When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?–William Blake, "The Tyger" (excerpt)
In the vast ocean of American media, sensationalism is an undercurrent awaiting the right gravitational pull to build a tidal wave. The dangerous tide is all the more intense when public figures are adrift in sex scandals and tax evasions. Though the United States is more fixated on sleaziness in the story of Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, it may not reach the Category 5 level that Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods' infidelities wrought.
Backlash towards such public figures has as much to do with their on-field success as their endorsements off of it. Though athlete-as-pitchman dates back to the early 1920s, it wasn't until Michael Jordan became the symbol of athletic and marketing superiority thanks to his deals with companies like Hanes, McDonald's, and a very enterprising sneaker company, Nike.
Woods followed Jordan's marketing blueprint, rising from phenom to dominant competitor to transcendant icon. Then, soon-to-be former wife, Elin, allegedly whacked Tiger in the head with a club last November.
Here at Norman Einstein's, I was charged with the duty of providing a career retrospective of Tiger Woods. Yet, considering how we operate, the task differed from what you'd expect elsewhere. I decided to take a look at the world's best golfer through five of the most prominent television commercials he was featured in for his most loyal partner: Nike.
"Hello World"
"Hello World" is a statement that in its simplicity, spoke of something more complex. Yeah, sure, no one really knew that this gangly-looking 20-year old would become the most important figure in the sports so soon. Apparently, no one but Nike.
The thing about "Hello World" was that Tiger still had some of the expected chinks in the armor of a rookie phenom; in fact, his first Masters appearance as a pro found him tied for 60th. Yet, the money was in tow thanks to a $40 million deal with the company that caused some resentment and consternation among PGA members still trying to get that first oversized cardboard check.
"Hello World" itself represented two works-in-progress. Beyond the ad introducing Tiger, it was an introduction of a start-up division that with every drive and putt became a market leader in golf equipment. Golf fans were familiar with this young upstart because father, Earl, brought his prodigal son to its media at the tender age of three. They knew of his collegiate excellence at Stanford. Yet, they knew nothing of Nike. They should have stuck with basketball shoes, right?
"I Am Tiger Woods"
Tiger doesn't tell us this directly in this one-minute spot. Instead four simple words uttered by seventeen children of various ethnicities, ages, and genders tell us even more about who Tiger would become. He was to be the post-racial superstar that could bring a predominantly white, relatively elitist, and seemingly unathletic sport to a world clamoring for a new crossover star. Just as the NBA struck gold with Jordan - a clean-cut, highly successful, and so-called "safe" black athlete - Tiger would become the golfer transcending skin tones and household incomes.
Yet, Tiger, the "Cablanasian" to spark this athletic revolution, was never the most vocal about non-golf matters. In fact, he had been roundly criticized by sportswriters for taking the Jordan playbook of straying from political controversy because as His Airness once declared, "Republicans by sneakers, too." The truth is that though he dominated golf in such unconscionable fashion, it didn't exactly open the flood gates for a minority presence in the game. In fact, little has changed in thirteen years.
Nike is most responsible for building the world's first commercialized icon in Jordan; one who was praised almost like deity, if not greater than any religious figure. Just ask the millions of children and teenagers who wanted to be "Like Mike" during his playing days.
With Tiger, however, the icon was ready-made. Instead of telling folks who to emulate, Nike told the world that he resembled you and me. With exuberance and talent just blossoming to form, Tiger was not only bringing youth to a stodgy-old sport, but color to an essentially all-white affair.
"I Am Tiger Woods" defined hope. Hope for Woods to be more than a golfer. Hope for minorities to be more than basketball and football stars. Hope for Nike to convince a new legion of golfers to take a chance on a still unproven product line.
"Swing Portrait"
"Swing Portrait" confirms what we already suspected, that Tiger is less like any golfer we've ever seen. The close-up of his face showed you that he and Nike are a pair to be revered and simultaneously feared. The five second zoom shot on the Nike-branded sphere followed by five more on his Nike-covered grip on the Nike-built club. The slow torque of Tiger's frame as he prepares to commit assault and battery on this helpless ball. The music shifts from a long-drawn singular string note - "he's going to hammer this thing" - to a strangely serene opus - "he's just sending it its way."
The final eight seconds of this slow motion clip are the most memorable. Tiger's follow-through forms a swoosh; the human form as the Nike logo itself. It becomes the indelible image; pitchman and company, athlete and equipment, man and brand becoming one. Nike's big gamble brought back the greatest return on investment since Jordan glided though the air from coast to coast in the previous decade.
The clothes and equipment were branded, yet you couldn't help but think that Tiger was adding his name to it all. This golfer built like a free safety was in the midst of arguably the best three-year tear for a player in the sport's history when "Swing Portrait" was filmed in 2006, but this marked the ascension for Nike Golf, too. As long as Woods captured title after title, check after check, Nike was going to become top of mind for amateur golfers over more established brands like Titlist and Callaway Golf.
Of course, 2006 was the year of triumph bookending tragedy. Despite capturing the British Open and PGA Championship, he lost his father and mentor, Earl, after his battle with prostate cancer. Many within the golf media have said that his father's death is where the crumbling of the Tiger the world knew began.
"The Party Is Over"
The return! Well, the first return anyway...
"The Party Is Over" is the first Nike ad with Tiger that made me personally stand up and take notice of him, Nike, and the PGA. It's not so much Tiger at his thespian best; a mere "hey guys" is all he needed to say to get Trevor Immelman, Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard to show their acting chops. It's not any super graphite five-iron exhibited for viewers to behold; rarely is the product the star of any Wieden + Kennedy's television creative for Nike. Instead the star is the sheer one-sidedness of the Tiger-Nike-PGA relationship.
Minutes after Tiger announced that he would have reconstructive ACL surgery on his left knee that shortened his 2008 season, every person with a vested interest in the PGA Tour must have felt like their own ACLs were ripped to shreds. Nielsen ratings drops were foretold (and came true). Sponsors grew worried about the loss of high-level exposure. Even competitors grew weary of losing the Tiger Effect that filled everyone's coiffeurs.
"The Party Is Over" spoke to the lifeblood Tiger became for the sport, its promotional partners, and its broadcasters. As much as sports pundits may pontificate the health of some leagues and the lack of popularity on others, there is probably no formal media more emblematic about the PGA Tour than this one-minute "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" vignette.
There is a sheer arrogance in the spot. The PGA Tour and the national media were in a freefall without Tiger's presence. Though Nike also may have taken a significant hit without Woods, the sport as a whole could not attract as many non-traditional followers and consumers without the world's number one golfer. Dominance transformed into dependence.
"Earl & Tiger"
The latest and most infamous Nike commercial in the world, has elicited two reactions: 1) a candid and touching response that reconnected Tiger with an assured mentor and late father or 2) a crass and despicable reproduction of a dead man's voice by both Tiger and Nike as a part of an image-repairing strategy.
Anyone who has ever lost a parent - especially one who served as such a guiding force - has at least bristled at the sight of this commercial. Hearing the voice of the departed guardian from an old recording can unearth all sorts of memories and emotions. You could be reminded of a joyous cadence from a family celebration or a stern tone after getting caught doing something you shouldn't have.
No matter how many takes were done, I can't imagine what was running through Tiger's mind when his handlers told him about this concept... If he didn't come up with this himself, that is.
The audio and visual were manipulated to create an apologetic effect, yet the finished product had created a firestorm within the golf community. Instead of being a mea culpa, the commercial was a case study in how to NOT apologize publicly for a mistake. Because of the incredulous public attention the ad received, it moved rather quickly from shock and awe to mock and parody thanks to unfunny YouTube clips and equally silly late-night TV spoofs.
This was beyond bold by both parties. It's not every day that a company asks few production hands to take an old tape of father and young son and create a teaching moment for an apparently remorseful 34-year old multimillionaire who went too far astray. Could this be the repackaging of a legend or the desperate steps to salvage the former iconic state?
...
There are plenty of other Tiger ads from Nike that can help define his career; some far better than others. These ads, however, best explain a symbiotic relationship between both pitchman and company that has unsurprisingly endured throughout these trying six months. No advertising campaign could make Tiger Woods seem heroic again; the public-figure-as-hero ideal is continually challenged with each day.
What will be of greater interest here on out will be which ads help define this new Tiger; this embarrassed and belittled champion who can only regain redemption by hitting that little ball into slightly larger holes better than his competitors. We have to wonder how Nike can prove that Tiger is still worth their investment without trying to save an image treading water in a sea of his transgressions and public opinion.
Most importantly, we will all wonder if this incredible union of athlete and iconography has the same impact on sports as it did before Woods's life fell overboard.
[Jason is a staff sportswriter for the New York Beacon, an African-American weekly in New York City. He is also the schizophrenic mind behind a Sports Scribe. Follow him on Twitter to glimpse the rapid-fire method to his madness. To read more by Jason, check out his profile.]
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