Nike Says Tiger Woods Affairs Are A Minor Blip
When you have millions upon millions of dollars invested in a guy and what seems like every picture of the guy has your logo plastered on it, you are going to be real careful about what you say and do a little spin control. That being said, I think Nike has stuck a big foot in their mouth. As woman number 14 came forward today, the chairman of Nike, Phil Knight gave an interview to Sports Business Journal. Obviously the questions turned to Tiger and Phil said, "One of the things we always try to do when we have a big endorsement is check out the character and the pattern of the individual. But you’re not going to get it right all the time, and if you’re going to be in the business you have to recognize that. Tiger was obviously ... one we checked out and he came out clean, and I think he's been really great. When his career is over, you'll look back on these indiscretions as a minor blip, but the media is making a big deal out of it right now."
Of course they are making a big deal out of it. This is a guy who appears to have done two things the past five years. Golf and cheat on his wife. I'm actually shocked he managed to have two kids also during that time. It means he was actually having sex with his wife in addition to the now 14 other women. Those 14 don't even include the orgies he allegedly had where he hired 10-15 women a night for fun. These are just the long term affairs. Nike is basically saying none of that matters and that marriage isn't important as long as Tiger just keeps winning golf tournaments and making Nike money. Apparently Nike doesn't concern themselves with women or wives that used to be interested in buying their products.
64 comments:
Poor Gatorade had to dump him, what with their "Is it in you" slogan. Tee hee!
Mooshki...HAHAHAHA...lol'd at that
Dear Nike - tell that to Elin.
I just don't see it as a minor blip, I think he's committed icon suicide. I don't see a way to recover from something of this magnitude.
As someone who has never bought a product because some "celebrity" endorsed it, I find it ridiculous the amounts companies are willing to throw on these people to say they like their products.
Real nice, Nike. The guy is a TOTAL phony.
Cheating and whoring on the level HE did ain't no thang, eh?
I'll be a minor blip, too. Not buying your products. Nike can go suck it.
Well if the slew of ho bags didn't get Nike's attention them maybe Tiger's recently announced "break" from professional golf will.
Maybe I'm completely wrong, but an athlete cheating on his wife isn't exactly shocking. I can't really wrap my brain around why its being so focused on. He's a golfer, not God, not the President. As long as he keeps putting little white balls in holes I don't much care. Thats for his wife and family to deal with, it has nothing to do with me. I think Nike's stance is fine
It's not really the cheating, it's that what he really is turned out to be so different from the personna he tried to portray. Supposedly clean cut, honest, family type of guy turns out to be one of the biggest ho-dogs of the decade. It's the lying. Had he never married, he'd be regarded as a stud.
i watched a documentary on nike in a moral philosophy class in college which made me vow to never, ever support them.
this company has women and children work for next to nothing making shoes that cost next to nothing to make and sell them for hundreds of dollars.
these 2 students went and worked in the factories and lived off the rice (as that is all they could afford) and literally began starving.
they also featured a clip with tiger about how nike paid him $100 million!!! a $100 million! and they cant pay their workers enough to take care of their families.
disgusting.
eff you nike.
Gosh, as a married woman, I don't think I'd 'look back on these indiscretions as a minor blip'. I see it as a complete lack of morals and zero respect for your spouse and children. Clearly Nike's Phil Knight has about as much respect for Tiger's family as old Tiger has. He sounds like an old boy protecting another old boy. Perhaps Phil keep broads on the side as well so he can relate.
Personally, I will go out of my way to avoid purchasing Nike products in the future. If every other woman in North America did the same, we could change their view. After all, isn't the average wife responsible for something crazy like 85% of the purchasing decisions in the home? (in mine it's more like 99%). Phil you need to know your buying public, 'cause it sounds to me like you're biting the hand that feeds ya!
oh wow. that is so funny, cause me and the so were having a discussion about this very thing the other night with some friends
we all agreed that Tigers name will forever be associated with this - not with all the great golf that he played, but with the 14+ women who he cheated on Elin with, and how she chased him with a golf club.
His name will forever be able to be used as a punch line, you know? Just as cigars forever will make people think of clinton...
I just wanted to say i think his behavior is horrible, but I don't really understand why the general public thinks celebrities owe us something. He's a greatly flawed person, fine, but thats personal and I don't even know him. Nike supported him because he is a great golfer, and I imagine he still is. Its probably best he take a break until people can focus on what he brought to the game than what he did to his wife.
Maybe if i cared two cents about golf I'd feel differently, i don't know. But people shouldn't be put on pedestals and celebrities don't owe it to us to divulge the truth about their personal life.
@ mommabear - i totally agree. growing up my dad was completely clueless about what to wear. if my mom didnt dress him he would have walked out of the house with a member's only jacket, those 80's tiny shorts, and socks up to his knees. i am NOT joking here!
and as for tiger himself - i dont understand these men. why get married? if you want to be a male whore, go ahead be a male whore. why pretend to love someone and have a family with them?
for a nice PR image? i dont get it.
i really feel for his wife. my father had an affair for over 3 years and made my poor mother feel like an insane crazy woman until he finally admitted it and left her. 4 years later - dad is getting remarried over new years and my mom is just now starting to put her life back together.
cheaters and homewreckers should come with a caution label!
I've never been persuaded to buy something by a celebrity endorsement either, but that didn't stop me from going to Nike's website and leaving them a nasty little message advising them that I will boycott their stuff in the future.
Melanie, like Syko said, Tiger put out a totally different persona while he was whoring around and the part that gets me is that the fucker would not wear condoms while screwing his harem of 'hos and thereby exposed his wife to STD's or worse.
He is so hung up on privacy that every minute that this drags on in the news, mags and tabloids is like a kiss from baby Jesus to me.
Al Green had grits thrown on him for cheating and it damaged his career.
Lionel Richie got punched in the stomach for cheating and it tarnished his image and probably to some degree damaged his career.
Now Tiger gets chased with his precious golf club. It definitely has tarnished his image and is starting to effect his career.
By the way Elin has taken off the wedding ring. Baby steps, but hopefully it's a step in the right direction.
He and his sponsors have been selling to the world over the past however many years a carefully crafted persona of a "clean cut, all-American, good guy who turns into a golf ball annihilating machine on the golf course.
I also feel that what people find so shocking is that had there been one other woman, maybe two, most people would chalk it up to a mistake. However, 14 different women, and not one night stands, is not so much a mistake as it is a character flaw. And a serious one at that.
wow @ 14. Wonder what # it will stop at.
Wonder if Viagra will call him LOL.
Al Green had grits thrown on him? ha ha! I just saw him perform in August. All his back up singers were his daughters..he said he wanted to keep the money in the family.
@ Nikki - I agree 1000% about supporting Nike. That company is disgusting. I live about fifteen miles from the home of the Nike compound ( It reminds me of the Willy Wonka factory all menacing like ) and there are at least a dozen outlet stores in a twenty minute radius from me. I always give them a little scowl when I drive by :)
My guess is that the only companies that will stay with him are those that sell athletic products. Accenture, Gillette, and all those other non-athletic companies were selling the belief that Tiger's commitment to excellent, intelligence, and discipline exhibited on the golf course were carried over to other aspects of his life. Of course they weren't. And no, I'm not surprised. That's why I don't worship athletes anyway.
He's still a good golf player so I guess I can see why Nike still thinks he's an OK representative.
Mango, I agree, that we are talked character flaw or pathology at this point.
And still nothing about drugs. What's up with this?!?! There was an article in the AP today talking about one of his doctors who "treated" him at the first of this year. The doctor was known for a blood plasma cleansing thing. This is exactly what Mick Jagger and Keith Richards did to get clean from heroin. There is waaaay more to Tiger than we've heard.
@miss,
Yes Al Green had grits thrown on his back and people started calling him Al "gritsback" Green for a very long time. He was burned pretty badly and decided to quit singing secular music, in exchange for religious music for years.
Dear Mr. Knight:
I'm never buying a Nike product again.
Signed,
Kiss Nike Goodbye
P.S. You are an idiot!
The steroid rumors have been around since he did the Mens Fitness cover a few years back.
Also, is it just me, or does anyone else think it is odd that gov't isn't going after Tiger for soliciting inter-state prostitution? There is now talk that at least a couple of the girls he was supposedly with were really madams and they really just hooked Tiger up with ladies where ever he was, whether Florida, Vegas, Cali, Australia. Deadspin.com, a sports blog, had a write up on the madam stuff today, it is def a must read.
http://deadspin.com/5416948/chaos-in-tigerland-a-deadspin-investigation-into-the-sexual-habits-of-pro-athletes?skyline=true&s=i
@ not on my dollar
okay thats totally not funny but I still laughed. I am a bad person I guess! My mom and I went to his show this summer and his voice live is still like honey. At least I think it was live...
Dear Nike,
Your "spokesperson" is taking an indefinite leave from his sport. And you are still paying him 'cause why......??
Sincerely,
A Mom/Wife who won't buy your crap anymore!
i agree with melanie
the majority of athletes cheat on their spouses.
still doesn't change the fact that Tiger is the greatest golfer on the planet.
I suppose it really is just a blip in the realm of indiscretions amongst international sports superstars.
@miss,
When it happened everyone laughed and teased him for being a cheater. Now with improved domestic violence laws and education most people would no longer make fun of someone who got burned by a scorned woman.
a few things here...
The 14 plus is just the women he had long term relationships with (and I know for a fact that there is at least one more who hasn't and won't come forward). Just imagine how high the # is when you take into account the hook ups and one night stands! OY
Also, there are people from the tour who say (not publicly) that Tiger has used steroids for a long time and that after his knee surgery, he had to stop because it was getting out. Which is why he did not have that powerful of a drive anymore (knee surgery or not).
Lastly I think that there are a lot of pro atheletes out there right now who are re-thinking their extra-marital affairs at the moment. So I guess their wives have Tiger to thank for that, ha.
Haaaa, Mooshki...that was funny!
I haven't supported Nike since they started giving Michael Vick "free product" this football season. I sent an e-mail to Nike, stating this and they could have cared less.
"But people shouldn't be put on pedestals and celebrities don't owe it to us to divulge the truth about their personal life."
Um then don't go on and on about family values and how your wife and kids are your first priority in interviews. Other athletes who have not peddled this mr perfect persona would have been in the tabloids but there would not have been this much uproar. If Kobe had not been accused of rape it probably would have barely made headlines. And other athletes don’t have mistresses going public in the double digits!
Unfortunately empyrios, it does change the fact that he is the greatest golfer on the planet. Like someone above said, this is going to be like Clinton's Lewensky. He will always be a bit of a laughing stock no matter how well he plays.
Athletes don't need to be perfect role models, fine...just don't ever pretend to be in the first place and don't expect millions in endoresements.
Ok, those of you who will not buy Nike because of Tiger Woods, do you or your children shop at Forever 21, XXII, Aeropsotle, or Walmart?? If so you are supporting child labor and sweatshops and inhumane working conditions, low wages, etc..... Walmart tried to "influence" how their employees voted in the 2008 election ( vote conservative like christian Sam Walton), by veiled threats towards employees. I dont buy, and have never bought NIKE because their enviromental views and labor standards. Just do it... just research where you shop before you spend....
PS: Tiger is a dirtbag
Ok, those of you who will not buy Nike because of Tiger Woods, do you or your children shop at Forever 21, XXII, Aeropsotle, or Walmart??
N, no, no and no.
WAS the greatest golfer. WAS a PGA tour champ. WAS.
He is taking an "indefinite" break, so he isn't a golfer now. He's just an insanely rich manwhore.
People like to judge i guess. I think what Michael Vick did is far worse, but he;s allowed to carry on playing football.
And every time i hear about a new woman i feel like its none of my business. I just wish the media would stop covering it.
I don't agree with the Michael Vick thing either, melanie. I think it is reprehensible that he was allowed back into the NFL.
As for sports figures being heroes - maybe not to us adults. But they often are to kids.
Syko, Parents should be their heroes, but i just think its too much to hold someone you don't really know to that high of a standard, you're bound to be disappointed.
I agree, melanie - but how many kids are savvy enough at the ages of 8 or 10 to realize who the real heroes are?
Did Tiger actually put himself out as Captain Monagamy and pure as the driven snow, or did we the public slap it on him because he was (obviously) being discreet with his personal life so we assumed he didn't have one? I follow golf, but I don't often follow golf gossip-there usually isn't any to follow-but I don't recall anything one way or the other about the guy. John Daly, yes. Jack Nicklaus,yes. Tiger? Nah. All zillion dollar a year golden children, and Jack was so bad the fact that the tabloids didn't exist in the form they do now and everyone knew about him anyway.
I find it interesting that no one has questioned the behavior of his wife, as if anything she does is appropriate retribution for sleeping around, which is just idiotic. If the domestic violence that she clearly displayed is any evidence of how she behaves at home, perhaps there's a reason for his behavior. I've been pissed at my husband for indiscretions, both physical and emotional, but I have never gone after him with a club. Can someone tell me why this is okay? I am genuinely curious.
@ Kristen S.
it really gets under my skin when people spew off about things they don't know.
there's absolutely no "WAS" in regards to Woods' professional career.
all you have to do is look at his achievements and see how many ALL TIME RECORDS he holds.
Here are merely a few. There are too many to name:
1. Woods has been the PGA Player of the Year a record ten times.
2. Woods has been the PGA Tour Player of the Year a record nine times.
3. Woods has been the PGA Tour Money Leader a record nine times.
4. Woods has been the Vardon Trophy winner a record eight times.
5. Woods has been the recipient of the Byron Nelson Award a record nine times.
So, until someone surpasses Woods' achievements he will remain to be the greatest golfer on the planet regardless of whether he's playing or not.
With that said, i don't condone what he's done in his personal life. I don't really care though either.
I grew up around professional athletes. Elin knew what she was in for when she married him. I have no doubt about that.
He's a crap husband. Big effing deal.
I guess we're talking about the U.S. view of things though. You guys get rid of Presidents cuz they're crap husbands too, LOL.
i'm with nike. if he wins tournaments, then so what. i don't care about his sex life, personal life and i don't think we should know about it. i do not agree with the way he's lived his life - and yes, his actions are pretty despicable and will warrant their own reciprocity. yes, we agree tiger is so awful, but what about the fact that the media is making all kinds of money off of him???? business is business? i wish we could all live in glass houses.
Public figures choose to be in the public eye. If it goes sour due to poor judgment and hypocrisy, boo hoo.
No Nike for me.
At 8 or 10, my parents did not allow me access to media where I would learn about anyone being a manwhore. I idolized Michael Bennett, and I had no idea he was even gay til after he died-not that it would have mattered, I just loved his dancing.
..and as a general question, why do idols have to be perfect?
Well Kim, I do think a big part of Tigers image (that he sold, via many different distributors, if you so will) was def that of a family man. He ALWAYS brought that up in the interviews I have read (and i dont even follow the guy that closely).
like this one, in australian media on november 17:
"Asked in the interview “family first and golf second ... always been that way?” Woods replied: “Always. Always.”
He goes on to say that having a family — he has two young children with wife Elin Nordegren — “has been great, actually, the best thing that ever happened.”
The interview was conducted on Nov. 17 — 10 days before the accident outside his Florida family home which prompted reports of marital strife. The world's No. 1 golfer later admitted to liaisons with other women.
Woods says he has applied time management skills learned at Stanford University to his dual roles as a golfer and father and had been more focused as a player since he became a family man.
“I don't practice as much as I used to. I don't spend the amount of hours on the golf course, not like I used to” he said.
“But my focus is so much more intense than it used to be. ... I know whatever I have to get done (has to be done) in a shorter amount of time.”
/http://www.theglobeandmail.com
well maybe because most of the men in the world cheat so actually the heads of these organizations would be hypocrites to let him go for cheating.
whats more stupid is the fact his wife is sticking by him.....other than that who cares.....men with money cheat...woopty doo
@empyrios
I KNOW he said he's taking an indefinite break from golf, so everything he DID in golf may HAVE BEEN great, but all that's in the PAST. He's IS not a great golfer, he WAS a great golfer. But great golfer ain't nothing compared to, say, a great physicist or great humanitarian. Or even great husband.
am I the only one who feels sorry for him? I feel sorry for his wife as well, what she has to suffer through is awful.
however, he was always with consenting adults.
he's obviously a sex addict. most addicts, including sex addicts, have suffered from abuse and one could argue that his father abused him by making him play golf since he was a small child.
look at andre aggasi, who admitted to being a meth addict for a time. their fathers were similar in their singular focus for their children to be champions.
child labor was outlawed in the earlier part of the last century, but somehow the perception is that a child playing an adult sport from a young age is not actually laboring. I would argue that that perception is naive and wrong when they are made to practice for hours and hours and hours every day.
give the guy a break. he's human, just like the rest of us.
if the crowds can take back michael vick, do you really think that they won't take back tiger?
"Stark: Working with younger kids, why is that so important to you?
Woods: It's more gratifying than anything else. It's more gratifying than winning golf tournaments. I would much rather be remembered for that, for influencing kids, than winning the golf tournaments."
i want to take a shower and an antibiotic every time I read one of these Tiger stories.
Oh yes annabella poor poor Tiger the sex addict, who just can't tell himself no. Give me an effin' break.
And melanie, those who think its none of our business, fine whatever, but bear in mind that they MADE it our business by continually pushing products on the merit of his personal credibility. And now he has none.
While none of us should be looking to these people as role models, at the same time many of us probably do not want to see our hard earned dollars end up in the pocket of the likes of Tiger Woods. Its the same reason I won't buy Paris Hilton brand perfume. I'd rather that scumbags weren't financially benefiting off their lies and my decency in giving the benefit of a doubt.
And for the record, no I don't shop at Wal-Mart or Forever 21 or any of those places. I *do* try to be conscious of what I purchase and no, you probably can't live your life without putting money behind someone you hate in one way or another, I will still try to avoid it as much as possible.
"You guys get rid of Presidents cuz they're crap husbands too, LOL."
You're damn right we do. If you can't even be accountable to your wife and keep your promises, how are you supposed to be honorable, honest, and accountable to the public you are trying to lead? Hm?
you're totally right not on my dollar
:(
I can be super juvenile sometimes..it was the gritsback that made me giggle but I totally agree. I wouldn't want my bf to throw grits on my back if I ran around on him. Thanks for making a good point. :)
Dudes, as long as Tiger pulls that Nike driver out of his bag and that little white ball flies over 400 yards before landing in the middle of the fairway, golfers will shell out $600 each and every year for the newest Nike driver. They don't give two shits who he is or isn't banging off the course. His esteem probably rose in their eyes, since he is actually human AND drives the damn ball 400 yards. Nike should be building him a shrine.
My driver will remain TaylorMade til the day I die, because it is a thing of beauty. Nothing to do with celebrity endorsement... it's loyalty to the club. :) I'll get around to fixing my swing sooner or later.
"You guys get rid of Presidents cuz they're crap husbands too, LOL." Ummmm....when did we out a president for cheating? Clinton finished his second term (the max allowed) and the woman who stood by him is now Secretary of State.
I don't buy Nike, (or shop at Walmart, and Forever 21 was never my style, even at 21.) but I have other moral issues with them than sticking by Tiger or manufacturing in sweat shops.
I still can't see that Tiger was dishonest with comments like "family first". My family is first too. My career is second. That does not make me (or anyone) somehow disloyal to that if I (sleep around, have a shopping addiction, whatever), it makes more actively a prioritizer. When I had kids, I had to do more in less time too. I schedule things that do not belong in my home or job more carefully so that they don't come home or to work with me.
His behavior reminds me a lot of an addict though, no one gives their personal credit card out, or leaves a voicemail or sends a text from their phone unless one of two things is going on. They are either so far inside their personal bubble that they think they'll never get caught OR they're trying to get caught. I don't know which of them is Tiger, but I remember when this same kind of thing came out about Charlie Sheen (who did not take nearly this much shit about it) I thought wow, there's some kind of pathology going on here and I don't think it's sex addiction, even. There are a couple of other things going on there but I don't think he's a sex addict.
On one of the golfing blogs I was reading yesterday, I ran across a post from a reader using the name "black liquorice", who said that Tiger's downfall (and OJ's and a couple other black athletes) was marrying a white woman. Sometimes I think we as a society are past that kind of shit. Then I read this stuff and just sigh.
Tiger is famous because he's a great golfer, not because he'd won Husband or Father of the Year. Nike and other companies hired him on the basis of his being a notable sports figure, not husband or parent. His personal life is very secondary to his professional achievements when it comes to product endorsements. So I can see why Nike isn't ready to cut Tiger loose. After all, their target market is men. I'm sure very few women buy Nike products because Tiger has endorsed them. And face it, most of the men who idolize Tiger enough to buy the stuff he endorses probably kinda admire him for scoring with so many women. So Nike has very little to lose by sticking with Tiger.
I find l'affair Woods interesting in a somewhat macabre way, but I do think it's primarily the Woods' issue to work out. Anyone who marries a wealthy and/or famous person - male or female - has to realize that the opportunities to cheat are endless, and that it simply isn't realistic to expect someone with a big ego and big bucks to turn the invitations down all the time.
I expect he and his wife had an understanding, but that Tiger went way, way beyond what they'd agreed upon. He left her wide open to disease, to potentially giving birth to a child with a congenital STD-related defect. That is huge. On top of that he subjected her to humiliation on a global scale. That's a pretty big hurt right there as well.
But you know, he did a LOT of frolicking in his own home. Meaning a LOT of times his wife wasn't home, but was off somewhere else. Add in all the time he spent away on his jaunts, and they actually spent very little time together. So they had some sort of husband-and-wife relationship, but it probably wasn't the sort of marriage that we take for granted.
They both knew what Tiger was like, and still they both decided that making him a father was a good idea. That was self-centered of both of them, don't you think?
@littlesunshine
ummm, yeah. i was being cheeky with that last statement, HENCE the "LOL".
@ annabella
No I don't feel sorry for him. The fucker would not use condoms and exposed his wife -- the mother of his children, for crying out loud -- to STD's or worse. A colleague of mine said he should be tried for attempted murder for possibly exposing Elin to AIDS.
Tiger likes his privacy and I *love* the fact that that the press won't let this go and I hope that Elin takes half his cash and his kids and goes back to Sweden.
Sign me Team Elin.
*shrug* This woman just bought a pair of Nike soccer shoes for my daughter because they were cheaper than the Adidas and Puma ones on the shelves. Would the fact that Nike has decided to keep Tiger on as a spokesperson have affected my purchase? No.
Your final sentence, Enty - EXACTLY. CEOs still don't get it; it's moms who make the family apparel purchases.
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