Blog: Nike's New Tiger Woods Ad - "Earl and Tiger"

So, here's Nike's first 'post-transgressions' ad featuring Tiger Woods.  The general public has held the opinion that Tiger owes them an explanation as a penance of sorts, which in my opinion isn't really necessary and meaningful given how guarded Tiger has been and will continue to be.  Sure, Tiger will try to be more accessible to the public, flash more smiles, sign more autographs but that doesn't really reveal all that much about what Tiger has learned from all of this and how (or if) he has really changed going forward.  What would be really interesting to know, and this is where the brilliance of Nike's ad becomes evident, is how exactly would Tiger explain his actions to Earl.  We all know that Earl was Tiger's best friend and had a heavy hand in molding the person that Tiger is today.  Clearly, telling his mother was difficult and certainly telling Elin and begging for understanding and possibly forgiveness was incredibly humiliating - but I have no doubt that the most difficult task for Tiger in all of this would have been facing his father and seeing the hurt, disbelief and disappointment in Earl's eyes. 

Nike hit the nail right on the head with this ad.  In fact, the more I watch it the more perfect I think it is.  Yes, it's an attempt to sell Nike product - and there's little doubt that Nike will continue to do so - but what's better is that they've found a way to put us in the middle of the single conversation that everyone really wanted to hear but never will, not even Tiger.