Holding Tiger by the tail.
April 8th, 2010
Author: Nancy Smith
Have you seen the new Nike commercial? The one where Tiger, looking contrite, listens to the voice of his father from the beyond. To be honest, I hate the commercial. It aggravates the hell out of me that Nike is making such an effort to rehabilitate the image of a man who has been, and probably still is, such a flagrant liar and narcissist.
Do they really need him? I think not. The Nike brand could have easily moved on. The brand was inspirational and cutting edge before Tiger and could continue to be without him.
Of course, Nike has a lot invested in Tiger, and now he’s more high-profile than ever. They are betting in the long run he will continue to be one of the most dominant athletes of our time and we will forgive and forget everything else. Since they decided to stick with him, a brilliant strategy was needed to bridge the gap.
I must admit, this new commercial represents a brilliant strategy. Nike taps into the fear of abandonment an athlete or anyone might feel when faced with failure. Nike of course embraces the imperfections in all of us and promises to stick by us until we become the best we can be.
All that being said, I’m not buying it.
What do you think?
Beau Rivage
Boomtown Casino
Pocono Mountains
FireKeepers Casino
Makes you wonder what the quote was originally in reference to.
He admitted he has a problem, what more do you want? It wasn’t his fault the public thought he was such a great guy, I’m sure a lot of that was the PR guys and our belief that sports athletes are above general human flaws.
I think the ad is just Nike stirring it up a little, getting their name into the press and then when he gets back to dominating golf they’ll be able to continue riding the wave. (basically what you said)
I disagree in response to the statement “Do they really need him? I think not. The Nike brand could have easily moved on. The brand was inspirational and cutting edge before Tiger and could continue to be without him.”
Yes, I think they need him because while the Nike brand could move on, their golf brand could not, or at least not in the style of how they run their company. They rely so heavily on sponsorships to sell their products, but there isn’t anyone else like Tiger in the game. You can’t sponsor the whole league, and even if you do, once you drop Tiger, someone else would pick him up, and 5 years down the road, all this won’t matter. Since they’ve already invested in him, may as well accept the additional press, and try to use the “all press is good press” to their advantage. As soon as he wins a couple of tournaments, golf will be back to normal (Tiger vs. all). Unlike some of the other companies that sponsored him, Nike was there because of his performance, not his ethics.
But really, why is Earl saying all this, was it about one of his moments of anger and he threw a club or something? Sounds like it was a big deal at the time.
NIKE= High Road-I like it
Jon, You make some very good points in your post. The only think I disagree with is “it wasn’t his fault the public thought he was such a good guy”. Come on…he personally carefully crafted his image/brand to make BIG bucks. He took hundreds of millions of dollars from his sponsors and then screwed them big time by not fulfilling the terms of his contracts – to act in a reasonably socially acceptable manner. Even if you don’t want to judge him for his failings in his personal life, his business ethics aren’t so great either.
Thanks again for posting. I love a lively discussion!
haha, OK, yes that was a bit of stretch.
Do you think he tried that hard to craft his image, or it more or less fell in his lap from his on course reliability?
I don’t think he pursued his sponsors, I think they found him. (really, who would pursue buick?)
You’ve got a point about Buick.
The commercial is brilliant and it again solidifies Nike as a leader in branding, advertising, marketing, etc. The goal of this ad is not to excuse Tiger, but to remind the American public that Tiger is one of the greatest athletes of all time and Nike stands by its athletes. It is about the sport and Tiger will never again speak of his indiscretions – it is now time to play his game.
My questions to you and to many people that have an issue with Tiger: Do you watch golf? Do you honestly think that Tiger’s private life has an bearing on his ability to play the game? Did Bill Clinton’s private life affect him as a President or any man in a position of power and authority throughout history for that matter?
I feel your entire article is flimsy and without merit. It is simply your opinion and not even a well formed one. Tiger haters are not news nor is your opinion of this commercial.
Dear Tiger Lover,
Actually we agree. The commercial was brilliant. It created a much needed bridge for consumers to cross taking them past this “episode”. Many people crossed it. I didn’t. I admire Tiger as an athlete and golfer and always will. As a pitch man and credible human being, not so much. This commercial is already old news. But as an advertising case study I think it will be valuable for a long time.
Tiger’s dad reaching out from the grave to reprimand him for his behavior? Give me a break, Nike..
The man who said it best was Billy Payne, President of Augusta National during The Masters:
“Finally, we are not unaware of the significance of this week to a very special player, Tiger Woods. A man who in a brief 13 years clearly and emphatically proclaimed and proved his game to be worthy of the likes of Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. As he ascended in our rankings of the world’s great golfers, he became an example to our kids that success is directly attributable to hard work and effort.
“But as he now says himself, he forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility. It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here; it is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grand kids. Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children. … We at Augusta hope and pray that our great champion will begin his new life here tomorrow in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner, but this time, with a significant difference from the past.”
Tiger has gone through alot this year and of course he will stumble when it comes to his concentration. Give it a couple months and if anyone can bounce back, he would be the first choice. This guy is the most talented golfer in the entire galaxy and i’m sure the golf fans can’t wait to see him get back to form.
Nike should be working on their own image. They have not been inspiring anything I would consider good, though maybe cutting edge. They were cutting edge in figuring out how the American business could lower costs without bringing back domestic slavery conditions. They along with the brilliant and inspirational Apple corporation as well as thousands of other giant conglomerates have sold the American worker up the river for cheap labor in countries that don’t support common ethical labor, trade and business practices. These trendy corporations are only brilliant at distracting beer guzzling Americans with flashy ads, while never allowing the major media to report on conditions at factories they operate in third world countries. They have even decided to incur fines for child labor violations because in the end it is still cheaper than using good honest labor practices. It is these giant corporations that have kept America from being a sustainable and free agrarian society and turned us into a mass of consumers and sales people that don’t know how anything is built or maintained. We are all trust fund graphic designers or vintage clothing re-marketers… Its all about the marketing campaigns in this country. We are very quick to forget that a lot of people suffer to make us comfortable. To make sure we don’t ever stop reading ads on a screen with pretty visual effects. It shouldn’t be Tiger Woods stupid public image we are so concerned with. He doesn’t affect our daily lives unless your putting money on him performing one way or another. Otherwise who cares, he cheated on some woman you don’t know… He had everything and threw it away. Its a great America drama, but maybe if people would un-glue theirs eyes from the television for a moment they would realize life is full of dramatic affairs. We have heroin use at epidemic proportions, children suffering men, women and people somewhere between having all different kinds of relationships with each other. We have guns and violence and police brutality and we have to watch Tiger Woods to satiate our drama-fit. Its really repugnant what people seem to think is important while their children are sneaking in after gotten wasted and raped at a party that they can’t communicate to the people that are supposed to be there for them. Wake up and smell the drama, you don’t need your television and the Tiger Woods campaigns, that should never, ever be the most important thing you have to write about in your life.
-love Jake