Creative Review - Nike wheels out silent Woods

It is blatantly wrong to use his misdemeanors for Nike's commercial gain
ruan milborrow
2010-04-09 13:56:57

I DO NOT understand why Tiger Woods should explain and apologize on TV to the American people. Shouldn't he be doing this in private with his wife instead?

Medias should stop poluting our lives with "spam" news and concentrate on the things that really affect us, REAL politics, history, culture, religion etc.
Or people are just becoming so "empty" and ignorant that Tiger Woods life is enough to nurrish them and satisfy their curiosity? But that's just too dramatic, so... I must be wrong.

I mean, Tiger does not even represent a moral figure (a priest, president, someone people take advice from).
He is paid to play golf, to be GOOD at it and i don't see in what this obliges him to be morally perfect. Is he teaching people or children about relationships? No.
So the only people he is accountable for are his wife, children & family.

A person can be a great singer, or business man and a very bad husband. One does not oblige you to be the other. Of course its better to be ALL :)
But who is?

If they were talking about it in a special program about mariage, relationship problems, ok, why not have him talk as an example.

But NOT on national news, come on!
There are serious things happening in Israel, afghanistan, africa, iran, china, french elections, europe, greece, tons of really important things that are going to shape the world we are living in... Not Tiger...
Im sure that 50% of the people dont know where Afghanistan is but im sure they know what Tiger said on TV.

Is that the future of journalism?

The NIKE AD IS COOL THOUGH, I like the simplicity!
MK
2010-04-09 14:11:33

Tiger Woods' first post-scandal tournament appearance is accompanied, naturally, by his first post-scandal Nike ad. Too soon?

Weird... is Nike telling us that if Tiger's Dad had been around none of this had happened,
or Is Tiger so immature that he needs someone to hold his hand and tell him what's right or wrong
or is it: Please feel sorry for me, I make offensively large amounts of cash and I thought I could do whatever I want?
All of the people involved should be ashamed of themselves. Weiden & Kennedy for taking the money for promoting Tiger (and Nike), Nike for trying to scam more money out of consumers and Tiger for being a willing puppet to get back on the gravy train.

What I think they should have done is: Have all the 'wronged mistresses' do the solo shot and tell the world why they decided to f*&k up a marriage just for the bragging rights of sucking the c*$ck of a celebrity.

Welcome to the brave new world of 'just do me'. OOOHHH I'm smelling an ad concept!
Mickrock
2010-04-09 14:38:59

But now Nike is no longer the brash new kid on the block. In Woods it chose not just the best sportsman of his generation but also one of the blandest - or so we thought. Now it has to deal with Bad Boy Woods the serial adulterer - not what it had in mind at all.

To be honest, this whole Tiger Woods saga is beyond ridiculous already. Whatever he's up to in his personal life is up to him and I don't think it should have any affect on Tiger Woods the professional golfer. I don't see why he needs to apologise, be it in a commercial or via a press conference.

Let the guy get back to doing what he does best. It's been blown out of proportion enough already as it is.
philip
2010-04-08 19:46:27

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Posted by Patrick Burgoyne, 8 April 2010, 15:35    Permalink    Comments (29)

To coincide with Tiger Woods' return to professional golf following, well, you know, Nike is running a TV commercial from Wieden + Kennedy Portland in which he is 'questioned' by the voice of his late father, Earl Woods. As Woods stares dolefully into the camera and flash bulbs light up his 'sad' face, Woods senior is heard to say "I want to find out what your thinking was, I want to find out what your feelings are, and, did you learn anything?"

What a waste of creative time and talent to try and 'repair' this guy's life.
mediumstudio
2010-04-12 14:19:46

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I found it kinda creepy, and pretty solemn. The cantona one however is hilarious.

Now if they'd wheeled Woods out with a catchphrase like, "Any bets on how many holes will feel the force of Tiger's balls?", it would catch my attention. It'd offend most people, but it'd blow me away so much I'd spread it like wild fire.
n
2010-04-08 16:52:21

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You can see the problems NIke and its agency must have wrestled with. Do they do nothing and be accused of abandoning one of their most expensive and prized assets, or do they come out and address the issue head-on?

I don't think Tiger is remorseful at all. He's just doing what his handlers are recommending to get his income back. I think Nike has crossed a line airing a Tiger commercial this soon after the scandal erupted. And I think trotting out his dead father is inappropriate and disrespectful. If he loved and revered his dad as much as he is portrayed to, he wouldn't have ever entertained the concept for this spot. He wouldn't have wanted his father in any way attached to the dirty mess that is his personal life. Shame on Nike for pitching it and shame on Tiger for allowing it. I'll think twice before I buy NIKE in the future.
Kathy
Kathy Fridge
2010-04-08 17:31:10

I think Tiger Woods should be pubicly flogged by a thong clad Colin Montgomery – shot in black and white slow motion whilst he squeals "I'm sorry Nike, I've been a bad tiger" all set to the haunting strains of Bad boys by Wham!
Elliott
2010-04-09 15:18:22

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For me, for Nike to be back running ads with Woods already just feels distasteful and plain wrong. It's too soon to start wheeling him out again as the corporate shill. Leave him be – he's got a lot of apologising to do and a commercial is probably not the best place to start doing it.

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Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, Flash,

But there are distinct differences between the Woods ad and Cantona's. Despite initial outrage at Cantona's 'Kung-Fu kick' on a Crystal Palace fan who had been hurling abuse at him, public feeling quickly swung round in the Frenchman's favour. Hence his brazen non-apology.

WTF?
Nike is his real father.
Diego
2010-04-09 15:16:35

Articles:

The Woods ad is like Nike is trying to step above the pantomime and play the parent. It leaves a bad taste, dragging me (the viewer) into his intimate relationship issues of which I have NO interest. I'm sure we all have our own relationship issues and regrets to worry about let alone being pulled into his.

This is totally different to the Cantona ad where he is the naughty schoolboy and we're all in on the laugh.

Nike needs to stop trying to be all sports clothing goods to all men, loose the parent / boardroom decision making persona and go back to the young lads having a fag before winning at football vibe.
Sam
2010-04-09 01:00:49

Nike was also a very different company then. It was still riding its outsider status, purposefully backing controversial stars and not shying away from what that might entail.

I'm furious. I'm really struggling with who this 'ad' is for and what it is trying to say (let alone what it's trying to sell.)

"The New Nike Air Okey-Cokey 3000 golf shoes make absolutely no sound, perfect for sneaking around behind your wife."

I find this pointless piece of naval-gazing conceited beyond belief, from Nike and Woods. The both of them can f%ck completely off.
Paul F
2010-04-09 15:20:57

Not a Woods/Golf fan, but...

Maybe i'm being naive.. this doesn't feel like an apology..
.. certainly not 'only' an apology. It's as much a dressing down as anything.

In terms of addressing what he's done I think it's quite effective and to delay on addressing that, to me, would be more distasteful than doing it now.. while it's fresh with the 'impressionable' if you like.

What is distasteful is how he 'seemingly' took a back seat on his career.. I doubt he ever had any intention of staying away from the major competitions. To me that's much worse than this ad.

As for Nike, this seems a reasonably sensible approach. After all, I wasn't holding out for an apology, neither did I require one. It's his family he 'should' be concentrating on; but if it's business as usual then Nike are just 'easing' the fans back into it I 'spose.
Jon
2010-04-08 16:43:37

Forget about Nike and instead imagine the reality of the situation for those involved. This is highly intimate, touching aspect of life which Tiger must now learn to live with, an unanswerable monologue from his deceased father. Remove the association with Nike and we instantly have a sublime commentary on the complex and often difficult relationships that form between parents and children, children and parents.
Youssef Sarhan
2010-04-08 16:54:59

If Tiger were truly brave he would go on "Issues" with a Jane Velez-Mitchell and answer some real questions...she'll be doing a show on him tonight
tiger Fan
2010-04-08 18:53:39

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Matt
2010-04-09 19:33:00

19055

There's a lot of talk on the netweb-thingy today about how wrong it is to use Tiger's dad's voice like that...

... but then surely any father would want to help his son in his hour of need?

When I'm dead I'd be happy for my children to reinvigorate their career and make a few million from using me.... I'd rather that than some art-collector making zillions from selling my work in 400 years time ;-)

I quite like it personally, and I'd suggest any talk of Nike's demise is naively premature... ask Bennetton about those 80s/90s ads
Daniel Brown
2010-04-08 19:20:26

There's something I find a bit odd about a huge brand getting involved like this and getting all moralistic about it. It feels like Nike have put Tiger on the naughty step then tried to flog you sportswear off the back of it.

"Yes, he's been very naughty and we've told him to behave in future. Now, wouldn't you like some nice new shoes?"

I personally couldn't care less what Tiger does - on or off the green - but this iteration of the co-mingling of private, professional and corporate aspects of his life makes me feel queasy.
Ed Risbey
2010-04-08 17:16:38

It's not really an ad though is it? It's just a piece of content by a brand - which is maybe what advertising has become. Personally, I can't imagine what his wife must feel when she watches that video, to know the break up of your marriage and family is now 'owned' by a big tick and a trainer designer...
maybe it's controversial, uncomfortable and 'of the moment' enough to make Nike seem edgy and cool, or maybe it's in such bad taste that people will realise the whole idea of advertising and celebrity has become unbearable. Time will tell - but I think he should just go away. and play golf. and stop getting paid so much bloody money for doing not very much at all.
SJO
2010-04-09 22:17:22

I think this is in the most appalling taste, and quite frankly far worse than anything Tiger allegedly did. The agency that pitched this should hang their head in shame, as should Nike. To use the voice of his dead father to supposedly give him a dressing down is well below par, if you'll excuse the pun. It's bad enough that his marriage is in tatters, but to put this out is just plan wrong. Who gives a sh** what he does in his personal life. It's what he does on the golf course that should concern us.

As for apologising, did Kennedy or Berlusconi apologise for their extra marital misdemeanors? I don't think so. All the blokes just think 'lucky b******!

At the end of the day he is a fantastic sportsman, who is away from home 90% of the time. Anyone who has ever been around sports stars, as I have, will know that women literally throw themselves at them from every corner. And as they are generally quite egotistical people because the whole world blows smoke up their arses... what would you have them do. Sportsmen are no different from boy bands in that respect.

His biggest mistake was probably to get married so young in the first place. His second biggest mistake was to have children. The third biggest mistake was to get caught having affairs, but as I said, what's that got to do with us?

The one thing all this has done is make him a bigger star than ever. No pr is bad pr, otherwise we wouldn't be debating it now, would we. Lets face it, Nike and Woods will be the winners in the long run. Suzi
Suzi
2010-04-09 17:18:09

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The ad is very inappropriate (dead father's voice over and all that) but all the better for it. It is nicely shot and admirably distasteful. Well done Wieden + Kennedy Portland.
Watts
2010-04-09 14:17:42

I don't know what everyone's getting so hot under the collar about. It was funnier than the Jimmy Carr "Taking a break from comedy" thing.
T. Woods
2010-04-09 14:56:13

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Nasty. Using your dead father to reingratiate yourself with your corporate masters and middle America is the ultimate act of shitty, crappy whoredom.

Honestly, I couldn't care less where Tiger dips his wick. I'd care if I were his wife, but I'm not so I don't, and frankly have no idea why anyone else gives a fiddler's foxtrot.

I do think he's shown us something pretty unseemly about himself with this Nike thing tho'.
Katy McDevitt
2010-04-12 18:06:43

Nike’s new advert: Tiger glowers into the camera lens without saying anything while a voice over plays asking him “What his thinking was, what his feelings were and did he learn anything.

Hmmm.

Doesn't feel like any kind of apology to me. Or for that matter an advert. What are they advertising? That Nike gave him the third degree before letting him pull on one of their sweater vests and a baseball hat?

Having said this, why does he need to apologise to me or to anyone? He's a sports star who's screwed up his life badly. He's not the first and he won't be the last. This however is nothing to do with me. The apology should be for his wife and for the other woman both of whom he jerked around and treated badly.

As far as Nike go, use him or don't use, him it's your choice, but I would have thought that spending a lot of money, (given the profligate and swollen nature of the advertising industry) on producing this bit of film of him was a bit of a waste and. Just for the record, it’s also done nothing to improve my view of either Nike as a multi-national company or Tiger Woods as a person.

If, instead of this indulgent bit of celluloid, you’d sponsored some young talented athletes in the poor east end of London or the developing world, that would at least significantly improve my view of Nike.
Michael Preston
2010-04-09 11:44:25

I'm picking he learned a thing or two, but I'm not sure I need to know what.
Chris
2010-04-08 16:48:20

NIKE.WIEDEN+%2B+KENNEDY.FLASH.

My question is this: didn't he learn all the bad behavior from his dad growing up? I seem to recall reading that his father had huge issues around infidelity. This seems particularly off the mark to me. And I yes, WAY too soon.
Janet DeDonato
2010-04-08 17:32:05

This whole thing gets weirder. He brings disgrace on himself, his family and by association his sponsors, yet someone, somewhere still thinks it's right to gain publicity from it. Because, let's be honest, this is not about apologising.

Who is the most shameful; Nike or Tiger?
James Warfield
2010-04-09 16:30:57

Advertising

It's an ad for christ sakes. The man doesn't have to apologize to you me or anyone else. Let him play golf and leave his private life private.
chuck
2010-04-10 01:31:29

Gota love Cantona
Graphic Design Manchester
2010-04-09 10:57:33

Nike has wheeled out one of its errant stars for a public apology before, of course. Remember this?

when the sea-guls follow the trawlers.....
andy
2010-04-08 16:54:19