The ongoing national nightmare of Tiger Woods continues. No, I'm talking about the absurd coverage of the Masters where sports networks very often skipped mentioning who was actually LEADING the tournament so they could keep us up to date how Tiger was doing. It astounds me when a single player transcends his sport to the point that the actual sports becomes a sidebar. There's no sports figure I care that much about. But that's another issue for another day.
I'm more interested in the newest Nike-Tiger TV ad. If you've seen it you know it's something very different for this campaign. I have to admit that my first reaction was that it was all rather creepy. In the ad Tiger never says a word. He just kind of looks out at you without emotion. Nothing positive, nothing negative. He just kind of stands there while this voice talks. My second reaction was "Whose voice is that?" because it was clearly not Tiger's. As it turns out it's the voice of Tiger's late father Earl. That's an interesting choice because Earl was clearly the most important voice in the process that made Tiger the golfer that he has been. For a lot of us there's always that voice from our past that we "hear" guiding us as we face life, the voice of that one person who played a pivotal role in our growth. For me, like Tiger, that voice is my father's. So in a time when Woods is being forced to face the greatest failure of his life it's the appropriate voice to have speaking. My third reaction was after I'd heard the spot a couple times. It struck me that I wanted the questions to be harder. If Tiger was going to put his appeal for redemption on TV for everyone to see I did not want to feel like any punches were being pulled. And when the toughest question is "What did you learn" it felt too easy.
In the end the real question is about why Nike decided to get involved this way. They were one of the corporate sponsors who DIDN'T bail on him. The reason for that is probably simple business. Nike has a lot of money invested in their Nike Golf brand and that brand is deeply intertwined with Tiger Woods. Drop Tiger and you have to re-build the brand from the ground up. The cost of that decision is enough to make even Nike flinch. Now the question is was the decision to create the kind of ad they did gutsy or just in bad taste? I'll admit I'm torn on that question. I am sure of one thing from watching this ad. Tiger should have been listening to his father's advice a whole lot sooner than now.
Call that the view from the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
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