Tiger Woods learns to focus in Gatorade ad

Here's the first ad in the new "Woods of Wisdom" campaign for Gatorade Tiger from TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles. The animated spot promotes the reformulated Gatorade Tiger Focus drink (which now contains theanine, which aids in concentration) and shows Woods as a kid learning to keep his mind from wandering on the links. He does this with the help of a wise old grizzly bear (who looks and sounds a lot like Woods' late father Earl) and a literal waterfall of Tiger Focus, which the boy eagerly slurps up. Samuel L. Jackson is among the voice talent for the campaign, and funk master Bootsy Collins did the original music. This first spot also has a heavy Nike flavor, as Woods and the bear both sport Nike logos on their caps, and Tiger does the hacky-sack thing with the golf ball at the end—the same trick he made famous in the legendary 1999 Nike commercial.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on April 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (16)
Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Gatorade, Golf, Nike, Nudd, TBWA, Tiger Woods

EA caught using Xbox gameplay in Wii spot

An Electronic Arts commercial for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 has been banned in the U.K. in its current form for using Xbox 360 footage to promote the Wii version of the game. In the ad, Tiger is seen swinging a Wiimote, and the whole ad is overset with the Wii logo, but the graphics are Xbox. In its defense, EA said the Wii footage was not "of broadcast quality." Aside from a few nice Xbox shadows, the difference isn't that dramatic in the comparison above (larger version of the image here); it's certainly not as drastic as this tongue-in-cheek depiction. Even if it were, EA's solution is baffling. C'mon guys, video-game ads have been getting around showing real gameplay through good old-fashioned creativity since the Atari. You intercut small amounts of game footage into bigger amounts of non-game footage to create an amusing movie, an elaborate musical theater production, or even a full-length trailer in beautiful HD animation. Stealing another man's graphics? That's like claiming Tiger Woods can walk on water or something. It's just plain sacrilegious. Via Offworld.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on December 18, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Cullers, Electronic Arts, Golf, Tiger Woods, Video games, Wii, Xbox

It's not a glitch. Tiger does walk on water.

Electronic Arts doesn't make mistakes. That's clear from this nifty bit of customer outreach. What happened was: A player of EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 found a glitch in the game that allows Woods to walk on water. The player, Levinator25, filmed and posted a video of the glitch to YouTube. EA responded with its own YouTube video showing Woods on an actual golf course, strolling out into the middle of a lake for a shot—to show "that the 'glitch' Levinator25 thought he found in the game, is not a glitch at all." It seems possible, though maybe not likely, that whole thing—the glitch, the discovery of the glitch, the response to the discovery of the glitch—was orchestrated by EA. Either way, it's an inspired and engaging bit of marketing. Covered by Fark, Deadspin, The Social Path and others.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on August 21, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Electronic Arts, Golf, Nudd, Tiger Woods, TV, Web video, Wieden + Kennedy

Tiger Woods would love to carry your clubs

Tee Off With Tiger, a new Buick promotion from Digitas, troubles me. Fans guessing Tiger Woods’s score on each hole he plays between now and the fall have a chance to win his services as a caddy at Torrey Pines, the California course where Woods just won the U.S. Open in a dramatic playoff. My problem: the prominent use of the word “caddy.” Buick and Cadillac are both GM brands, but it’s Cadillac, not Buick, that stands to reap the benefits among those of us who don’t pay close attention or read the fine print. My point: K-Swiss should host a Tee Off With Anna contest. Wrong sport, wrong brand—but it would feel so right. UPDATE: Tiger Woods will undergo knee surgery and miss the rest of the season. His ability to caddy in the Buick promo is now also called into serious question. Anna’s knees look healthy, damn healthy!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on June 18, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Gianatasio, Golf, Tiger Woods

Good timing (again) for new Nike Golf spot

Nike did not have a new Rocco Mediate commercial ready to go if he had won the U.S. Open playoff yesterday. But what do you know, it does have this new Tiger Woods spot from Wieden + Kennedy. Narrated by Tiger’s late father, Earl Woods, the ad breaks pretty much zero new ground, but its message about mental toughness, though shopworn, rings fairly true after the events of Sunday and Monday. Mediate, meanwhile, doesn’t have his own Nike ads because he’s sponsored by Callaway, which is enjoying the exposure from Monday’s playoff after a year that’s been rough on its stock price. Via Advertolog.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Golf, Nudd, Tiger Woods

Tiger tries football on set of a Buick spot

Tiger Woods has football fever. Check out the video above, from The Wade Blogs, showing Tiger tackling an unsuspecting co-star on the set of a Buick ad. It looks like the blindsided actor had to be treated afterward for a cut on his forehead.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on January 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Golf, Tiger Woods

Nike hitches a ride on Woods’ historic shot

Nike has long tapped into the drama of sports. But on Sunday, when Tiger Woods approached the 16th green in the final round of The Masters, the drama of sports tapped Nike. It was a moment so suspenseful, so breathtaking, that Tiger himself called it one of the greatest shots ever. After chipping the ball onto the green, he watched it roll straight back toward the hole, where it paused for the longest three seconds of the tournament before dropping in. For those three seconds, golf fans sat perched on the edge of their couches, eyes glued to the ball—and to the Nike logo stamped on its side. (Some might quibble about the off-center location and sideways tilt of the logo, but you can’t art-direct greatness.) Then they watched it over and over in replays. Considering the millions Nike pays Tiger, the exposure wasn’t exactly free. But it was unexpected, spontaneous and sweet.

—Posted by Deanna Zammit

Published on April 11, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Golf, Tiger Woods