I understand your perspective on this from a PR and business standpoint. Nike wanted to create buzz and they did. I however don’t believe this demonstrates corporate responsibility, but rather corporate irresponsibility, and I’m surprised Tiger’s camp went along with it.

My first reaction to the commercial was disgust. Did I talk about it? Absolutely. Was it in a positive light? Definitely not. I think Nike’s reputation is as a classy brand that represents the best athletes in their respected sports. This commercial takes Nike into a realm where it doesn’t belong–the personal lives of its athletes. To me, Nike should stick to promoting the brand and the athlete playing his or her sport. If they don’t agree with something happening in an athlete’s private life, drop them! Don’t go diving into past archives and pulling up the voice of said athletes dead father just to try and humanize his mistakes. For me, that’s taking it too far and completely unnecessary. I’d rather see Tiger hitting a sweet shot only he could make while wearing Nike gear than this garbage. Keep it simple. Stick to sports.

Just my two cents
Lois

http://tinyurl.com/ychcwol

Sorry, Gini, I normally agree with you, but this is crap. Let me dissect:

Dead Father. Great, let’s use Earl to stir up some publicity, because he can’t muck up the Tiger brand.

They weren’t doing anything for months and now, all of a sudden, they’re going to “stand behind” this golfer-turned-horndog right in line with his coming out party? Yeah, meanwhile, where were they way back when, when Tiger was going off the deep end and getting rehab.

They have f—d up this crisis, and so has Tiger, but this is REALLY bad.

However, since they are Nike, they can create this kind of “buzz” overnight. We mere mortals can’t — the advantage is a HUGE ad budget and a HUGE name and a HUGE scandal. And a Dead Father.

This sucks. Sorry. This campaign just flat out sucks.