Wednesday 14 April 2010

The ethics of Tiger advertising


There's been a lot of talk about the recent Tiger Woods tvc for Nike.

To be honest I don't really care about Tiger Woods or the ad.

What troubles me is the voiceover.

Publicity surrounding the ad says it's Tiger's father asking him questions.

It's not. Well it is sorta. But it's not.

The voiceover is Tiger's dad. But it's from an interview a couple of years old and he is talking about his estranged wife.

I don't know about you but I find that kind of troubling.

Of course it's merely my opinion but the idea of taking something deeply personal out of context and using it to promote a brand is just plain wrong.

And as for trying to pass off that voice footage as a father questioning his son - surely that's misleading advertising?

If you haven't seen the ad click here to take a look.