Dark Green News!
GoDaddy CEO shoots elephants to make viral videos?
[Apr. 1]
Have you heard this dark green news yet about the Go Daddy CEO hunting elephants for sport? Protestors are not yet upset with racing legend and television commercial celebrity Danica Patrick for her role as a GoDaddy girl. Danica Patrick, who is an Indianapolis 500 star the first woman to win an Indy race in the 2008 Indy Japan 300. She currently drives the GoDaddy car for Andretti Autosport. She had nothing to do with Parsons’ elephant hunt. Nor are people referencing The Biggest Loser reality star and celebrity health and fitness trainer, Jillian Michaels, who is known for her GoDaddy commercial appearance as the latest GoDaddy girl for the 2011 Superbowl. She remarked on her Facebook page that a non-televised and revealing picture of her hidden only by a GoDaddy logo was “tragic.” But CEO of GoDaddy, Bob Parsons, has come under fire for a viral video he released last month, which details his participation in killing a bull elephant in Zimbabwe, Africa. The viral video shows Bob Parsons firing the fatal shot. While only one bull elephant was killed in the hunt, the viral video has taken the internet by storm, and he is lacking in green celebrity points according to many.
Whether stars Danica Patrick or Jillian Michaels approve or disapprove of the elephant hunt viral video Bob Parsons released is unclear. What is clear is a lot of people are protesting GoDaddy and encouraging both Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels to distance themselves from not so green celebrity CEO Bob Parsons.
Some have taken a more neutral position. And Bob Parsons has attempted to explain this green celebrity faux pas and paint it in a brighter green light. He argues that he is in fact a green celebrity. No joke. It’s not his April Fool’s day claim.
According to the LA Times, Parsons has this to say about his African safari hunting and animal killing adventures:
I spend a few weeks in Zimbabwe each year helping the farmers deal with problem elephants. The people there have very little, many die each year from starvation and one of the problems they have is the elephants, of which there are thousands and thousands, that trash many of their fields destroying the crops. The tribal authorities request that I and others like me, patrol the fields before and during the harvest — we can’t cover them all, there are just a few of us — and drive the elephant from the fields.
It’s true that elephants can become a problem for villagers living on subsistence farming, though there are other strategies for turning away the elephants. But Bob Parsons argues that tactics like making noise, starting fires, and keeping up fences do not necessarily deter a “problem elephant” like the one he shot.
Bob Parsons goes on to say the elephant he killed is enough to deter an entire herd, and he says the village makes use of the entire kill, feeding the village for weeks on the crops savings and the elephant meat.
The renewed interest in protecting elephants in the both captivity and in the wild comes at a time when newly married Hollywood starlet Reese Witherspoon and Twilight actor Robert Pattinson are about release the film Water For Elephants into major motion picture theaters.
Was the kill in Zimbabwe worth the effort, or could Bob Parsons have used his financial resources to better serve the villagers? Is he a green celebrity or a heartless killer? Should people boycott GoDaddy.com or simply fail to agree with Bob Parsons decision on how to not let African elephants run a muck? Tell us what you think by leaving your remarks in the comments section below.