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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, December 10, 2009

Woods prime-time ads fading


By Brett Pulley
Bloomberg News Service

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Advertisements featuring golfer Tiger Woods are noticeably absent from TV following reports of extramarital affairs. The last prime-time ad featuring Woods aired on Nov. 29.

ADVERTISER LIBRARY FILE PHOTO | 2009

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Advertisements featuring Tiger Woods have disappeared from prime-time broadcast television and many cable channels following reports of his extramarital affairs, according to data from Nielsen Co.

The last prime-time ad featuring the 33-year-old golfer was a 30-second Gillette Co. spot on Nov. 29, according to New York-based Nielsen. Woods also was absent from ads on weekend sports programs tracked, including NFL games, Nielsen said.

The No. 1 ranked golfer's standing with the public has plunged in the wake of reports of infidelity that followed a Nov. 27 car accident outside his home near Orlando, Fla. Woods' ranking among celebrity endorsers tumbled to 24th from 6th, according to the Davie Brown Index, which is used to gauge the ability of personalities to influence shoppers.

"Near term, you've got to pull the ads," said Larry Novenstern, managing director at Optimedia, a New York-based unit of Publicis, the French advertising company. "A transgression of this type in his personal life is never good but if anyone can weather a storm, it's probably Tiger Woods."

The Pac-10 college athletic conference hasn't decided whether to continue an advertisement featuring Woods, a Stanford University alum, according to Jim Muldoon, a spokesman.

Woods has endorsement agreements with Accenture Plc, Nike Inc., PepsiCo Inc.'s Gatorade, Tag Heuer International SA watches, Electronic Arts Inc., Upper Deck Co., NetJets Inc., TLC Vision Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co.'s Gillette. None have said they've changed their marketing.

Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, and Glenn Greenspan, a spokesman, didn't respond to phone messages and e-mails seeking comment.

The golfer's $110 million in annual income from endorsements and tournaments, as estimated by Forbes magazine, hinges on his standing with consumers. Woods ranked as the world's fourth-highest paid celebrity in the 12 months through June 30, the magazine said. In October, he became the first athlete to top $1 billion in career earnings.

Following the car accident, Woods withdrew from last weekend's Chevron World Challenge on NBC, an event he has hosted since 1999 to benefit his charitable foundation. Other than an announcement of his absence by TV host Dan Hicks, there was no other mention and the network didn't air any ads featuring Woods in two days of coverage, according to the New York Post.

Gillette is running its media schedule as planned and no Tiger Woods ads have been pulled, said Mike Norton, a company spokesman. He wouldn't comment on the frequency of the ads.

Nike's golf division isn't changing its advertising plans, Beth Gast, a spokeswoman for the Beaverton, Ore.-based company, said in an e-mail. Electronic Arts wasn't running any Woods ads and hasn't changed its marketing, said David Tinson, a spokesman for the Redwood City, Calif.-based video-game publisher.

Accenture, based in Dublin, didn't respond to requests for comment. Officials at Carlsbad, Calif.-based Upper Deck Co., a collectibles company, didn't reply to phone messages or e- mails. NetJets Inc., owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., also didn't return a call.

Woods' relationships with corporate sponsors may hinge on factors including their duration, his importance to the brands, the target audience and how much money is at stake, according to attorneys experienced in celebrity contract enforcement.

Before the reports, Woods ranked just below Oprah Winfrey on the Davie Brown Index, which tracks 2,800 celebrities. The index was created by Los Angeles-based Davie Brown Entertainment to provide a way to measure the use of celebrities in campaigns.

The decline in marketability may be temporary, said Chris Anderson, a spokesman for the index.

"This type of swing is caused by major events — winning the Super Bowl MVP Award or, as with this case, an intense personal crisis," Anderson said in an e-mail. "Typically, over time, the scores settle back."