The Masters started today, starting my favorite tournament in all of golf. There's just something special about watching my favorite golfers playing at Augusta at the beginning of spring. While I had work all day today and wasn't able to watch at all, I know one thing. All eyes are on Tiger Woods. It seems like people are rooting for Tiger now more than ever, at least since we found out about his personal life and his sex addiction in late 2009. Just a few years ago it felt like Tiger was one of the most hated personalities in sports. And maybe he still is. I don't know. But one thing is for sure: love him or hate him, Tiger is one of the most polarizing people in the world of sports.
Lately, he's been winning. Tiger's looked like the Tiger he was five years ago, when he won the 2008 US Open on a really really bad knee, which is an understatement. Tiger played through the pain and came back to win the US Open in a dramatic fashion, competing in a fifth day 18-hole playoff round against Rocco Mediate. What he had done had been looked at as one of the most impressive championship performances ever in all of professional sports. This was the last major he won, and since people have been speculating when and if Tiger will ever win his next. Tiger has shown signs of life over the stretch, and it feels like every year we go through the same thing. He talks about how he's working at it and how he's finally gonna win another major, and he still comes up short. However, like I said before, Tiger has been looking his strongest since his comeback from knee surgery and his personal life was revealed to us. Do I think he will win The Masters? I don't know. I wouldn't put my money on him. However, that isn't the purpose of this blog.
The purpose of this blog post is to talk about Tiger's new Nike campaign. A recent ad featured the quote "Winning takes care of everything." Yes, Tiger has been winning and Nike is going to try their best to market the Tiger brand to us. However, I have a problem with this.
Regardless of what they are trying to say here, whether it be that winning makes things right and takes care of his personal problems, or if it's that we shouldn't judge him as a person and only look at his accomplishments, I think it sends the wrong message to their audience. The way it comes across and can be interpreted to everyone is that it doesn't matter if he was continuously cheating on his wife. The reason I have a problem is because before we knew about his personal life, Tiger was marketed to us as a role model. They depicted Tiger as a wonderful human being, a great father, and a great husband. He was supposed to be everything that was good about sports. And I'm not saying that he isn't perfect and that he doesn't make mistakes, but they marketed him as that. The sports world, along with all pop culture for that matter, is desperate for role models. Why? I have no idea. I have never invested in sports heroes. This is something I talked about in my first ever post on this blog, Manti Te'o and the Integrity of Athletes. Charles Barkley put it best when he said in a Nike commercial, "I am not a role model." I don't want to get too far off track.
Tiger was marketed as a hero. I think the new campaign sends the wrong message to people. It can easily be interpreted as "winning takes care of my marriage problems." It sounds like an excuse. It's okay for you to behave however you want, just as long as you win. This is the wrong message to send to kids. Maybe it subtly says "I am not a role model" in that. But that isn't the way it comes off.
Another reason why this ad might be a bad idea is at the time it's coming at. Tiger hasn't won a major yet. He's won some tournaments and has played well, but he hasn't gotten it done on the biggest stages. Perhaps this ad would be better to air after he actually wins a major, but for now he's only putting more pressure on himself. We've seen athletes do this kind of stuff at the wrong time, and only make things harder on themselves. For example, last summer Michael Vick released a book entitled "Finally Free." In the book he talked about his problems with dog-fighting and the other trials he's faced in his life. Around this time he also said that the he believed that the Eagles could become the next dynasty. In doing these things, he only put more pressure on himself. The book would have been better to come after a Super Bowl season, or when his career is done. Perhaps this ad campaign will only add to the challenges Tiger's been facing. We don't know.
I can't blame Nike for putting this ad out at this time however because they are trying to do whatever they can to sell their product. But it's a little frustrating for them to preach this to us after some of us still betrayed by the way they had marketed Tiger before. Maybe there's a better way for them to sell Tiger as well as their product.
Am I rooting for Tiger to win the Masters? I've always felt indifferent towards Tiger. I haven't hated him and I haven't loved him. I really respected his 2008 US Open. My favorite golfer has always been Phil Mickelson. I love the person he is on and off the course. I normally root for new people to win each year. It's always a great moment to see someone new holding up the green jacket for the first time, and seeing the excitement in their eyes. I loved seeing Bubba Watson win last year, and I loved his speech. With that said, I won't be rooting for Tiger to win. But I'm not a Tiger hater. I am very excited to watch The Masters this weekend and can't wait to see how things play out.
Thank you to everyone that read my blog. Now let me hear your thoughts. What do you think about the new Nike campaign? Are you rooting for Tiger? Hit me up on my Facebook fan page, on Twitter @vellvita7, or in the comments below.
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