In this year’s Master tournament, Tiger Woods performed mediocre at best, scoring just well enough to make the cut one stroke under the wire. His return has been welcomed by millions of golfers and golf fans alike simply because he has such a unique persona and people are more than willing to forgive and move forward. His 3rd round was watched by a record number of people, even though it was not televised on CBS, but over the Internet.
This kind of fan drawing power makes Woods a marketer’s dream. There was a time when Woods was the definitive role model, and he was at the top of his game. The five commercials selected are drawn mostly from those days, when he had more hair, consistent winning streaks, and was virtually beyond criticism except for the expected haters.
Here are what we consider to be the five best Tiger Woods commercials of all-time.
1. I am Tiger Woods
Crossing every socioeconomic demographic, this ad was the first that would introduce the world to who this golfer was, and set the tone for increased PGA tournament money that extends even into 2018. TV ratings soar and advertisers swoon when Woods makes the top 10 on the leaderboard going into the weekend. This ad makes the list because it increased golf’s marketing power to young and old alike. It’s simple, direct, and naturally, showcases Nike.
2. Walking on water
Advertising the EA Sports Tiger Woods 2009 computer game, it simply has Woods walking on water to play a golf shot after it lands in the water. Back in ’09 this is how many people saw his performance on the golf course, appearing to be virtually unbeatable. If you’re looking for humor in this ad, there really is none. To many people it was an exaggerated fact.
3. Frank and Tiger at the diner
What may be just as famous as Tiger Woods is the awfully cute tiger head covering he uses on his driver. The story behind the covering that continues to draw attention (does any other golfer in the world have anything close to this?) is it was handmade by his mother. Bringing it to animated life in a Nike ad was perfectly natural. Despite what Tiger says, it really can never be replaced.
4. Tiger is back
There are a dozen ways advertisers can welcome back one of their main advertising draws, but when Woods returned to the Masters after having missed one because of injury in 2008, Nike pulled out a 1960’s song and combined it with four very cooperative pro golfers to make one of the best Nike-Woods all-time ads. Keep in mind this is a 60 second ad. Things are different — for now.
5. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
Tiger’s first attempted comeback in 2015 paired him with the young phenom Rory McIlroy in a dunking contest. If this has an echo of the Jordan-Bird McDonald’s competition commercial of 1993, you wouldn’t be far off. Trick shots are actually done all the time by professional golfers. Well, that is what the average duffer would call them. In this Nike ad, there is nothing like a big finish.
This list focused mainly on ads that were fun to watch. Let the players take their sports seriously. As fans we need to realize that at the end of the day, if we are not entertained then we will not be watching. Extending that fun to commercials is what makes them memorable and fun to watch.
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