm sure he knew at the back of his mind that this could have been misinterpreted and skewed by the many people who despise him so much. When you're the owner of a corporation that's apparently picked up more than its fair share of haters, you have to be extremely careful of what you do in the public eye - it's just the nature of the beast.
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        • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
          Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

          Parsons could have been a little more discreet and not posed with his prey
          ...and giving all the villagers GoDaddy hats to wear whilst they filmed them getting their food.

          Come on Paul, you don't honestly think Parsons went out their to protect the villagers and provide them some food? Or have I missed something and this was in fact a humanitarian mission to feed the village?

          (I have my tongue in cheek here Paul, I'm not argueing, just stirring the pot a bit )
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          • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
            Banned
            Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

            ...and giving all the villagers GoDaddy hats to wear whilst they filmed them getting their food.

            Come on Paul, you don't honestly think Parsons went out their to protect the villagers and provide them some food? Or have I missed something and this was in fact a humanitarian mission to feed the village?

            (I have my tongue in cheek here Paul, I'm not argueing, just stirring the pot a bit )
            Actually Richard, Parsons is well aware of the elephant/villager/crop problem in Africa. He's been going there for 6 years.

            The Real Story Behind Bob Parson's Elephant-Killing "Safari" [PICS]

            Whenever you have wild animals and humans occupying the same space, you have a wildlife management plan in action, and Africa is no exception.

            As I mentioned, Parsons should have foreseen the Peta crowd and backlash from others and should not have shared the video, but that does not make what he did illegal or immoral.

            I was raised by a hunter and wild game has been a part of our menu all my life. My hunter father never killed an animal that didn't get eaten, and Parsons did not kill an animal that did not get eaten and would not have been able to legally do so.

            To tell you the truth, even though I'm a carnivore, I find the footage of the kills at slaughterhouses in the US and the conditions that chickens and other meat farm animals are raised under more disturbing than the killing of a problem elephant that lived its life free until its death.
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            • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
              Yeah, in all fairness I wasn't aware of that and do stand corrected on that.

              My point really is when people take a stance like this against an Elephant when the country itself is run by one of the most useless, ruthless dictators on Earth, with absolutely no regard for his own people at all.

              If parsons had anything good to do with all those dollars, why not provide some awareness to the one man responsible for his starving nation, who is so deranged he wears a Hitler moustache.

              If an Elephant is a pest to the people of Zimbabwe, I'd be interested in what people thought of the dear Mr Mugabe.

              But I guess, at the end of the day it's much easier to just pick off an Elephant and say it's for the good of the people and forget about the fact that even if we killed every elephant there, the entire country would still be starving anyway, because one mans got all the cash.

              A touch off topic perhaps but relevant all the same. I do agree though, it's better for an animal to run wild before it's hunted than to live in awful conditions before being led to the slaughterhouse. I do also agree that the sport element is taken out in light of the people getting to eat the prey, which they clearly need to do.

              So Suzanne and Paul, once again, I stand corrected, now I've seen a better picture of events.
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              • Profile picture of the author paulie888
                Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

                Yeah, in all fairness I wasn't aware of that and do stand corrected on that.

                My point really is when people take a stance like this against an Elephant when the country itself is run by one of the most useless, ruthless dictators on Earth, with absolutely no regard for his own people at all.

                If parsons had anything good to do with all those dollars, why not provide some awareness to the one man responsible for his starving nation, who is so deranged he wears a Hitler moustache.

                If an Elephant is a pest to the people of Zimbabwe, I'd be interested in what people thought of the dear Mr Mugabe.

                But I guess, at the end of the day it's much easier to just pick off an Elephant and say it's for the good of the people and forget about the fact that even if we killed every elephant there, the entire country would still be starving anyway, because one mans got all the cash.

                A touch off topic perhaps but relevant all the same. I do agree though, it's better for an animal to run wild before it's hunted than to live in awful conditions before being led to the slaughterhouse. I do also agree that the sport element is taken out in light of the people getting to eat the prey, which they clearly need to do.

                So Suzanne and Paul, once again, I stand corrected, now I've seen a better picture of events.
                No problem, Richard. I know it's very easy to jump to conclusions when you're just presented with one side of the story, which Namecheap very clearly decided to skew in their favor.

                When I see such allegations presented by just one party, I usually wait until I get to at least hear what the other side has to say - there are usually mitigating factors involved which do not get touched on in the "skewed" version.

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  • Profile picture of the author Mo Goulet
    It looks to me like the food is needed there and I'm glad they were able to eat the meat.

    In the USA there are more Hunters in the 5 biggest hunting states than there are US soldiers. Hunting has always been and always will be legal. There are places in this world where it is the only source of food. If we did not allow hunting of animals in the US, the deer population alone would overtake many of the populated areas.
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  • Profile picture of the author seosoldier
    As a person who respects animals and loves elephants this makes me want to stop doing business with godaddy. I had no idea and probably would not have known if they had not used this marketing campaign.

    I prefer not to do business with people who do things I think/feel are "wrong". Sometimes that is very hard to accomplish and it's always a matter of "how much to I really despise what they are doing?" vs. "how easy is it to NOT do business with them?"

    I have hosting and domain names with godaddy, some of which I just renewed for 3 years so I will not be able to stop doing business with them easily in the near future. But once I find a good alternative I will indeed stop buying new domains or new hosting service from godaddy as a result of knowing about this.

    The fact that the guy is proud of killing an elephant is despicable imho. I agree with the fact that in that culture the people do kill them, do eat them, and there may be too many elephants there and they may be causing damage so in that sense it's "Okay" to kill them. BUT, for a guy to travel over there just so HE can have the thrill of killing one is pathetic and totally effed up. Again, IMHO.

    Of course everyone has to decide for themselves on this and it's not a matter of "Yes it's right" or "No it's wrong" to kill an elephant. It's personal opinion.

    But to me this is good marketing because it makes me realize what a scumbag (from my own perspective) this guy is and I don't want to support his business any more. As to whether I use the service of the company who put this out there, it depends on if they get good reviews for their service, etc. But it at least serves to take away business from godaddy, and in so doing MAYBE they'll get some of that business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Trent Brownrigg
    I'm not buying his theory that he was helping the farmers by getting rid of a pest or providing food to people that need it. Any one of those farmers could have killed the elephant themselves. There's plenty of guns floating around Africa and I bet they are much better hunters than he is. They didn't need some rich dude coming over there to fire off a couple shots. I'm sure it probably did help them but that's not why he did it, he's just using that as his excuse.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marvin Johnston
    Sigh, I'm not sure why a number of people want to get this thread either closed or deleted.

    But it doesn't see right to hijack the OP for personal opinions that have nothing to do with the OP .

    Marvin
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
    Controversy sells, just in case you have all forgotten.

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author onemind
      Indeed I believe the sales of godaddy will improve from this not diminish.


      Originally Posted by Chris Worner View Post

      Controversy sells, just in case you have all forgotten.

      Chris
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeff Henshaw
        I'd be interested to see who causes more destruction in Zimbabwe. Elephants or man. Who kills more people, damages and pollutes the crops. Good old Robert Mugabe, far better for Africa than a nasty mean elephant.
        Yep, it may be off topic, but there is one man (with his supporters) who has destroyed and impoverished Zimbabwe. One man only - not the elephant.

        Everyone in the world community knows who the perpetrator is.

        Not GD by the way, but they seem (for whatever reason) to want to be associated with an oppressive dictatorship.

        Just my thoughts.
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        • Profile picture of the author Roaddog
          Personally I think they both screwed up...

          Parsons for using this as some kind of corporate advertising.
          Leaving him and his company open to all kind of criticism, and Namecheap for blowing the opening.

          I agree with what Frank Donovan said, it should have been done in a different way, more roundabout. This was a rushed, stupid move.

          These guy's want to look good for the general public, it's a given.

          Business is war and anyone who thinks that it's not, especially at higher echelons, needs to rethink ever getting as 'successful' as these companies.

          I don't know how you think they got to these 'heights' but I assure you they weren't giving peanuts to elephants, or petting Bambi.

          That's not how they wish to be perceived though.


          They both lose this battle.



          Jim
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  • Parsons is a tasteless Douche Bag. And NameCheap isn't any better for using this.
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  • Profile picture of the author OnlineMasterMind
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author JBrooks
      Originally Posted by OnlineMasterMind View Post

      Sure why not.

      Godaddy is about 100 times bigger than namecheap (literally)

      When you are getting absolutely DOMINATED by a superior company you resort to anything you can.

      Desperate times call for desperate measures...
      true..look it got us talking about them. "all publicity is good publicity"....not so much the elephant though.
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  • Profile picture of the author JBrooks
    wow...what a marketing stunt. did you end up buying from them? I use name.com btw.
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  • Profile picture of the author Deepak Media
    NameCheap offers good service. And they earn the right to do such ad campaigns. However a brand new company doing this would be awkward.
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  • Profile picture of the author anthony2
    I really like namecheap...I've been getting my knew domain name's from them.
    I still have alot of domains with dodaddy and i will keep them there
    but for now and the future I will be with namecheap.

    Plus those Super Thin Godaddy GIRLS are getting old to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Deepak Media
    Well, on second thought I think this is a bad move by namecheap. I tried transferring 2 domains and the checkout page is taking forever to load
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Well, 5921 new domains transferred to Namecheap so far and very rapidly rising says that it was a smart move:

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    • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Well, 5921 new domains transferred to Namecheap so far and very rapidly rising says that it was a smart move:

      That number is already well over 6,000. At about $10 per domain, that's what, an additional $60,000 in revenue per year?

      Controversy does sell after all. As a marketer, I'm impressed with namecheap. Not so much with godaddy, especially if they made the villagers wear those stupid hats as part of some deal.
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  • Profile picture of the author SFitzpatrick
    I think it's great publicity and that's what good marketing is all about. It reminds me of the time years ago when Michael Jackson cancelled one leg of his tour citing he was suffering from dehydration.

    Coke then advertised "DEHYDRATED? DRINK COKE" which was a competitive shot at MJ's sponsor Pepsi.

    Very clever.
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  • Profile picture of the author afam4eva
    I think it's a smart move by namecheap. my No 1 domain registrar. For those that are calling this dirty marketing. Sorry to burst your bubble but most marketing tactics are dirty.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
    Banned
    I just had a thought; wouldn't it be ironic and hilarious if byebyegd.com was hosted on godaddy?
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  • Profile picture of the author Vijay M
    I never liked GD, and like the guts namecheap has to have with that move.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
    Banned
    Just a quick update; over 7,000 domains have been transferred from godaddy to namecheap as of now. That's also $7,000 donated to help protect elephants.
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    I dislike GD almost as much as manica. World's fastest woman, even without the race car. That said, on name creep, that name says it all for me. Like there is a lot of mud on both pigs.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nadias
    I won't get into the debate about killing elephants. I think it was very stupid of the GD CEO to have posted this and smart of Namecheap to take advantage of his stupidity.

    I have 1 name at GD and have been thinking about changing for a while so I have taken advantage of this offer and saved some change. Thank you Joseph for posting this! I would have completely missed it otherwise. Down to the wire as it was.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rach72
    Smart by Namecheap or super dumb by GD?

    What is more ethically questionable. Taking advantage of a competitors stupidity or allowing a morally questionable act go unnoticed and unpunished?
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  • Originally Posted by Joseph Then View Post

    I received an email from NameCheap:
    "It's not often that we would disagree publicly with a competitor, but we at Namecheap are very disturbed by this video of a competitor killing an elephant for sport. Check out the ABC News Report (Warning: Very Graphic!)

    We've decided to throw our support behind our Elephant friends by offering domain transfers at a price where we actually lose money.

    Show your protest by saying BYEBYEGD again and transfer your domains to Namecheap for $4.99 for the next 24 hours through 11:59pm EST on 3/31/11 (limit 10 per user, valid for all com/net/org domains).

    On top of that, we'll donate $1 for each transfer to Save The Elephants at Save the Elephants - Home

    Use coupon code BYEBYEGD and let's help the Elephants together!"

    It seems like a lot of people are moving their domain names away from Godaddy to NameCheap after this episode. NameCheap seems to add in the fuel to the fire by offering a steep discount coupon.

    Is that a smart move by NameCheap?
    There's no doubt that it's a smart move.

    And it's a bit funny the way they position themselves...

    "Use coupon code BYEBYEGD and let's help the Elephants together!"
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  • Profile picture of the author seovcim
    Thanks for details......
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  • Profile picture of the author Darrell Hagan
    I've never been thrilled with anything Godaddy. Confusing/user unfriendly site, high prices, upsells much too aggressive. I switched to Dynadot about 1.5 years ago and never looked back.
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  • Profile picture of the author Capitalist_Pig
    I think it's underhanded, and I might move my dozens of domains from namecheap as a result.

    Sport hunting for elephant and other large African game are the primary reason they still exist. Big game hunting has turned them from a liability and source of food to a natural resource that brings consistent foreign investment into areas where it wouldn't otherwise be. As a result, the locals have a vested interest in maintain the game species for the future.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by Capitalist_Pig View Post

      I think it's underhanded, and I might move my dozens of domains from namecheap as a result.

      Sport hunting for elephant and other large African game are the primary reason they still exist. Big game hunting has turned them from a liability and source of food to a natural resource that brings consistent foreign investment into areas where it wouldn't otherwise be. As a result, the locals have a vested interest in maintain the game species for the future.
      Are you 100% sure it was sport hunting though? It may have been framed that way by Namecheap, but how do you know that they're telling the truth instead of 'spinning' events to look a certain way?
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      • Profile picture of the author Capitalist_Pig
        Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

        Are you 100% sure it was sport hunting though? It may have been framed that way by Namecheap, but how do you know that they're telling the truth instead of 'spinning' events to look a certain way?
        If it wasn't sport hunting it was poaching - in which case, he'd be in a Zimbabwean or US jail right now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    If they are actually losing money and donating, it sounds good to me. I would consider transferring to them if I were a GD user. But I'm not.
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  • Profile picture of the author sellingonline
    For those of us moving domains out of Godaddy for whatever reason (even saving quite a bit of money would be a good enough one for me..), here is the chance to move even more (just found it):

    Yet another domain provider is offering a $4.99 transfer deal.
    Domain.com will donate $1 of each transfer to Heifer International.
    Use coupon code FEEDAFRICA
    http://www.domain.com/blog/domaincom...p-feed-africa/

    Hope it helps some of us and if a part of the money is donated, even better. A Win-Win for all but Godaddy.

    side note: I don't agree with public slaughter for no real reason, if the meat was needed, they would simply have hunted the elephant by themselves instead of getting a rich man to do it - for him it WAS FOR FUN, everybody who has read about Bob P. knows he is ticking "that way" - the excuse of helping the people is ridiculous)
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Frei
    IMHO.
    I believe, it's all about context.
    If the GD CEO pre-framed the killing in his video to make it look like a clever fact-revealing documentary by saying: "Many people think that elephants are in danger. But visit the secluded village of Bla-bla and you will see that it's actually elephants who threaten the lives of the villagers. The brave men of the village fight those angry beasts day and night and they begged me for help."

    He didn't. Mistake.

    Namecheap should have proven that they actually deeply care about the elephants by showing some videos from past events in support of elephants(or wildlife in general). For example: "if you've been with us long enough you know about our strive to protect the environment. Here's video of us doing some charity thing back in 2009. And here are our photos of 2010 "Save the planet" camp. We can't stand silently watching the outrageous murder committed by the GD CEO. We want to help protect elephants.... And that's why only today we offer...."

    They didn't. Mistake.
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    • Profile picture of the author J Bold
      Originally Posted by Alex Frei View Post

      They didn't. Mistake.
      Ya, I think I could only say whether it was a mistake or not by having access to their accounting records and seeing the boost in business they had today.

      My complete guess is they did very well today and are laughing at all the people here giving their opinions about what they did wrong.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Frei
        Originally Posted by redicelander View Post

        Ya, I think I could only say whether it was a mistake or not by having access to their accounting records and seeing the boost in business they had today.

        My complete guess is they did very well today and are laughing at all the people here giving their opinions about what they did wrong.
        Good point.
        Well, I can judge from my own emotions. It's just me. Hence "IMHO" in my post.
        I have domains on GoDaddy and I don't enjoy this fact. But such a marketing move by Namecheap makes them look no better. So, I will not transfer to namecheap because of that move.
        And this could have been avoided. Well. It's just all my thoughts.

        Would be nice to see their stats
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    side note: I don't agree with public slaughter for no real reason, if the meat was needed, they would simply have hunted the elephant by themselves instead of getting a rich white man to do it
    Yes, but having Bob do it was an upsell.

    They reduce the elephant problem, get the elephant meat and they get the money Bob payed them for the privilege of hunting the elephant. As a bonus they also got some new clothes.

    Sounds to me like they are pretty savvy businessmen.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by christopher jon View Post

      Yes, but having Bob do it was an upsell.

      They reduce the elephant problem, get the elephant meat and they get the money Bob payed them for the privilege of hunting the elephant. As a bonus they also got some new clothes.

      Sounds to me like they are pretty savvy businessmen.
      That person's reasoning about why it was "wrong" to have anyone but the villagers do the hunting is naive and overly simplistic. There could be a number of possible reasons why Bob stepped into the picture, and just because he did the hunting does not necessarily make him an evil person.
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  • Profile picture of the author BizSeo
    The truth is, I don't think it will hurt GoDaddy in any way.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by BizSeo View Post

      The truth is, I don't think it will hurt GoDaddy in any way.
      Well some people in this thread have already moved domains away from them.

      Originally Posted by Brian Alaway View Post

      13 transferred with more to go
      Which means your thoughts are in fact flawed. The fact the news has shown this may also lose them a few more, not to mention potential future customers that may not go to them.

      I don't use them anyway and this wouldn't influence any business decision I made but can you explain, rather than just telling us what you think, why you think this won't affect them in any way?
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    Perhaps this would be of interest to this discussion.

    The Real Story Behind Bob Parson's Elephant-Killing "Safari" [PICS]

    As Paul Harvey would say, "And thats, the rest of the story..."
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  • Profile picture of the author Mega B
    I heard about this issue yesterday and it was not very nice to see the video,i am afraid these type of scenes happen everyday but and this is the differance people dont usually hear about it hence no one complains,but such a high profile person actually showing the public a video on this subject it will kick all the wheels of publicity into top gear and this must be seen as bad news for Godaddy.

    It does not matter if animals eat crops or not that is not the issue here the issue is that people can be high charged by seeing a animal culled,i think Goddady will have a big job to confince people to stay with them after this one but over time it will all be forgotten and everything will return to normal.Regarding the other issue of Namecheap trying to take advantage of the situation its business we are talking about here and of course it will happen and yes they will get a big influx of business from it but not sure if they will stay with them in the long run.

    I have most of my domains with Godaddy and yes i am happy about staying with them,they all have faults of course they do but some have more than other so this is why i will be staying with them.

    They say that any publicity is good publicity for a company,having the good looking girls like Danica Patrick is a smart move but shooting wild elephents and putting a video up on the net that is a dumb move and could be costly for them.
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  • Profile picture of the author antjinsan
    Wauw, this is gonna be a very hot topic in this forum! (if it isn't already!)
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  • Profile picture of the author fanatical
    Haven't watched the video as, frankly, I don't want that sort of thing to pollute my day. It might be that Namecheap are "exploiting" this for their own ends - I have no way of telling how much they care or don't care about elephants, but suspect they probably do care about lifetime customer value. If that coincides with their ethical position on a certain issue, so much the better.

    What I do like about it, though, is that Namecheap are giving consumers an opportunity to vote with their feet, thereby making their objection known, in a low hassle way. I'm all for customers withdrawing support from organisations whose ethics, social or environmental stance is not aligned with their own.

    (And I don't have any registrations with GoDaddy anyway as I found everything about their pages distasteful and never got past that.)
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    Charities We Support – Go Daddy Cares | Supporting Community Through Charitable Patronage

    GoDaddy.com Doubles Donation – Providing $100K to Arizona Humane Society SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.

    Go Daddy Dogs ‘Max & Chief’ Deliver $50K Donation to Help Arizona Pets SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.

    He's just so awful and mean!
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by christopher jon View Post

      Charities We Support - Go Daddy Cares | Supporting Community Through Charitable Patronage

      GoDaddy.com Doubles Donation - Providing $100K to Arizona Humane Society SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.

      Go Daddy Dogs 'Max & Chief' Deliver $50K Donation to Help Arizona Pets SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.

      He's just so awful and mean!
      Yeah ... and there's no evidence to support the fact that Namecheap gave a rat's ass about elephants until now. In fact, if you Google Namecheap charity, you don't get much back. Funny they have a sudden fondness for elephants.
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  • Profile picture of the author BillyL
    It's a dog-eat-dog-world so I think it's a smart move.

    How stupid can that GoDaddy guy be? He thought everyone would be OK with it?
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    Yeah ... and there's no evidence to support the fact that Namecheap gave a rat's ass about elephants until now. In fact, if you Google Namecheap charity, you don't get much back. Funny they have a sudden fondness for elephants.
    I heard a rumor that namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall went fishing once and he didn't throw the fish back.

    NOW what is everybody going to do!

    As if swallowing a hook doesn't suck enough, the poor fish is left to suffocate and die. That's straight out of SAW XXVII stuff. Think about it, really. Nobody has a problem with fishing and it's not exactly a cakewalk for the fish.

    OK, me an my sarcastic ass are going to go cook up some dead baby chickens. Yummy!

    He thought everyone would be OK with it?
    Well, the over emotional and irrational are throwing a hissy fit, the rest of us live in something called reality.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    Wow... I started this thread, when for a short travel to Malaysia, came back and see 3 pages full of comments!

    Nice one, guys, a lot of perspective given here.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
    Banned
    Regardless of how you feel on the matter, 12,116 domains have been moved from godaddy to namecheap, which is also $12,116 donated to help protect elephants.

    There is no doubt that godaddy lost thousands of customers from this pr disaster, not to mention at least $120,000 in revenue from domain hosting alone. That's not accounting for extra services like hosting and add ons.
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  • Profile picture of the author peter gibson
    Meh. IMO none of this has to do with the plight of elephants, or how absurd and disturbing the killing of wildlife is - when done for sport. It's about a guy who thinks he's untouchable, who happens to be grotesquely rich and arrogant, finally getting a proper beat down - all from a competitor that deserves the right to knock him off his high bloody horse. Namecheap OWNS Godaddy as far as quality of service, so now they get to pwn the dude with advertising. It would seem all is right in the world, at least for the next few moments.

    The fact that he's off in Zimbabwe or Kenya (or wherever the hell) shooting animals "just because" makes him even more the creepy SOB. Folks like that deserve a good kick in the crotch, so thank you Namecheap, thank you very much.

    I will say this, for those defending him as having accomplished something of humanitarian ilk (:rolleyes might I point out that most folks born and raised in the continental US have any number of domestic causes far better served by the philanthropic ambitions of a multi-millionaire - without having to travel to Africa with a gang and some guns and merrily end the life of truly awe-inspiring creatures. Or perhaps nobody's been getting the memos I've seen lately, showing the countless thousands of homeless soldiers, veterans who fought for his right to be filthy frikin rich. There's plenty he could be doing in his own neighborhood, stuff that doesn't require him getting various sick pleasures and "adventures" out of the deal.

    So, yeah, him going to Africa to help out some tribe from getting trampled to death... well it really deserves some perspective.

    This guy is a horses a$$, plenty of folks know it, and his own narcissism is now affording namecheap a mountaintop to shout it from. Good for namecheap IMO. I hope they suck the life from godaddy like hungry vampires. Godaddy has basked in a sea of "suck" for a long time now anyway.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by peter gibson View Post

      I will say this, for those defending him as having accomplished something of humanitarian ilk (:rolleyes might I point out that most folks born and raised in the continental US have any number of domestic causes far better served by the philanthropic ambitions of a multi-millionaire - without having to travel to Africa with a gang and some guns and merrily end the life of truly awe-inspiring creatures. Or perhaps nobody's been getting the memos I've seen lately, showing the countless thousands of homeless soldiers, veterans who fought for his right to be filthy frikin rich. There's plenty he could be doing in his own neighborhood, stuff that doesn't require him getting various sick pleasures and "adventures" out of the deal.
      Bob Parsons did his share in the Marine Corps fighting for the freedoms you are speaking about. He received the Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart.

      In addition, Godaddy is involved in numerous charities to the tune of $3M so far in 2011:

      Just a few of the organizations that have benefitted (or will benefit) from Go Daddy's generosity this year include Make A Wish Foundation, Starlight Children's Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Child Crisis Center of Arizona, and many others.
      Go Daddy Donates Nearly $3 Million So Far in 2011 | Elliot's Blog

      Go Daddy Cares | Supporting Community Through Charitable Patronage

      Try finding anything that Namecheap has done for charity other than it's recent $1 per domain transferred to them due to their new found interest in elephants.

      But oh ... he's an evil hunter as are thousands, probably millions of people throughout the world. :rolleyes:
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      • Profile picture of the author peter gibson
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        Bob Parsons did his share in the Marine Corps fighting for the freedoms you are speaking about. He received the Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart.

        In addition, Godaddy is involved in numerous charities to the tune of $3M so far in 2011:



        Go Daddy Donates Nearly $3 Million So Far in 2011 | Elliot's Blog

        Go Daddy Cares | Supporting Community Through Charitable Patronage

        Try finding anything that Namecheap has done for charity other than it's recent $1 per domain transferred to them due to their new found interest in elephants.

        But oh ... he's an evil hunter as are thousands, probably millions of people throughout the world. :rolleyes:
        I couldn't care less if he hunts, I have hunted and I don't consider myself evil. It's great fun and I'm a damned good shot, so I might even do it again before I die. That was not my point. But I do care when folks try and dumb down the fact that his hunting has absolutely nothing to do with the struggles of an African village, or to preserve life or help. He does it because he gets jollies from it, just like the good ol' boys I hang with some times.

        What I said is based on the premise that it doesn't matter what he shot or what continent he was on when it occurred; it matters that his company sux and thankfully he's stupid enough to give his competitor a way to offer folks better service for their money, and also help some folks avoid the rip off that is GD.

        As for his military service, the actions of a man in past incursions can't possibly speak for his character as it is today. After all, OJ was an awesome football player, once. There are plenty of bozos in this world who occasionally held puppies and handed lollipops to kids. What I'm talking about when it comes to that guy arrives in this thread due to my personal experience with the bloke. I met Bob Parsons years ago while staying at the same hotel in Dubai. He was there for a week, I was there for 6 months. But don't take my word for it, most of the waitresses at that hotel would also tell you he is a certified horses butt hole. Hell, he was so abrasive that my colleague at the time - an active duty marine - wanted to knock the guy out with his umbrella drink just from being in proximity to him.

        Don't get me wrong, a purple Heart is certainly not easy to earn, and deserves respect. But that aside, his company is simply NOT the charitable bunny rabbit you've just painted. If you need to see the crap godaddy have been pulling off for years, have a look at this link, or perhaps this one. Believe me, there's more where that came from.

        Godaddy has been accused of violating labor statutes for years. They have had many class action suits filed against them, regarding improper wage restrictions, among other fairly sleazy infractions. They've recently been accused of literally stealing the bonuses of their own employees, and some of those employees are also medal wearing veterans.

        As for the $3 000 000.00 in charitable donations, considering GoDaddy earns on average $750 million dollars a year, that's hardly what I would call an impressive effort, by any standard. What is that in terms of percentage, like .004? :rolleyes: Having said that, it sure is highly publicized when they offer that pittance percentage to various charities. There's a press release every time they donate for crying out loud.

        Call me when he gives a bit more to Aids Research than he spends on his latest sports car.

        Does namecheap donate to charity? Not my business, but perhaps they do and just forgot that press releases were necessary when helping the unfortunate. But I digress. Do they provide a superior service to godaddy? IMO, hands down, yes they do. So should they use his latest act of stupidity to get customers away from GD? IMO, hell to the yes.
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by peter gibson View Post

          Don't get me wrong, a purple Heart is certainly not easy to earn, and deserves respect. But that aside, his company is simply NOT the charitable bunny rabbit you've just painted. If you need to see the crap godaddy have been pulling off for years, have a look at this link, or perhaps this one. Believe me, there's more where that came from.
          Hey ... I get it. You don't like Bob Parsons or Godaddy. That's your right.

          I've done business with both them and Namecheap for years and have had nothing but good service from both companies.

          As for your NoDaddy link ... who hasn't read all that? Have you ever heard of the WF Sucks site? Anyone can build a site for a bunch of haters. I base my opinions of companies that I do business with on the service and value I receive from the company as a customer and I have no complaints.

          Glad that you do acknowledge that hunting is a popular sport that puts smiles on the faces of many men ... these guys love it ... but the good hunters IMO eat the kill or give it to those who will eat it.
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        • Profile picture of the author theimdude
          Originally Posted by peter gibson View Post

          As for the $3 000 000.00 in charitable donations, considering GoDaddy earns on average $750 million dollars a year, that's hardly what I would call an impressive effort, by any standard. What is that in terms of percentage, like .004? :rolleyes: Having said that, it sure is highly publicized when they offer that pittance percentage to various charities. There's a press release every time they donate for crying out loud.

          Call me when he gives a bit more to Aids Research than he spends on his latest sports car.
          Interesting as I understand it nobody forces anybody to donate - or would you prefer them not to donate?
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          • Profile picture of the author mmixon
            $750 million is SALES does not equal $750 million in profits. Most companies donate as a % of their net profit, not their gross sales.
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          • Profile picture of the author peter gibson
            Originally Posted by theimdude View Post

            Interesting as I understand it nobody forces anybody to donate - or would you prefer them not to donate?
            Not suggesting people be forced to donate, that they shouldn't donate, nor that there should be a set amount of donations, which is quite obvious when my point is put into the context of the rest of my conversation with sbucciarel.

            Put words in the mouths of folks who like that sort of thing, why dunchya. I was making an observation based on conditions brought about by someone else, while interacting with them. You're C-ing into an A B conversation, making a ridiculous assumption to bait an argument.

            Troll someone else.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tony_Brayley
        It's true, there are thousands of evil hunters in the world. However, not too many of them make videos of their killings and post them in the public domain. Not too many of them are owners of a company, the size and stature of Godaddy. Those hunters are evil and know they are evil, themselves.

        Bob Parsons is in a different category.

        Is he an evil hunter thug, like the rest of them?

        Or is he an evil hunter thug, like the rest of them...with money (Truckloads of cash!!!)?

        Bob Parsons knows it is wrong what he does. He also knows that there is another way. Use some of your wealth to help the villagers by helping the elephants.

        Don't shroud your perversion for hunting endangered species with "I'm helping people".

        I guess my whole thing is this: The man's got so much money, he could accomplish what's necessary using his money, not his elephant-gun.

        It's because he has so much that I look down on what he has done/does. He could've been a shining example of what someone with super-wealth can accomplish.

        But no. He chose the other path.

        Tony.
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Tony_Brayley View Post

          It's true, there are thousands of evil hunters in the world. However, not too many of them make videos of their killings and post them in the public domain. Not too many of them are owners of a company, the size and stature of Godaddy. Those hunters are evil and know they are evil, themselves.

          Bob Parsons is in a different category.

          Is he an evil hunter thug, like the rest of them?

          Or is he an evil hunter thug, like the rest of them...with money (Truckloads of cash!!!)?

          Bob Parsons knows it is wrong what he does. He also knows that there is another way. Use some of your wealth to help the villagers by helping the elephants.

          Don't shroud your perversion for hunting endangered species with "I'm helping people".

          I guess my whole thing is this: The man's got so much money, he could accomplish what's necessary using his money, not his elephant-gun.

          It's because he has so much that I look down on what he has done/does. He could've been a shining example of what someone with super-wealth can accomplish.

          But no. He chose the other path.

          Tony.
          That's just your opinion that hunters are evil. Are you a vegetarian or just being hypocritical? I mean if in fact, you condone eating cows and pigs and chickens raised in cramped conditions and sent to the slaughterhouse to be murdered, but don't condone hunting, well, that's hypocritical.

          I eat meat and in fact have been raised on deer meat and other wild game. My father and brother are hunters and have put meat on our table all our lives.

          And yes, men (and very few women) do actually enjoy the sport of hunting while providing meat for their families. They think sitting out in the woods by a campfire with their hunting buddies, farting and telling hunting stories is great fun. I'm not a hunter so I can't relate to that scene ... I'm just the cook who puts the meal on the table.

          But if you're anti-hunting and a vegetarian, that's a belief you have a right to, but stick to the facts. The elephant in Zimbabwe is not an endangered species. The government sells a certain amount of elephant licenses every year for a very high price and elephant hunting is strictly regulated.
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          • Profile picture of the author Tony_Brayley
            Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

            That's just your opinion that hunters are evil. Are you a vegetarian or just being hypocritical? I mean if in fact, you condone eating cows and pigs and chickens raised in cramped conditions and sent to the slaughterhouse to be murdered, but don't condone hunting, well, that's hypocritical.

            I eat meat and in fact have been raised on deer meat and other wild game. My father and brother are hunters and have put meat on our table all our lives.

            And yes, men (and very few women) do actually enjoy the sport of hunting while providing meat for their families. They think sitting out in the woods by a campfire with their hunting buddies, farting and telling hunting stories is great fun. I'm not a hunter so I can't relate to that scene ... I'm just the cook who puts the meal on the table.

            But if you're anti-hunting and a vegetarian, that's a belief you have a right to, but stick to the facts. The elephant in Zimbabwe is not an endangered species. The government sells a certain amount of elephant licenses every year for a very high price and elephant hunting is strictly regulated.

            NOPE.....It is not my opinion that all hunters are evil! What I said was that there are thousands of evil hunters out there. I did not say that all hunters are evil!

            I am not a hypocrite. I'm okay with hunting for the right reasons. I eat meat and have had my share of deer etc. I don't hunt. Not my scene either. In a time where we need to watch what the heck we are doing out there, there he is recording this kill and publicizing it.

            I stand corrected, about the elephant being an endangered species. In almost every part of Africa it is an Appendix 1 endangered species, except for Zimbabwe (Did a bit of research since my last post. Should've done it first, apologies.). In Zimbabwe it is an Appendix 2 endangered species.

            In the big picture, it is a species that's not in good shape and I don't think that's an arguable fact.

            Based on what you say about the elephant licenses, it would be interesting to know if Parsons purchased one of those expensive licenses.
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            • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
              Banned
              Originally Posted by Tony_Brayley View Post

              Based on what you say about the elephant licenses, it would be interesting to know if Parsons purchased one of those expensive licenses.
              Yes ... he has done so for six years, and has posted a video of his hunt for at least several years and plans on continuing it. He's non-plussed about all the hoopla reportedly. Personally, I would have kept my videos private, but he is a hunter and stands by his belief that feeding the villagers is a good thing, whether it offends others or not.

              If elephants in Zimbabwe are a "troubled" species, in danger ... it is due to the greed of the government of Zimbabwe. I read a report that they over estimate the amount of elephants in Zimbabwe so that they can sell more of the expensive licenses to make more money.
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              • Profile picture of the author Tony_Brayley
                Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

                Yes ... he has done so for six years, and has posted a video of his hunt for at least several years and plans on continuing it. He's non-plussed about all the hoopla reportedly. Personally, I would have kept my videos private, but he is a hunter and stands by his belief that feeding the villagers is a good thing, whether it offends others or not.

                If elephants in Zimbabwe are a "troubled" species, in danger ... it is due to the greed of the government of Zimbabwe. I read a report that they over estimate the amount of elephants in Zimbabwe so that they can sell more of the expensive licenses to make more money.
                Thanks for the info. Suzanne.

                This has all been an education for me. About the elephant situation but also to do my homework first, BEFORE I open my pie-hole. Lol.

                Cheers,

                Tony.
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  • Profile picture of the author theAdviserMe
    Parsons is simply horrible...there is no enough justification for his act. And he got the balls to post the video of his exploit...
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
    Banned
    According to Save the elephants!, over 15,000 domains have been transferred from gd to namecheap. I wonder if they've extended the coupon to beyond 24 hours.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
      Originally Posted by Joshua Rigley View Post

      According to Save the elephants!, over 15,000 domains have been transferred from gd to namecheap. I wonder if they've extended the coupon to beyond 24 hours.
      I hope not.

      Why?

      Because then we could see who the REAL anti-hunters are. It's easy for people to jump on a bandwagon if they're being bribed to do so. Let's see how many really care, how many are willing to pay the full NameCheap price because of Parsons' actions.

      All the best,
      Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrea Wilson
    Honestly I think it is a real smart move. How many domain registars spend their time on mailing people about this news in taking action? Uh-Namecheap has made some noise and I am pretty sure that this has been an effective approach to get people moving.

    Just dunno if Godaddy has intentions on spreading the word after having the video shoot though. Did they intend to become popular with this way of marketing?

    Andrea
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Andrea Wilson View Post

      Honestly I think it is a real smart move. How many domain registars spend their time on mailing people about this news in taking action? Uh-Namecheap has made some noise and I am pretty sure that this has been an effective approach to get people moving.

      Just dunno if Godaddy has intentions on spreading the word after having the video shoot though. Did they intend to become popular with this way of marketing?

      Andrea
      Well, therein lies the whole mystery to this. Bob Parsons should have been smart enough to know that this kind of backlash would happen from the video. I guess his enthusiasm for hunting overshadowed common sense. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author simonjwarner
    Firstly If Bob Parsons goes around hunting elephants with a Go Daddy hat on, its his own fault.

    I used Namecheap a few weeks ago and found it much better than the "would you like any frys" style of Godaddys check out.

    As someone who is anti guns n hunting, it would have swayed me even if I already given up on godaddy.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by thehypnoman View Post

      I used Namecheap a few weeks ago and found it much better than the "would you like any frys" style of Godaddys check out.
      As was mentioned above by someone, I find it amusing and ironic that a forum full of marketers are so appalled by upsells ... unless, of course, it is their upsells.
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      • Profile picture of the author simonjwarner
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        As was mentioned above by someone, I find it amusing and ironic that a forum full of marketers are so appalled by upsells ... unless, of course, it is their upsells.
        Oh, I'm not appalled, just I like a faster checkout when I getting a domain!
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        • Profile picture of the author theimdude
          If a elephant was running a mock in a 1st world country destroying crops and get killed would there be such a big problem. No .... and the meat will not even feed the hungry.

          But here a successful business man have been going to Africa for 6 years helping with this problem at "his cost" and then after 6 years decide to make a video and use it for marketing now he is bad news.

          There was a need and not a greed, peoples crops got saved and some people got food so what is the problem.

          I suppose if it was a not so important business man it would not even haved made youtube.

          Ok so godaggy CEO is sleazeball some say.

          Why because he upsells, give good discount coupons, use hot chicks to market his company, give away millions to charity.

          So for this this sleazeball that have just lost 15000 domains do you really think that $100K is make a difference to the company income.

          I mean these that transferred is only $1 domain hunters and will buy again from godaddy as soon as they find a $1 coupon

          In the Kruger Park 100's of elephants get culled all the time to control them , so what is the big deal
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      • Profile picture of the author mmixon
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        As was mentioned above by someone, I find it amusing and ironic that a forum full of marketers are so appalled by upsells ... unless, of course, it is their upsells.
        lol...good one, and true too!
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  • Profile picture of the author cyong
    i think this is wrong move by namecheap, sending the video is still ok but asking people to transfer from godaddy to namecheap is a bad move1!

    CY
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  • Profile picture of the author mmixon
    Forgot to mention that elephant meat tastes like chicken, and an elephant feeds lots more villagers than a chicken. Can you imagine the size of those drumsticks? How about a ele-fil-a sandwich!

    As far as the number of customers that went to name cheap from godaddy, IMHO most went for the coupon, not out of protest of Bob Parsons or to support save the elephants. Just wait, in a few weeks, Parsons will offer a "come back to godaddy" coupon, and you will have a flood of people headed back the other way.

    I've purchased domains from both, and I am happy with both. Glad to hear that Bob Parsons is a war hero, that godaddy donates lots of $$$ to charity, and that Bob is a manly man that likes to hunt.

    I like a company that stands up for what they believe in. And if hunting bothers you, and if you are afraid of guns, you need to go on over to Name Cheap. Or you could just send a check to save the elephants, save the whales, anti-gun coalition of America, PETA or whoever makes you happy.
    Can't we all just get along?

    Seriously, I don't do business with many companies because I don't like their politics, or corporate culture, or because they have marketing parties at the playboy mansion. It's my choice, and yours.
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  • Profile picture of the author dejoliet31
    Hey, I am against animal cruelty but then whose definition are we going to use to decide where it begins. I,for one, believe you have to look at intent. Bob Parson's intentions (based on his statements) we good. His PR was lousy. The video was DUMB for a whole lot of reasons. But who of us hasn't made a mess of implementing our good intentions at some point.

    So while Namecheap has every right to use the misstep to their marketing advantage (because we have seemingly come to the rationalization that all is fair in love, war and marketing), I think the gains may be short-lived while the distaste lingers for a great while.

    I am no marketing genius, but I think being appalled while not pouncing would have accomplished the same results without the bloodletting. (Okay... call me compassionate or naive.)

    In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a customer of both registrars and am not transferring my domains.
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  • Profile picture of the author seosoldier
    I will definitely check out name cheap next time I buy a domain. I can't stand people who kill beautiful wild animals for sport and godaddy should have been smart enough to keep this to himself and not advertise his controversial "sport". The stupidity of telling everyone how he loves to kill elephants is another good reason not to use godaddy. He should have kept it quiet.
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  • Profile picture of the author monkeygirl
    I have 40 domains registered with GoDaddy ... and guess what? They are loosing every single one of them! Sick, sick, sick! Such rare and precious animals these elephants are, and to think killing one brings such joy to some people. There is no excuse. NONE. Feeding villagers? Are you kidding me? What a ridiculous excuse. 7 billion humans on the earth and growing. Hunger is not exactly reducing our population. Birth control would help tons with the problems in Africa.

    When mankind has polluted every bit of air and water, the lakes have been drained, the last animals have been killed, the last trees have been cut down, then he will finally figure out that he can't survive by eating money.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by monkeygirl View Post

      There is no excuse. NONE. Feeding villagers? Are you kidding me? What a ridiculous excuse. 7 billion humans on the earth and growing. Hunger is not exactly reducing our population. Birth control would help tons with the problems in Africa.
      A 2009 report released by Save the Children found that 10 out of the 13 million people still in Zimbabwe live in abject poverty, struggling to access food and other essentials
      Your love of elephants is admirable ... who doesn't love elephants? I doubt that your suggestion that starving, poverty stricken Zimbabwe citizens use birth control will reach their villages. They're kind of busy tending fires and beating pots and pans together in a desperate and futile attempt to keep some elephants out of the crops that they are trying to grow to feed their starving children. And ... I doubt Mr. Parsons will notice the loss of your 40 domains, or even care. Godaddy is kind of a real big company.
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    • Profile picture of the author mmixon
      Originally Posted by monkeygirl View Post

      I have 40 domains registered with GoDaddy ... and guess what? They are loosing every single one of them! Sick, sick, sick! Such rare and precious animals these elephants are, and to think killing one brings such joy to some people. There is no excuse. NONE. Feeding villagers? Are you kidding me? What a ridiculous excuse. 7 billion humans on the earth and growing. Hunger is not exactly reducing our population. Birth control would help tons with the problems in Africa.

      When mankind has polluted every bit of air and water, the lakes have been drained, the last animals have been killed, the last trees have been cut down, then he will finally figure out that he can't survive by eating money.
      No excuse? How about feeding the villagers for one. It's not like they can hop in the car and drive down to the Piggly Wiggly and buy groceries. The elephants had destroyed their crops. The bull elephant was shot...the leader of the heard. And this act not only saved their crops from future poaching by the elephants, but it provided meat for the villagers.

      Guess you've never been poor, and had to worry where the next meal was coming from.
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    • Profile picture of the author King Louie
      Originally Posted by monkeygirl View Post

      Hunger is not exactly reducing our population. Birth control would help tons with the problems in Africa.
      This is a ridiculous statement. Surely, you haven't heard of famines and mass starvation in Africa.

      About birth control, well, rich countries can buy all the pills, condoms, IUDs and other artificial contraception methods and educate their people about birth control. Try that in poverty-stricken countries with low levels of literacy, where people are still clinging to native traditions and cultures.
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Lover
    Creepy guy who uses disgusting Marketing tatics, however on the other side of the spectrum. Thinks out of the box and pushes his grubby little ploy in front of peoples nose's, hence gaining him more money in the long run and lasting customers.
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.

      As of this post, NameCheap's BYEBYEGD raised $20,433. That amount divided
      by $4.99 per domain equals to about 4,094 to 4,095 domains transferred.

      Doesn't seem much, depending where you see it. Then again, not everything
      in life's about money.
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      David

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      • Profile picture of the author Kezz
        Originally Posted by davezan View Post

        Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.

        As of this post, NameCheap's BYEBYEGD raised $20,433. That amount divided
        by $4.99 per domain equals to about 4,094 to 4,095 domains transferred.

        Doesn't seem much, depending where you see it. Then again, not everything
        in life's about money.
        They donated $1 per domain, so that's 20,433 domains all up. That in turn translates to around $204,330 annual revenue from domain renewals plus whatever other revenue comes with the lifetime value of each new customer.
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  • Profile picture of the author yesucandoit
    Interesting posts.

    Thanks may they continue.

    I do now know who I will not be buying from on this forum period and who I will be more interested in buying from in the future.

    If people want to continue to support this creep after this well then continue to be part of the problem. Just watch out for Karma it will be a coming. You can kid yourself all you want. No Im skills will help you with that one.
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  • Profile picture of the author zachary0611
    I have always had my domains with namecheap, but I think we have bigger problems to worry about than what Bob Parsons is doing. Like the fact the U.S. is in 14 trillions dollars of debt, we are fighting 3 different wars, teenagers are getting their legs blown off in war, we are in a recession, and etc. etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
    That is very weird but Bob is a good guy I think and funny.

    He has some hot girls workin for him LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    OMG!

    Not this thread again.

    They donated $1 per domain, so that's 20,433 domains all up.
    It's still chump change compared to what godaddy has donated to animal rights organizations and animal shelters.

    That in turn translates to around $204,330 annual revenue from domain renewals plus whatever other revenue comes with the lifetime value of each new customer.
    And all of that additional revenue goes into the pockets of namecheap, not helping elephants.

    So, to tally up the score:

    godaddy: -1 for bad PR

    namecheap: +1 for takeing advantage of a situation

    the heard: following, like always
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  • Profile picture of the author housewarrior
    Here am I looking for a deal months later. I ax you...I AX YOU THIS question.... What about ALL the elephants AFTER 3/31/11? Hmmn??! Don't they deserve your support??? You know they are all sad and crying now because you ran away after your life saving special ended.

    I ax you as one elephant enthusiast to another. Don't you think it is about time to run this special again? I'll throw $49.99 bucks of support your way to help save innocent elephants.

    Don't do it for me. Don't do it for you. Do it for the elephants. Do it now. Do it today. Run your elephant support special again. The elephants are crying and pleading, and depending on you... Oh, and be sure to send me a note so I can work with you on this matter by transferring my domains at a discounted price.

    Elephants never forget. You don't forget either. Coupon me now! Let's get to work!


    Give us another coupon and save an elephant! Do it for the elephant!


    Show your protest by saying BYEBYEGD again and transfer your domains to Namecheap for $4.99 for the next 24 hours through 11:59pm EST on 3/31/11 (limit 10 per user, valid for all com/net/org domains).
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