Apr 15 2010 01:51 PM ET

Tiger Woods' Nike ad turned off the public, according to study

Experts thought Tiger Woods‘ “Earl and Tiger” Nike ad was a stroke of genius when it was released just before his return to golf’s heralded Masters tournament. But the consumers are always right.  And they have spoken: Woods’ newest Nike  commercial is a loser, reports Adweek. Ad evaluators Ace Metrix tested the 30-second clip for an online panel of 500, and it failed at both persuasion and watchability. “Earl and Tiger” earned an overall score of 365 points out of a maximum 950. The average for spots of the sort is 501. For persuasion, where 554 is average, the ad scored 428, and it got 459 points for watchability, versus a  567 norm. (A less-than-scientific PopWatch poll found that just 36 percent of you thought the spot boosted his image, and 61 percent thought the use of his father’s voice was inappropriate.)

Did Tiger come back too soon for golf fans? Or did Team Nike just miss the mark with the ad?

More Tiger Woods:
Jim Carrey criticizes Tiger Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, on Twitter
Tiger Woods: Father’s words in Nike ad originally referred to Tiger’s mother
Tiger Woods calls Nike ad ‘very apropos’
Tiger Woods commercial parodies: It has begun
Tiger Woods tees off at Masters: ‘Bootyism’ ensues
Tiger Woods’ new Nike ad features late father asking ‘Did you learn anything?’
Tiger Woods’ public statement: What did you think?

Comments (49 total) Add your comment
Page: 1 2 3
  • JaySin420

    I’d love to know what these “experts” were thinking.

    Honestly I could care less about this guy cheating on his wife, it’s not my business.

    On the other hand, using his recently deceased father in a Nike commercial is simply DISTURBING.

    • Anon

      Here’s the thing: I saw the ad as less of “Nike using Tiger’s dad’s voice to sell shoes” and more of a “Hey, it’s Tiger. I know I f***ed up, and I’m ashamed. I am aware how I would have disappointed my father, and I think about it every day.” Given their close bond, I don’t think Tiger would have OKed his dad’s voice in a commercial unless it meant something to him and he was sincere. I saw it as a much more remorseful apology than his scripted one was.

      • JaySin420

        Yea I kind of agree with you cause I know how close he was with his dad and all.

        But I think having your dead father in any type of commercial right after you were caught cheating with a ton of women is just very bad taste.

      • Jen

        Anon, that’s exactly what they wanted you to think. I didn’t believe it for one second – the ad was in extremely poor taste.

      • quincy

        And it’s worth noting that his dad was a serial cheater as well… which, at least to me, really made this ad hypocritical to say the least. (Unless, of course, his dad would be disappointed not because Tiger was a womanizer, but because Tiger had the audacity to get caught at it.)

      • Boooo

        Surreal to the extreme , just as much a reflection of our society’s celeb obsession as it is a reflection of this mans shallow personality. He should just embrace his new womanizing image, it hasnt kept Kobie Bryant, or Rothensburger or Charlie Sheen from continuing to making money. He looks like hes about to cry, give me a break!

    • Brian

      COULDN’T CARE LESS. Subbosebly it’s “COULDN’T CARE LESS.”

      • Garry

        And it’s “supposedly,” not “subbosebly,” right?
        Back to the dictionary for you, pal.

      • Pastafarian

        it’s supposably.

    • josh shettleworth

      i thought that the tape was just sick. how could they use Tiger wood’s father voice. the man is dead

  • exbff

    the ad was terrible. A clear attempt at emotional manipulation.

    Fail!

  • Gary

    Team Nike missed the mark. Tiger’s sullen “I didn’t do nothing wrong” look didn’t help either. Better no ad than this one. It’s a failure on all levels and Nike should have waited a more respectable amount of time before trying to turn Tiger into a cash cow again.

  • Alicia

    Yes, it was a bad ad. Even if ad execs didn’t think so. If people return to supporting Tiger and buying what he uses, it will because they like his golf game, but because they like him as a person.

  • Alicia

    Oops, I mean NOT because they like him as a person.

  • Sue

    The commercial was creepy. Tiger just looks forward with a blank expression on his face with no reaction to the words even being said. What did this sell anyway? While the product placement doesn’t have to be obvious, I wouldn’t buy anything after seeing this commercial. Who’s advising Tiger these days? Who ever it is needs to be fired because this advice was way off the mark. And Nike “experts” you too need to get real. This was just the strangest, and most absurd ad I’ve ever seen.

  • Dr. B

    Terrible ad…creepy, pretentious, and ghoulish.

  • Anne

    First, I find the manipulation of the image or voice of dead people for advertising purposes to be just creepy. I didn’t like it with Orville Redenbacher (sp?), I don’t like it w/ Tiger’s dad.
    *
    Second, ads for products where NO PRODUCTS ARE MENTIONED make me roll my eyes. What does Nike want me to do after seeing that ad? Buy shoes? Go hug my dad? It seems like the only thing Nike was trying to sell in that ad was Tiger — so that they can more quickly go back to using him to sell athletic gear. That’s crass beyond imagination.
    *
    I saw some big ad guy on the Today Show recently talking about how the ad was “genius” — and I was trying to understand where the genius was since it didn’t create a single positive feeling in me about either Nike or Tiger Woods.

  • Mariah

    The ad was just creepy and stupid. Tiger’s affairs have no impact on his skill at hitting a little white ball into a hole. I really wish the media were done insinuating that the one has anything to do with the other.

  • elr

    If Nike was going to put out an ad with tiger in it, it should have centered around his golf game and not his personal life. And it should definately NOT have used his father’s voice.

  • Plainer

    It was spooky and laughable. I thought it was unbelievable and shook my head. How Tiger got hooked into doing it, is beyond me.

  • snot

    i haven’t even watched it yet and i’m disguested knowing it exists.
    and i hope i’m never subjected to it.

  • Jen

    The problem with the ad for me was that they were trying to use his dad’s voice/image to rebuke Tiger. But as we’ve heard since this whole thing started, his dad was a big cheater, too! I know he is dead, so this sounds weird, but his dad has no credibility to rebuke his son for adultery!

  • Sean

    They tried to turn Tiger into a tragic hero with his Dad’s quotes. That was the part that bombed. If they had used quotes that scolded Tiger or made it clear Tiger had done wrong, then it would’ve been okay.

    But to say, Have you learned anything? I mean, come on, he blew up his family…would any father say that to a son in that situation.

    “Well Tiger, I know you ruined your family, sullied your name and may have left your children fatherless but…really…have you learned anything?”

  • Cyn

    Tiger’s supposed humility over this situation doesn’t in any way read as sincere. He insulted not only his dead father but the public by allowing Nike to run that ad. It was in very poor taste. And Nike ought to be ashamed for thinking that it was going to be a hit with it’s customers.

Page: 1 2 3
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject - or we may delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk (*) indicates a required field.

When you click on the "Post Comment" button above to submit your comments, you are indicating your acceptance of and are agreeing to the Terms of Service. You can also read our Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP