Goodbye, “GoDaddy” for #BlackoutTuesday?

I visited the GoDaddy home page this morning and was taken aback a bit. The homepage looked quite a bit different to me. Instead of the black and teal or black and green color scheme, there was a stark black and white color scheme in its place. An even more prominent change is that the relatively new GoDaddy logo has been replaced by its icon in grey on black. I do not see a single “GoDaddy” reference at all on the home page without scrolling down. The only colors I see are in the photos.

Here’s a screenshot of the home page right now:

Here’s a screenshot of the GoDaddy home page from the end of May, courtesy of Archive.org:

After I tweeted about it, Nick Nelson mentioned it could be related to #BlackoutTuesday, which seems likely, but that doesn’t fully explain why the black and white GoDaddy logo was also removed from the website.

I looked at GoDaddy’s Twitter page, and it is just as stark with a black header and black and grey icon. There are no mentions about #BlackoutTuesday, but that could be related to some feedback that the hashtag mentions were doing more harm than good as it made it more challenging to find important information.

For the past few years, GoDaddy has taken a more active leadership role when it comes to social issues. I recall that GoDaddy faced a some backlash when it posted its GoDaddy logo with a rainbow backdrop via its social media channels. I would not be surprised if this subtle change (without social mentions of it) is the company’s way of showing support for Black Lives Matter movement.

Last night, GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani posted a self-written poem to express his feelings about what has been happening, and it is worth a read:

Last night I had to pause and
write a poem to process my own feelings.
No intention to speak for anyone else.

—-
For my parents, many others,
their generation in parts of the world,
the accomplishment of a life’s work,

— Aman Bhutani (@sh0kunin) June 1, 2020

was to become an American. Embrace,
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
They left behind family and friends,
a smile of loneliness in their new home.
All for one, and one reason only,

— Aman Bhutani (@sh0kunin) June 1, 2020

a different life for their children.

America, our challenging history,
one most cannot fully comprehend.
Discrimination has no place here.
Racism has no place here.
Violence has no place here.
And I don’t know what to do. Refuge,
in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
…

— Aman Bhutani (@sh0kunin) June 1, 2020

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.”

The world looks to America.
To make opportunity inclusive for all.
We can do our part, and we must.

— Aman Bhutani (@sh0kunin) June 1, 2020

I reached out to a GoDaddy representative to ask about the home page changes, and I will share an update when I hear back.

Update: GoDaddy sent me a statement about the logo and color scheme changes.