Nike just released a new ad featuring Tiger Woods and the voice of his deceased father. The voice over by Earl Woods concludes with the line, “Did you learn anything?” My question to Nike is, “did YOU learn anything?”
You can see the spot here and read more about it here. Stephen Colbert even weighed in with alternate versions of the spot.
People I’ve spoken to see the spot as polarizing…they either love it or hate it. One possible explanation for the divergent views is that the blank expression on Tiger’s face, and the polysemic nature of the phrases spoken by Tiger’s late father, allows the viewer to project onto the spot what the viewer already feels. If you believe that Tiger still has penance to perform, this spot is unlikely to convince you to give him a pass.
Nike may be hoping that his fans are predisposed to extend an olive branch to Tiger…but early responses suggest that the public is not quite ready to do that. The Tiger brand was built on his squeaky-clean image and his role as father, son and husband. That all came crashing down with revelations of Tiger’s “transgressions” and rumors about his father’s indiscretions.
Nike may have erred by jumping the gun and this spot may, in the end, be a detour on Tiger’s road to recovery.
people need to leave this man alone. he is a phenomenal golfer and people tend to use what he did against him. people dont like because of his actions and not the way he plays. i just think most people need to grow up
I really don’t care about T. Woods, but as far as the ad if people already hate him its not gonna all of a sudden change their minds. This perfect image that people speak of is only because of how the media portrays him. No one is perfect, so people should get off his case and realize that he is human and not perfect. His real fans will see it and take it for what it is and get over it if they see he is working to become a better man.
All I have to say about Tiger Woods is leave that man alone. Was it enough that his family life and problems were on every newspaper and news station in the world talking trash and bashing his reputation? Yes the man messed up he knows it and we know it but I feel like it is unfair to hate the man after so many loved him for what he has done on the golf course. This is craziness if you ask me, yes love and hate are on a very thin line but no one knows the type of life tiger Woods had as home except him and his family leave it that way.
Nike took a leap of faith with this video with Tiger’s reputation on the brink of shattering, however they did it with the fact in mind that “some would love it or they would hate it”, either way some form of positive connection would be made with some percentage of demographic and I believe they were looking to whatever percentage of demographic they could reach with their video as a starting point towards reshaping the Tiger Woods image. Was it a smart move? I would have to say yes. I believe it is better to show the public that you have acknowledged your mistake and you are working to fix it. It’s almost like the “Poison Ivy” HR who saw that the problem needed to be faced head on, and it showed the public that, hey I’m aware of the situation and my wrong doing, this is what I’m doing/presenting to correct it. I believe that Nike achieved that through the making of this video.
This is not a recent ad, but I feel that this is still a good posting to chose for this assignment. We have recently been discussing the treatment of women in class and this topic is relevant. I was a fan of this ad actually, because Tiger’s father was his idol. This ad was almost like a lesson from the dead from Earl to his son. The whole topic of Tiger’s scandal was blown way out of proportion in my opinion. Yes, adultery is wrong and Tiger messed up there with Elin and his children, but that is no one else’s business except for theirs. I always have been and will continue to be a huge fan and supporter of Tiger Woods, and in a cut-throat world, Nike threw a life-saver to a man in deep water, and I commend Nike for that.
Nike took a chance here! Did they save the Tiger BRAND? Did Tiger make his ammends? I think the whole thing is commercial advertising playing on the consumers hearts. Buying Tiger golf stuff wouldn’t change my game no matter what he did to fix his now tarnished personality! He lied! I will forgive him for his mistake but won’t support him in business!
I think the verdict is still out, we can’t expect him to come back a be this jolly guy. He was never like that and has always been private and due to his actions, he’ll be more private. Another post said this and its true that he wasnt really a role model outside of golf, sure he sold stuff but everyone respects him for his game. You see other athletes out there with the public and working with people, kids. For example, the NBA cares program but I dont see Tiger out there and also look at Tiger’s clostest peers whom be Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley who aren’t angels outside their sport either. I just wish Tiger’s father had been alive and the message would be more real and then we would see a change rather quickly then wait for however long its going to be…
Tiger has learned something. He has learned that his actions have consequences, and that he is never going to have a private life. He is a fool if he ever thought he did have one. It is wrong for any man celebrity or not to be dishonest to his wife, but how dumb do you have to be to believe you are above consequence. Tiger would do well to rid himself of those people around him who let him do anything he wishes. It is obvious he led a shelterred life and the loss of his father has been a great loss. hopefully this TV spot was played for Tiger and he was reminded by these words that he does have some things left to learn.
I agree with the majority of the class, people should not be judged for mistakes that they are trying to fix. People make mistakes and as long as they learn from their mistakes that should be enough. The voice of his father is indicating that children usually listen to their parents and take their advice so Tiger Woods has learned his lesson, because his father has talked. This world has seen a perfect image of him, and he is not the one that painted this perfect image the media can be blamed for that. I think that this is a way for Tiger Woods to tell the world that he is sorry and that he has learned from his mistake.
The name Tiger Wood was seen as the best golfer ever. The mistake that was made by Tiger does not over shadow that he is still the number one golfer in the world. He made the mistake and a lot of people make this personal but to this is Tigers life he is going to do as he please. With in the class we talked about if people would forgive him, I feel that it doesn’t matter if people forgive or forget the is no reason why they should not buy his product it seem to still work with or without his outside of golf.
The video, which feature’s a chilling synthesized voice of his late father questioning his recent actions, such as what he was thinking and if he has learned anything, with the camera pointing at an emotionless live image of Tiger. The article points out the two sides towards the responses of the ad in which the negative side which is Nike pointing out the sexual actions of tiger in a sports related commercial. The side most covered is the Positive side which was put as Nike being brave to stand behind its biggest contributor and that “Standing by Mr. Woods likely didn’t risk anything with the target demographic of male golf fans.” What is important to note in the article is that whether it was a good or bad idea, the video ultimately did its job in creating attention (since it was viral, Nike spent nothing on the ad) and over 2.2 million viewers online alone. It finishes with the issue of using Tiger’s deceased father’s voice, in which the article points out as being a good thing in starting a fire it looked out to set, which was ultimately gaining attention back to its product after this entire situation.
I guess I’m one of the few who really doesn’t care about Tiger Woods. I’m sorry, but Tiger Woods is a golfer, and his personal life has absolutly NO affect on mine. How is Tiger’s personal life relevent at all to his career? Every one of us has done something we regret and the media isn’t all over us about it, so just because Tiger is famous, his personal life immediatly makes headlines when he screws up.
This commercial was created in order to show the lessons he learned in his affair. While it doesn’t directly say that that was the motive of the commercial but it is apparent because the commercial came out a couple months after the athletes affair came public. The ad attempts to draw sympathy from its audience by showing that tiger is apologetic and has grown from what he went through. Also the playing of his recently deceased father’s voice also draws emotions from the audience. Honestly just showing that he has remorse for what he did doesn’t mean he actually learned from his mistake, only time will tell if he actually learned from what he did and how he acts.
The new promotion for Tiger Woods has led to controversy if he truly is sorry for what he has done. However, this does not involve Nike. This issue should not be whether the public will respond well it should be why are they involved? Before this scandal, his audience viewed Tiger as the best professional golfer in the world. He was an astounding athlete and the best at the game. He still is, a scandal does not rip this title away from him. The issue of if the public will respond well should not even be considered. Tiger does not owe the public an explanation it is between his family and wife. They decide together what is best for them and a commercial is not going to affect them. This should be staying between him and his family and a commercial by Nike should not have been made or resulting in worries of concern from the public.
This ad, in my opinion,is offensive because Nike is using Tiger’s blank expression and his fathers voice to manipulate the emotions of it’s audience. It is obvious that Tiger’s dad isn’t actually speaking to Tiger about any lessons he learned in his affair because he was dead when it was brought out into the public eye. I think it was a poor attempt to get everyone back on to his bandwagon, he should more concerned with winning. That being said it is unfair the amount of criticism Tiger has received after he was “busted”. Countless people have had affairs in the past, people are doing it now, and possible millions will do it in the future.
I think this ad was attempting to promote Tiger however i feel like they did it in a negative way. I think the issues of his person life should be kept private. However i understand the media always gets a hold of information concerning celebrities personal lives and makes them public for the whole world to know. I think that by making a commercial about Tiger and his mistakes that the only attention being brought to him is negative. Tiger should be known for his accomplishments as an athlete, not for his personal life and mistakes.
I think people just need to let Tiger live his life and let him and his family rebuild their relationship and get over this horrible thing that Tiger mistakingly did. I think the ad is supposed to represent how Tiger is trying to better himself as not only an athlete but more importantly as an human being. When viewing this ad, I got an image of Tiger’s dad talking to Tiger about the recent events that occured and asking his son, “Did you learn anything?”.
This video shows that Nike is doing everything on their behalf to apologize for Tigers mistake. Although i found it quite funny that Tiger didn’t say anything in the video, he could’ve at least said “i AM SORRY” instead of his dad talking for him. This video is actually a dishonor to Tigers father. Tiger’s father had nothing to do with the decisions Tiger made in the bed. I feel also the video is a cheep shot for Tiger to apologize, but Nike had to make the video to cover them. Either way whether you love the video or not Tiger is still one of the greatest to play the game, so people will always support him.
I am a fan of Tiger Woods and it has nothing to do with his image outside of golf. I watch him for his great abilities in the golf game not as a role model. I think that people when they see an athlete in the media expect a higher standard from them so when an athlete falls from grace they are much harder on them than they would be on someone such as friend. I think that it is a double standard for athletes and it shouldn’t be like that I come to watch them play their sport, I don’t need to know what is going on in their personal life. I like the video I thought that it was very sincere and shows that Nike is sticking with their product.
I don’t believe that the this ad will persuade anyone that didn’t already like him. People has a perception of Tiger and when he committed these acts he strayed people away from his image. I do believe that true golf fans will forgive and forget. Tiger shouldn’t be looked at as the man who cheated on his wife, but as the amazing and talented golfer that he has always been. I hope that his loyal fans will stay with him or come back to him when they realize that he is and always will be a great golfer.
With Tiger Woods infidelity of cheating on his wife, he lost most of his endorsement deals because of this even though he is the best and most popular golfer still out there. This shows how important and wrong the things that he did if every big name sponsor is willing to drop him. When thinking about advertising and companies that are trying to advertise, they obviously don’t want a bad name tagged to them like Tiger Woods. Even in this ad though, it is showing that sponsors still want to make money and want the biggest name out there to support their brand. Nike has seemed to drop to a low with this ad though because they didn’t just do an ad about Woods just golfing, but an ad of him “learning anything” about cheating on his wife. They want America to forgive him for cheating multiple times with multiple partners just so they can make money again on probably the biggest name in all of sports. Very classy Nike.
In this commercial for tiger woods’ I feel that it did nothing for him. If this was suppose to show another apology for him I don’t believe it accomplished that, we have already seen many of his apologizes. This ad was to keep Nike’s foot in the door with golf. They are showing that they still support him that was his personal life and tiger is the face of golf so of course they still want to keep him endorsed, he has all eyes on him and if Nike backed away from him then all eyes would be off of Nike, this is keeping them in to spotlight as well as tiger, whether people love it or hate it.
I feel this commercial accomplished absolutely nothing for Tiger Woods. It seems that after the news broke regarding his many affairs and hidden relationships, everyone made a concrete decision on their opinion of Tiger Woods. You either love him or hate him. As for me, I still am a Tiger fan. Yes, he did something that was horrible and that hurt his wife, children, and millions of fans across the world. But he did the only thing that he could do, which was apologizing. Some think that is not enough, and for those people, step right up and cast the first stone!
I think that Tiger should be view on his golf game. I mean yeah he messed up but does that effect the way he plays golf, the thing he is famous for? Also companies he speaks for, like nike, use him becuase he is a greath athelet, not his personality.
In my opinion, Nike went to far in this one ad and Tiger W was completely crazy to do it. This commercial makes the audience feel bad about him, and try to think that he is really sorry about what he did. But if you think more about it, what was he thinking to let Nike use his DEAD father voice just to clean his name? that let us know that Woods just care about finally getting over his scandal. With this ad, I think it is going to continue the scandal about Woods, but maybe now about how far he is going to go to clean his name.
What I came away with from this video released by Nike was that the company was actually apologizing for themselves. I felt like Tiger was not the one that the apologizing was coming from and that instead Nike used his somber look and reprimanding voice of his father to take things into their own hands. The nation has already witnessed many of Tiger’s apologies and how he has admitted of wrong doing. This video was for Nike clearing up the water of why they still support him and that he has learned and does seem remorseful and portrayed it in his looks. Nike is sticking by Tiger’s side because in almost every other sport if one athlete disappoints there is always another one right in line to take up the endorsement. Tiger Woods is the face of golf and there is no other golfer whose fame compares, so Nike must keep their foot in the door with golf by having Tiger as their spokesperson.
I thikn the media sometimes takes it to far,yes Tiger Woods is famous for golf but he also needs to take precaution of what he does now, because of what happend the last with the whole sex scandal. Just because he looks blank in the picture doesnt mean he’s down,this picture simply could of been taking off guard or something.People need to understand that we do make mistakes and i think Tiger is learning his lesson and becoming a better person.
I think that golf is the game that Tiger Woods is famous for, he is not famous because of the mistakes that he has made. When reading that Tiger Woods was looked at by nike as having a clena image, it made me wonder was that before or after all the money and fame? Tiger woods is a good man who did things that he is not proud of, had he not got caught he would still be looked at as having a clean image, even though things were being donin the dark. Since Tiger is a golf player that is how he should get back everything that he lost as far as fans and being able to advertise for different companies. And this does not make him a bad person just human, with people who probably did not like him before and have just been given more reason not to like him.
I have to agree with Jose as well. This Nike ad with Tiger and his fathers voice isn’t going to pursuade people who already didn’t like him to like him. But I think it is trying to win his recent fans back and let them know he is sorry and is going to go back to his old roots again like when his father was around. Tiger didn’t paint this perfect picture of himself as much as the media did. And now that he has mad one mistake everything he does or says will be blown out the water by the media. The ad means nothing more than he is getting his life back on the right track.
I am with Jose on this one. People need to look in the mirror before judging others. No one is perfect and everyone has made mistakes. Hopefully Tiger has learned from this situation and will remember he has fans that have looked up to him including children and put his focus into the game and his family and start to become a good role model.
This is an AD that is trying to promote Tiger. I dont think it will be very affective in pursuading those who dislike him to like him. If they still are against anything that has to do with Tiger Woods then that commercial wont do anything in changing their minds. In my opinion they should just let Tiger be Tiger. Let him win back fan support through golf not publicity. The AD will only fuel “the haters” more to talk crap about him. He is a human being, which means he makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect, includeing all the people judgeing him saying hes a bad person. C’mon now! Leave the man alone.