In the media maelstrom that has overtaken Tiger Woods, one question has somehow gone unasked: “Where was the Buick in all of this?”I realize that Tiger is technically an endorser for GM, but for the last few years he has been filmed and photographed pimping one brand only: Buick. Yeah, that Buick. But when it comes to driving around the neighborhood and running over fire hydrants, Mr. Woods opts for the sexier, brasher, better-appointed Cadillac Escalade. The cad!
This of course raises a problem many of us in the marketing business have with celebrity endorsements – they are obscenely expensive and 9 times out of 10 are utterly unbelievable.
Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to sports figures endorsing sports related equipment (especially shoes that bear their name), I get it. There are even some believable food and beverage endorsements; Jen Anniston with the ever-present Smart Water bottle, Jamie-lee Curtis yogurting her way to better digestion, and of course Wilford Brimley for Quaker Oats (I’d bet that guy eats oatmeal 5 times a day). But Tiger Woods – billionaire, icon, reasonably stylish dresser – driving a Buick Enclave? How stupid do we look?
John Daly and a case of Bud. Phil Mickelson and a box of Twinkies. These are endorsements I can believe in. Tiger, it’s time to step out of your Enclave and sell us something we can believe in (on many counts).
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