A Cheta Woods Rant

Lara Day, here again.  This time I need to rant. Many recent conversations have been about a man I have no respect for: Tiger Woods. Or Cheta Woods, as I call him.  Many of us have seen the Nike ad that pre-Masters and most of us have an opinion. Here is mine: dumb, dumb, dumb. I’ve heard marketing experts talk about how Nike and Tiger should re-engage with the public. One thought, for Tiger to be forgiven publicly, he needed to be chastised – publicly.  Who’s going to do that?  Nike?  No. His Mom?  No.  And this is where my issue with the approach begins.  They decided the honors should go to his dead dad. Classy. Apparently, Nike spliced and diced the voice of Earl Woods from comments made in a 2004 documentary.  And here’s what pisses me off: 1) apparently the comments are about Cheta Woods’ mom and 2). Earl cheated on Tiger’s mom too. Seriously, Nike, how does this inspire confidence?

Did it create buzz? Yes. Was that the goal? I suspect that was a huge driver behind the “leaked” footage.  More importantly, did it make me want to support Tiger again – or beyond that, buy Nike?  No.  Will I pay more for a Nike product, knowing that it’s more expensive because of major endorsements with an athlete like Cheta, I mean, Tiger Woods?  Hell no.

And that’s why I love the SNL take on the Nike ad. That spoof alone made it worth staying up late to watch. 

What's your take?

- Lara

@laralikemascara