Tiger Woods and His Wounded Image

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Last Friday, Tiger Woods finally came out of hiding. Nearly three months after his car crash, which unveiled rumors of cheating, Woods made his first public appearance. With his mother present, he apologized and took sole responsibility for his actions. Woods pleaded for acceptance, stating, “What I did is not acceptable. I never thought about who I was hurting.” Although his speech was meant to be humble and selfless, many believe otherwise.

Many people have been asking whether or not his personal life should really even be brought into the spotlight. Some argue that his personal life really doesn’t affect his ability to perform on the golf course. While these are valid arguments, there is something to be said about the personal life of a public figure, especially one who is tied up in endorsement deals.

When Woods committed these acts of adultery, he hurt more than those who love him and those who follow him. He hurt himself. He hurt his image, his reputation and his personal brand. His actions in his personal life have had a negative affect on his public image. An article in the New York Post from December states, “Analysts said his contracts likely contain a “morality clause” that allows sponsors to walk if Woods engages in bad behavior.” Many of his sponsors have been doing just that.

It was no accident Woods’ statement took place during the Match Play Championship. Player Ernie Els, among others, believes Woods was trying to play by his own rules. He stated that Woods is “selfish” for choosing the week of a World Golf Championship to make a public apology. Of course the media would give priority to Woods for his apology.

Although the statement was a widely announced event, the media had limited access to the live speech. Three camera crewmen were allowed in the room, along with only 40 friends and family members. Also, no questions were to be asked during the speech, minimizing the media’s involvement in the speech.

No matter the game, golf included, sports creates a sense of comradery and raises morale, especially within American society. When one of America’s most valued, favorite and squeaky clean athletes such as Tiger Woods commits adultery, the spirits of the golfing community as well as sports fan community are weakened. Tiger Woods did not only hurt his family life and golf game, but he diminished his public image and contributed to what many feel to be the slow decline of social capital within the world of sports.

Lacey Inman

Nicole Doherty

Stephanie Saulsbury

Comments

16 responses to “Tiger Woods and His Wounded Image”

February 22, 2010

Sara Wagner

The Tiger Woods issue has been havily discussed in the U.S. and I’m sure around the world since Thanksgiving. Although Tiger’s personal business should not necessarily be made public, he has his image to defend. After wathcing his “press conference” I really do not feel like Tiger is sorry for what he did. Like others, I think that Tiger is more sorry that he got caught. If he wasnt caught in this scandal, his behavior would most likely continue. What is so sad to me is that he is such a role model for tons of kids and I can only imagine how let down they feel. I think that Tiger’s image can be repaired and placed on the backburner on the golf course, but I do not think his squaky clean public image will ever be the same.

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February 23, 2010

Courtney Holton

The post on Tiger Woods is outstanding. You guys touched on points that are right on target. In our Intro to IMC class we have been dicsussing “brands” as well as reading a Branded Nation. We have learned that regardless of what “it” is, everything is given a brand, even religion. Tiger Woods definitely didn’t think of his brand or the image that it would give not only adults but children who looked up to him as well. The things that he did were not right and his timing, as you guys stated, was quite clever. He may be an outstanding golfer and role model but his image and brand have been harmed indefinitely.

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February 23, 2010

Ryan Stanfield

In my opinion Tiger Woods cheating on his wife is not news worthy in the first place. Beyond that opinion, Tiger Woods himself does nothing to deminish golf or sports in general. If someone is a golf fan then they are a fan of golf. I think it is crazy to say “oh well I used to love golf and really keep up with it, but since Tiger turned out to be so morally currupt I just cant watch it anymore.” In this particular case the only thing if anything this situation should affect is whether someone is a Tiger Woods fan. As for the contracts, where im sure he makes the majority of his money, if these companies paying him didnt put morality clauses in the contracts than that is their own oversite and if they did then the decision is theirs. I think it is crazy that Tiger went on television to issue an apology, he doesnt owe the public any kind of apology for his actions. The only person he should be apologizing to is his wife and family and that should be a private affair. It is actually rather sad that this affair not only made it into headlines in the first place, but is still a news worthy topic months after the fact. I think this speaks volumes about our society and the gossip and reality shoes we place so much value on instead of real news worthy topics like health care and poverty issues. Our culture and our news outlets really need to assess our own values when the average person can tell you all about what is going on with Tiger but has no idea what bills and laws are being discussed, voted on and passed within our own legislative branch.

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February 23, 2010

Katie Eagle

It seems that everything in our world is a brand in some form or another that tells a story and conveys meaning through every action. Tiger Woods is no exception. Many companies used Tiger to endorse their products because he told the story of power, athleticism, and strength. His astonishing golfing abilities allowed people to look at his achievement, see him wearing a certain brand, and associate his talent with the brand. One of Tiger’s most well known endorsements is Nike. It will be interesting to see what type of affect his lifestyle choices will have on the Nike sales trends and what type of insight we will get on the relationship between people as a brand and consumers.

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February 23, 2010

Jordan Shook

Tiger Woods is one of America’s best athletes. He has made a fortune on being the most well known golfer and being the best. He has been the spokes model for numerous companies. He endorsed Nike, General Mills, and American Express just to name a few. The reason all of these company wanted Tiger to be their celebrity endorsement, is because of his image. Tiger Woods’ image before his affairs were revealed was very admired. He was a top athletic and was a family man. He was an image of the American Dream. Companies wanted him because he looked like the American dream, he had money and family. However, these companies did not want to be associated with him after his affairs. Most of his contracts probably had a morality clause that would let the company drop him if he hurt his image and theirs.

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February 23, 2010

Jessica Brown

This post reminded me of our intro to IMC class about advertising. We talked about purposeful details and timing for advertising in commercials. Tiger Woods showed this with his timing for his apology. He purposefully chose the championship to help advertise the golf championship with the timing.

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February 23, 2010

Taren Rehburg

I agree. Even though it seems like someone should not have to apologize to the public about their personal life, when it comes to marketing yourself and keeping up your image, Tiger Woods really did not have a choice. The media is criticizing his speech calling it “insincere” maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. The fact is that Tiger Woods, as a popular icon in golf, had to do what he had to in order to maintain his image, and hope that his personal life has not ruined his successful career in golf.

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February 23, 2010

Brooklyn

Tiger Woods doesn’t just endorse Nike. As one of the most recognized athletes of all time, he endorses every single thing he does. When he goes to church, he endorses having a religion. when he takes his family out on his yacht, he automatically encourages people to buy a boat. The nature of his fame has made it so that anything he does and is made public, is also idolized. But just as our obsession with this man quickly accelerated him to be the highest paid athlete, our replaced obsession with his bad morality has the power to decellerate just the same. He had everything a man could ever want. It goes to show that you can have the world and not be satisfied. It’s actually very scary.
We are a forgiving nation, but Tiger Woods has tarnished his name, his brand, forever.

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February 23, 2010

Brooklyn Newbold

1. Tiger Woods doesn’t just endorse Nike. As one of the most recognized athletes of all time, he endorses every single thing he does. When he goes to church, he endorses having a religion. when he takes his family out on his yacht, he automatically encourages people to buy a boat. The nature of his fame has made it so that anything he does and is made public, is also idolized. But just as our obsession with this man quickly accelerated him to be the highest paid athlete, our replaced obsession with his bad morality has the power to decelerate just the same. He had everything a man could ever want. It goes to show that you can have the world and not be satisfied. It’s actually very scary.
We are a forgiving nation, but Tiger Woods has tarnished his name, his brand, forever.

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February 23, 2010

Katelyn Truss

In a perfect world I would say that separation of work and play would remain just that: separated. I do not feel that our personal lives should have an effect on the way we are perceived at work, nor should it downplay our professional achievements unless our actions are directly negatively impacting our performance in the workplace. However, since the reality of the issue is that our personal behaviors do cross over into the work force, it is our responsibility to positively represent ourselves, our company, or whoever else’s name we may be associated with.
As far as Tiger’s scandals, I hate that the media is being so hard on him for his actions since they have not at all affected his amazing golfing ability. On the other hand, the public and especially children and teens look up to him as a strong athletic figure and a role model. Kids want to grow up and one day be just like Tiger. So does this now mean that young minds will feel that cheating, lying, and having lots of sexual partners is acceptable because Tiger did it? Hopefully not, but unfortunately sports and media figures are sometimes the only sense of guidance a kid can get. If it weren’t for the kids, I’d say Tiger could get away with the explanation that his business is his own and he can live his life however he wants. Personally, I accept Tiger’s apology and would really like to stop hearing about this whole ordeal. The media today is far too involved in issues that should be so small in comparison to the horrible events that are constantly happening around us.

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February 23, 2010

Chadwick Richardson

Tiger Woods has been in the public light since his incident the day after Thanksgiving. I believe that he is making some very unwise decisions as his Image is concerned, but I believe he is on the right track. I think that another step that needs to happen is when he gets back on the course his endorsors should really put his face out there so he can regain some of the positivity that he lost. He made a public apology and for that I respect him. However, I believe the best is yet to come with Tiger’s career.

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February 23, 2010

Chelsea Pegram

I agree with many of these posts: I doubt Tiger Woods will ever have the same image that he has had in the past. He was made famous as a “prodigy” golfer, yet he committed acts that will overshadow his talents. Not to mention, his press conference was not convincing and left many people even more upset than they were in the past. Although this press conference was most likely designed to make a sincere apology and for Tiger to express his eagerness to get better, I think it made him look even worse; he read straight off of a written speech! Hopefully Tiger will do something that will at least somewhat make amends for what he has done; yet I still think that his image is damaged forever.

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February 23, 2010

Eliza Wadson

There is no doubt that Tiger Woods as a brand has suffered from his indiscretions that have come into light in the past few months. As a public figure he is subjected to a great deal of scrutiny however, I feel like it is none of our business what he is doing off the golf course. He’s a golfer, focus on his golfing, not his canoodling with various women that are not his wife.

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February 23, 2010

Alicia Gronneberg

I completely agree with these opinions. I do not think that Tiger Woods’ apology was sincere and I believe that he will commit these acts again if his treatment is not fulfilled. He did not seem to be speak with an apologetic tone, he was monotone, and he had no facial expression. His brand will suffer greatly because there were many people, especially children who looked up to him. I don’t think that any of his sponsors should keep him no matter how good of a golfer he is.

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February 23, 2010

Tara Schroetter

I completely agree with the comments on this blog. Tiger Woods is not just a person, he is a brand, and as a brand he has brought a negative condemnation on himself. The name “Tiger Woods” is now used in making jokes about adultery or said in disgust instead of a name that was once synonymous with the best golfer in the world. Although nothing has changed as far as his history in the golf world, the Tiger Woods brand itself will never be the same and I think it will take a very long time for Tiger’s golfing abilities to overshadow his now infamous actions.

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February 25, 2010

jeremywaite

It’s true. I wrote a bunch of articles myself on Tiger. He obviously has a VERY bad management team around him, because if we handled the whole situation differently, I’m sure people (and the media) would have been much more understanding. As it was, his repuation and his ‘personal brand’ is in tatters. Shame really, because you’d think he’d know better. Great post. http://jeremywaite.wordpress.com/?s=tiger

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