The Chicago Sun Times Media Critic says that as good as he is as a golfer, Tiger isn’t very good as a pitch man.
OK. So Tiger Woods is a pretty amazing golfer. But truth be told, he’s not the most compelling of performers when he’s put in front of a camera and asked to pitch a product to skeptical consumers. All right, maybe he’s a bit more compelling to his ardent fans. But to the general public—not so much.
Which is probably why Element 79/Chicago, which is still clinging to the Gatorade account, decided to cast Woods as an astronaut golfer and put him on the moon in a new spot called “Moon Shot” to promote Gatorade Tiger, a line extension that is apparently basic Gatorade with more electrolytes. Thankfully, Woods isn’t asked to say a single word in this new commercial.
I agree. Most of Tiger’s ads have been—how can I say this nicely?—less than convincing. I don’t believe for a minute that he drives a Buick. The new razor ads are ridiculous. And the less said about the moon suit ads, the better.
Still, for the enormous sums the companies are paying Tiger, they must have figured out that they’re getting a good return on their dollar. Gatorade is paying him $100 million for the right to produce Tigerade. They must figure that there are millions of golfers out there who can’t wait to consume a drink based on a chemical analysis of Tiger’s sweat.
I’ll stick to water.
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I just watched the “Moon Shot” ad and I agree – it’s a bit weak. You’d think the Gatorade folks could come up with something a bit more compelling. But there are several ads that are well done – particularly Nike’s. The commercial with tiger on the range bouncing the ball on his wedge is simple but genius (and about 90% of the golfers out there have since tried this trick). Nike also produced an ad with him in all black showing his swing in slow-mo. Simple, but cool. And, my personal favorite is a young tiger, superimposed on the course at St. Andrews. Very compelling. I even like the Buick ad where he stops to pick up Hogan and Nelson, although I don’t think there’s any way in the world Tiger, or his family gets within a nine-iron of a Buick.
The best Tiger commercials happen on the 18th hole!
And the young Tiger at St. Andrew’s. Hands down fantastic.