I have just seen the above new Nike/Tiger Woods YouTube Ad that was released a couple of days ago online in anticipation of Tiger’s return to competitive golfing at this weekend’s Masters. This follows an almost 6 months hiatus whereby Tiger extricated himself from the game after shocking revelations of his numerous extramarital affairs late last year. Prior to the scandal, Tiger was what could only be described as  “squeaky clean” and proverbial “perfection” for lots of big spending brand sponsors. I must admit, its a very gutsy move on the part of Nike to have delivered an Ad that is both thought provoking and “real” by using his deceased Father’s voice that ends with him starkly asking Tiger, “…and did you learn anything?”.

There are three things I love about this new Nike/Tiger Woods Ad. First, it was released first online on YouTube ensuring that it reached the widest possible audience, worldwide. Secondly, Nike has shown that they will stand by Tiger all the way, through thick and thin so to speak, even as other sponsors ditched Tiger in droves, at the first sign of trouble. Lastly, Nike and Tiger are playing the “remorse” card showing that people, and even heroes, often do mess up and need a second to chance to regain their footing. In all of these cases, both Nike and Tiger are showing that the old rules of playing it “safe” and “perfect” no longer apply in real world – things that can go wrong do go wrong but it does not mean the end of a partnership that works. I reckon the TV ad will resonate with lots of folks this weekend as we watch Tiger prowl once again at the Masters!