Tiger Woods has fallen, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to get up anytime soon. Ever since word came out about his scandalous off-course activities, the world’s most respected golfer has been stuck in the rough. Gossip rags and humor sites hang on news of every revealed mistress, he’s the butt of countless jokes with “holes” in the punchline, and popular opinion of him as a human being has plummeted. A recent CNN survey shows Woods has a “favorable rating” of just 34 percent, down from 60 percent a few days after his car crash in the beginning of December, and down even further from 85 percent in 2005.
But the real bad news, at least for the Tiger Woods brand, is the fleeing wagon of sponsors. Until the past few weeks, Woods was widely regarded as the most marketable athlete in the world. He’s had endorsement deals with everyone from Nike and Gatorade to General Mills and American Express, and he is the first sports star to earn $1 billion. Now, however, some of his biggest backers are, well, backing out. Let’s look at where they stand.
Accenture — The technology outsourcing and consulting firm has decided to distance itself from the embattled golfer, saying that Woods is “no longer the right representative for its advertising.” Woods appeared in 83% of the company’s $50 million ad campaign last year, and now his face is literally being scrubbed from the walls of Accenture’s New York office.
Gatorade — The sports drink manufacturer released a statement earlier this month announcing it was discontinuing its Gatorade Tiger Focus drink. Gatorade claims the decision was made “several months ago” and has nothing to do with Tiger’s recent transgressions. Riiiight. They should have called the drink Gatorade Tiger Maximum Delusion. This decision allows Gatorade to drop Tiger’s name from their products, at least temporarily, and wait for the storm to pass.
Gillette — Tiger Woods is no longer the best a man can get. Razor czar Gillette was one of the first to announce Woods would be out of its advertising plans, effectively putting the golfer on an indefinite “timeout.” BAD Tiger!
Tag Heuer — For awhile there, it looked as if Tiger would be telling time on his own. Swiss watch giant Tag Heuer originally planned to “downscale the use of his image,” yet now on the front of its web site reads the headline “Tag Heuer stands with Tiger Woods.” So either the tiny clock maker sees an opportunity here to stand by its man while everyone else is jumping ship, or infidelity just isn’t a big deal for people over in Switzerland. After all, since when do you have to be loyal to read a watch?
Nike — Leave it to Phil Knight to tell the world where it can stick its whiny complaints. While other companies were busy figuring out how to tear down Tiger posters, the Swoosh company was pledging full support to one of its most lucrative athletes. Whether you agree with the decision or not, you gotta give Nike credit for sticking to its guns instead of folding like a paper plane and flying away.
As sponsors try to keep tally on the rising number of women Tiger Woods has bedded, they’re also considering which direction they want to head in, and whether that direction involves a Tiger. Still, the world of endorsements will probably never be the same — if family-oriented, Stanford-educated, Tiger Woods had 20+ special ladies, imagine what A-Rod and LeBron have in their closets. I think the big problem here is that people (and sponsors) idolize athletes for what they do off the field. Imagine if it were you. Imagine if you had mountains of money, hoards of adoring fans and houses around the world. How long do you think you could stay clean? A week? A month? Tiger has been living like this for 13+ years. Cut the guy a break.