Changing Tiger's Stripes

The new Tiger Woods Nike spot has been described as edgy. I'll use a different term: Risky.



Tiger Woods has been in the news a lot over the last six months, and it's not for playing golf. Unless you've been living in a cave, you know about his infidelity, his treatment for sex addiction, and the laundry list of sponsors who have dropped him.

Except Nike.

Like his wife who stays by him, the company is gambling on Tiger, maybe because they quite simply don't know what else to do. The future of his public image depends largely on his ability to keep his personal life together.

So Nike's creative team put together a new spot featuring the voice of his dead father asking a silent Tiger if he's learned anything. I'll admit, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I think Nike is taking a big risk. If it fails, Nike's demographic just became golfers who cheat on their wives.

Far be it from me to criticize someone who makes a decision to try to keep a marriage together. If I was Mrs. Tiger's friend, I'd say "You'll be OK if you decide to end it. You're beautiful, rich and you have options."

If I was the creative director for the Nike account, I'd say the same thing to them.