Internet star is latest Go Daddy girl
by Jane Larson - Aug. 7, 2009 04:15 PM
The Arizona Republic
Go Daddy Group Inc. turned to the dictionary to find its newest spokeswoman.
Marina Orlova, a Russian-born former teacher who turns up the sexuality to explain the origin of words on her HotforWords videos, was named this week as the newest Go Daddy Girl.
She joins auto racer Danica Patrick, golfer Anna Rawson and others in touting the services of the Scottsdale-based domain-name registrar. "Marina is a classic fit for Go Daddy," chief executive officer Bob Parsons said in a statement. "She is very intelligent. She is all about the Internet and leveraging it for business."
Wired.com viewers voted Orlova among the world's sexiest geeks for two years. A New Yorker magazine blogger called her the sexiest philologist in the world.
Philology, as Orlova explains on one video, comes from the Greek words "philos" for love and "logos" for words, meaning love of words.
If you haven't heard of her, you probably haven't watched much YouTube or "O'Reilly Factor" lately.
Orlova's videos have received more than 213 million hits on the video-sharing Web site, and she has been a guest on the Fox television show several times. She also runs the videos on her Web site, www.hotforwords.com, which Go Daddy hosts.
HarperCollins is due to publish her book, "Hot for Words: Answers to All Your Burning Questions about Words and Their Meanings," later this month. The firm says Orlova holds two degrees in philology and taught English and world literature to Russian high school students before coming to the United States six years ago to prepare for her doctorate.
With the Internet, though, she discovered a much broader classroom. The words and phrases Orlova explains to her video-watching "students" include sexual slang, and she frequently delivers her lessons in tight or low-cut tops.
Go Daddy, for its part, is known for sexual humor in its TV commercials.
The company first approached Orlova to be a guest on Parsons' weekly Internet radio show, then asked her to appear the same day in one of his video blogs, spokeswoman Elizabeth Driscoll said. "Both went very well and Bob decided to make her an offer," Driscoll said.
Besides Patrick and Rawson, Go Daddy Girls include TV commercial star Candice Michelle and professional poker player Vanessa Rousso.
The company says it plans to name one more Go Daddy Girl later this summer.
