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Tiger tanks

Take a look at Nike’s new ad, unveiled just in time for Tiger Woods’s appearance at the Masters, and see how poorly thethe world’s greatest golfer controls his media image.

In the ad, Tiger stares straight ahead as his late dad’s voice – previously recorded in relation to something else entirely – begs to understand Tiger’s actions. It’s a genius pitch for Nike – billions of eyeballs will see it – but just plain dumb on the part of the disgraced golfer.

This is a guy set to put all of his icky personal peccadilloes behind him. All he has to do is get on the damn golf course and win and then, trust me, his troubles will be over. So why does he keep scratching at the scab of his marital infidelities. It’s almost as if he himself wants to fetishize them.

For the record, athletes’ violence against women really pisses me off. But I don’t really care who sports stars sleep with with or how many affairs they have. And I don’t exactly fall over with shock to learn that one of the most popular sports stars in the world can’t resist temptation. I’m sure his wife feels betrayed – so, apparently, does the president of the Masters Tournament. But I don’t feel personally let down.

Plainly others do. Woods had an approval rating of 81 per cent before this scandal. That approval rating now stands at 6 per cent. Nike’s obviously hoping the new ad will change that.

But low rating exists among all people. Sports fans are different. Athletes have been behaving badly for years and that never puts an end to the cheering – as long as those athletes keep winning.

Tiger thought silence would help him out once the girlfriends came out of the woodwork – one of many wrong media moves he’s taken lately. Now, on the eve of what could be his athletic redemption, Woods is stupid enough to take the dough from Nike for an ad that keeps pounding away at his personal flaws.

Get over it Tiger, and start playing golf. [rssbreak]

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