Just as the year ends, one more corporate sponsor has bailed on Tiger.
AT&T announced today it would no longer sponsor Tiger Woods.
While AT&T is keeping mum on why the decision was made, bet your next cell phone bill that it had to do with money. The "Good Tiger" drew consumers to the brand. The "Bad Tiger" leads to association with a controversial figure, and bad brand associations.
Even before Tiger became a controversial figure, the phone company wasn't Woods’ much in advertising, but its logo appeared on his golf bag. That deal had been billed as a “multi-year” agreement when it was signed early in 2009. Woods has also been the host of the AT&T National PGA Tour event since it started in 2007. The phone company said it would continue to sponsor the event. No word on whether Tiger will still be associated.
Separately, consulting firm Accenture has dropped Tiger, saying he was “no longer the right representative” of the company’s values. Gillette has said that it won’t air ads that feature Tiger promoting its razors or include him in public appearances.
Tag Heuer has said that it would “downscale” its use of golfer Tiger Woods’ image in its advertising campaigns for the foreseeable future.
Electronic Arts Inc., which puts out the “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” series of golf video games, and Nike have not announced any plans to scale-back on Tiger's endorsement deals.
Source: Yahoo! News and Media Bistro's AgencySpy
