14 DAY TRIAL // Tiger Woods has already announced that he’s to make his comeback to competitive golf with this week’s US Masters and Nike, one of the few sponsors that did not drop him in the aftermath of the cheating scandal, is looking to capitalize on that. A new ad for Nike has just been introduced, a black-and-white, 30+-second clip in which Tiger doesn’t speak a word – and leaves all the talking to his late father, Earl Woods.
The video, which has also been embedded at the end of this article, sees Tiger staring into the camera with a torn expression on his face. If the first hint, namely that this is an ad in black and white, was not enough to let viewers know that this is a video meant to humanize the golfer, then the second Earl’s voice is heard, it becomes crystal clear. No specific faults or mistakes are mentioned, but the video ends with a direct question addressed to Tiger: “Did you learn anything?”
“Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to find out what your feelings are. Did you learn anything?” Earl’s voice tells the golfer. While many voices online have already branded the ad as a little bit more than creepy, others are of the opinion that this could be only the first in a series of similar videos. A second one, for instance, could see Tiger answering that question, it is being said.
“Nike is working hard to get their multimillion dollar investment back to work. […] Well... I’m not going to beat around the bush or the ‘Woods’ with this commentary. I think that although Nike and Woods were on the right path, it was for me the wrong execution because we all know what a committed husband Earl Woods was... oh... wait... Earl Woods was a cheating dog just like Tiger, so bad in fact that Tiger has half-siblings from Woods so to use the late Earl Woods as a voice of reason was so tacky and just grasping at air,” Gather says in a review of the ad, clearly not buying into the whole-new campaign.
Of course, as it is always the case, particularly with Tiger Woods these days, opinions are mixed about the new Nike ad. Check it out below and make up your own mind about it.