America was stunned Sunday when Danica Patrick, star of a series of increasingly degrading commercials for GoDaddy, got into an open-wheel race car and nearly won the Indy 500. When reached for comment, GoDaddy's CEO said, "Is she the one with the great cans? No, the other one."
↵I have no problem with female athletes using their attractiveness to fight their way into a crowded public consciousness, but I continue to wish that Patrick wouldn't do it in such terrible commercials. At least Maria Sharapova hawks digital cameras; Anna Kournikova managed to parlay a less-than-stellar tennis career into a starring role on The Biggest Loser. But Danica Patrick continues to appear in a series of ads premised, it seems, on a really creepy Web 1.5 CEO who hires attractive women to strip tease for him on camera.
↵This is like Michael Jordan foregoing sneakers, back in the mid-80s, to sell his likeness on the "Air Jordan" series of cut-rate fetish gear. I get why Danica Patrick needs to take her chance to become a wealthy public figure while she has the chance, but here's hoping her next gig feels less like outtakes from a North Korean porn.
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