[Photo: Jalopnik] 

The other day, I posted about Toyota’s luxury car brand Lexus being the exclusive sponsor of the U.S. Open. As the main sponsor, one of the things the company demanded was the non showing of commercials of other automakers throughout the airing of the event. Makes sense, right? There’s nothing wrong with that.

But, many were surprised when Lexus blocked the airing of a GoDaddy commercial. That’s GoDaddy, the leading provider of online domains. It sells web sites, not cars, but its commercial was blocked because it was featuring a vintage Ford Mustang. Makes sense? Not really.

The thirty-second commercial was entitled Speeding, and it shows Go Daddy girl Danica Patrick in the Ford Mustang. According to Consumer Electronics Net, it has already been approved by sensors. And in fact, it has already aired in various events like the NHL Stanley Cup Finals and NBC’s Senior PGA.

Many are now questioning this strange move of the Japanese automaker, especially with some reports saying that it has allowed Acura (another Japanese automaker) to show its ads on the said event. Now, isn’t this a strike against American automakers? Funny thing is, it’s the U.S. Open, an American event. Tsk tsk tsk.

Bad move for Lexus, and additional publicity for Go Daddy.