News Archive
TIGER WOODS: FALLEN IMAGE MAY COST MILLIONS
Publication: The Palm Beach Post
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Author: Jose Pagliery
Since Tiger Woods’ alleged extramarital affairs surfaced just after Thanksgiving, advertisers have refrained from airing TV ads featuring his endorsements, according to The Nielsen Co. media tracking firm.
It’s unclear whether his sponsors — including Nike, Gatorade and Tag Heuer — will permanently ditch Woods, especially in light of his decision Friday to take an indefinite leave from golf.
But South Florida public relations executives are sure of one thing: The empire Woods built on his squeaky-clean image is now in a sand trap.
“Tiger Woods is a human being,” said Ray Casas, co-founder of Brickell-based PR firm Wragg & Casas. “But the whole operation of what Tiger Woods is — is a business enterprise, and businesses prepare for this kind of thing ahead of time.”
AT&T on Friday continued its week-long policy of refraining from comment, while representatives for Nike Golf and laser-eye surgery chain TLC Vision Corp stated the companies plan to continue sponsoring Woods.
PepsiCo recently announced it has discontinued producing Gatorade Tiger Focus — though the company claims the move was decided prior to the public display of grimy laundry.
Woods’ woes follow a car crash outside his Orlando home on Nov. 27 that reportedly resulted from an argument with his wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, over his infidelity. Several women — including Las Vegas cocktail waitress Jamie Jungers and porn star Holly Sampson — have since claimed that they slept with the 33-year-old father of two.
As the women keep coming forth, so does the pressure from companies that pay Woods up to a combined total of $80 million annually to be their model of choice.