Few ads in the entire history of advertising have been riper for
parody than Nike's new Tiger Woods commercial, with the voice of
the golfer's late father seemingly admonishing him for his
transgressions.
And so within hours of its first airing, this unusual (and,
some say, totally creepy) ad had spawned a new generation of
Dad-talking-to-Tiger videos.
And a more serious question, too: Even by the standards of
edgy advertising, did both Nike and Tiger cross a line?
To be sure, Nike is relishing the attention. That is, after
all, what advertising is about: Cutting through the clutter.
And Nike has a history not only of daring ads, but of notable
ones featuring Woods. Its 1996 introductory ``Hello World'' ad
noted he would still be banned from certain clubs due to the color
of his skin, and asked, ``Are you ready for me?''
But this is a different Tiger - the post-scandal Tiger, the
one in the midst of a carefully crafted comeback from the sordid
revelations of his multiple affairs. The Nike ad shocked some both
for its use of a dead man's voice - out of context - and, perhaps
more, its use of Tiger's infidelity to, well, sell merchandise.
``It's a new genre of marketing: I'm sorry - ka-ching!''
commented Marian Salzman, advertising analyst and president of Euro
RSCG Worldwide public relations. Wrote Salon.com: ``It's not
moving. It's just sickening.''
Others, though, called it potentially groundbreaking - and
not just in the way it brought immediate buzz to both Nike and
Woods as he competes in the Masters, his first tournament since the
scandal broke late last year.
``They've actually called an athlete to task - and one that
they're endorsing,'' said Rick Burton, sports marketing professor
at Syracuse University. ``They're using advertising as a vehicle to
question his motives and behavior.''
As for Tiger himself, he told a news conference that the ad
was ``very apropos. I think that's what my dad would say. It's
amazing how my dad can speak to me in different ways, even when
he's long gone.''
The ad aired Wednesday and Thursday on ESPN and the Golf
Channel and is not scheduled to air again - at least in its current
form. Woods stands expressionless, his only movement a few blinks.
The ad is in black and white, adding to the sense of starkness.
Then comes the voice of Earl Woods, who died in 2006. (Nike
confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday that the audio was from
a 2004 documentary. In that documentary, the elder Woods compared
his parenting style with that of his wife.)
``Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote
discussion,'' the father says. ``I want to find out what your
thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are, and did
you learn anything.'' It ends with the trademark Nike swoosh.
``Well, that'll make you wanna buy shoes, won't it?'' quipped
ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday night. He followed with a parody in
which Tiger was clobbered with a newspaper while his mother, voiced
by an actress, berated him mercilessly.
Also mining the comic potential was Stephen Colbert, who
remarked that Woods had proved he was ``still the best at bringing
his steely focus to the thing he loves: endorsing products.''
The Colbert parodies featured fatherly commentary from Ward
Cleaver in ``Leave it to Beaver'' (``The sad thing is, there are
some men my age who are still trying to be little boys''); actor
Gene Wilder in ``Young Frankenstein'' (``You are not evil. You are
good!''); and Colbert himself as Woods' agent, pitching the new ad
concept (``It makes the audience feel like THEY'RE your father. ...
If you love it, just blink.'')
Then there were the numerous spoofs across the Web.
``Hey Tiger, it's me, Dad. I need you to do me a huge, huge
favor,'' an actor says in one, riffing on the infamous voice mail
Woods allegedly left a paramour. ``You know that last commercial
where you used my voice to promote the Nike brand? I would
appreciate if you would not do that ever again.''
Another turns the Woods ad into a Calvin Klein fragrance
commercial - for ``Secret Obsession.'' There's the ``Lion King''
version, too - where the spirit of the late father, Mufasa,
counsels Simba, his son who has left the fold. ``How can I go
back?'' Simba asks. ``I'm not what I used to be.''
Then there's the spoof that uses the audio of ``David After
Dentist,'' the enormously popular Web video where a father films
his young son who's high on gas from the dentist.
``Is this real life?'' the son asks. ``Yes, this is real
life,'' Dad answers.
A Nike spokesman, Derek Kent, said Friday that the Woods ad
``addresses his time away from the game using the powerful words of
his father.'' He declined further comment.
By at least one immediate measure, the ad was working.
According to Zeta Interactive, a firm that tracks Internet buzz, it
received 43 percent more online buzz than the much-discussed Google
Super Bowl ad did the day after the game - and that ad had a higher
buzz ranking than any Super Bowl ad this year.
The firm, which looks at blogs, message boards and social
media posts to analyze the feelings of potential consumers, also
said the overwhelming majority of online posts about the commercial
- 86 percent - were positive.
One marketing executive praised the company for coming out
with a bold response, rather than playing it safe.
``It's shocking for some, but it's a strong move and probably
a very wise one,'' said Laura Ries, president of Ries and Ries, an
Atlanta branding firm.
``We'll see if it will pay off in the long run. But in the
short run, they've sure got people talking about Tiger and Nike.''
