Valley PR Blog

The trouble with Tiger

By Len Gutman on November 30th, 2009 In Hype!

Tiger Woods’ latest drive may go down in history as his worst ever and the only one holding a golf club was his wife Elin. The world’s most famous golfer is now the world’s most famous recluse and he only has himself to blame.

There was good advice across the board for Tiger on the Business Journal’s Web site over the weekend. I especially agree with this gem from David Eichler of David & Sam PR:

“There’s only two things worse than whatever really happened outside Tiger Woods’ house: speculation and the appearance of a cover up.”

The Journal’s story was also the lead story in this morning’s PR Daily from Ragan, which says a lot about the interest in the Tiger story and also speaks well for the Phoenix PR community.

I have to admit I’m a huge Tiger Woods fan, but it pains me to see him do such a poor job controlling the story. He’s either getting terrible advice from his team or he’s making these poor decisions on his own. One thing we can count on is that the story will eventually come out — whether it was a simple domestic dispute or substance abuse or whatever — so he better get in front of it now instead of continuing to hide out.

Hello World!

The trouble with Tiger

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Let me play devil’s advocate: Tiger’s your client and worst case scenario, Elin went Tawny Kitaen on him. Would you be putting out statements about what happened? No. You would be protecting your client until he got his sh– together. You would take your cue from the cops. You would buy time. That is your job. Hopefully, it’s not a lot of time. Then talk openly at the earliest and most appropriate opportunity. Until then, Tiger owes the media NOTHING. He is not a public figure, he is a private citizen with a track record of protecting his family’s privacy. This is what all the armchair publicists out there fail to understand.

In reading the coverage, there was one question (and answer) that stood out. What’s the difference between Tiger driving an Escalade and Tiger hitting a wedge? Answer: Tiger can back up a wedge with no problem!

Len, I totally disagree w you here. I think he’s doing fine. Opening up to the media would have prolonged this cycle and given the bottom feeders something to suck on and spin. By giving nothing, the cycle dies out.

Dan, I guess I don’t understand why you think its best for Tiger’s team to “buy time”. Allegations he had an affair were out a week or so ago, so when an accident involving his wife and a golf club to his car are happening at 2:30am…isn’t it best to put something out there to the media than nothing and to let rumors and stories run all weekend long when there wasn’t much else to talk about? I understand trying to protect the client and that he is a private citizen, but he is also TIGER WOODS and people are gonna talk.

I agree with Amanda. It’s not just the accident and what happened immediately preceding it that needs to be considered. The NE report, and granted that it is the NE, must be taken into consideration. If you admit a domestic dispute, the next logical question is why they were fighting.

Putting out the statement yesterday was the smart move. It said practically nothing, while giving the media something to report. However…it appears Tiger may have upset the Florida Highway Patrol. So he may end up having to spill the beans on everything. If it looks like he’ll have to spill the beans, get in front of it and issue a statement, otherwise, whatever is going on in the Woods’ household is no one’s business but their own.

Shows that both Devo and the movie Idiocracy were accurate about de-evolution.

Could you see the press hounding Ben Franklin in the 1700s about his affairs; or were they more concerned about covering the “shot heard around the world?”

Our economy is in as big a mess as it was in the 1930s; Iran has nukes, young men are dying in Afghanistan – and we worry about Tiger Woods and if he was actually beaten by his wife? Come to my neighborhood; you can see the same thing any weekend – same with any bar in Scottsdale. Next thing you know, we’re spending our precious time watching a TV show about people dancing or having eight children and actually reading about it Online.

You wonder why our economy is a mess? Maybe because people’s minds are a mess and they don’t focus on what matters in life. Who’s carrying on Mother Theresa’s work; will the Hardon Collider end all life on earth? No, we’re concerned with a domestic depute between a couple we’re NEVER going to have a beer with – Idiocracy!

Excuse me, I need to go post a blog on TweenMusic.blogspot.com, in the top 5% of all blogs worldwide. Let’s see, what did Taylor Swift have for breakfast? Where was her mom’s cell phone number? “Hey Nick, yeah, you’re never touring with your brothers again, right?” Please click on Adsense when you visit the site!

First Charlotte, what you are suggesting amounts to “breaking into jail” – a cardinal PR sin. He has committed no crime, not been seriously injured or done anything here worthy of any public comment. Nothing is on the line for him with this. Not his career, sponsorships, etc.

If he was caught in the act of something untoward that’d be different (see Phelps, Michael). But for now, his people are doing just the right thing (see Amanda’s comment). You’ve got to let him catch his breath and figure out what to do.

Tiger Woods is not Obama, Jan Brewer or Phil Gordon or a public figure – huge difference. He is a private citizen. And one who doesn’t owe anyone an explanation if he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t care what people say about him – he does his talking on the golf course and has fiercely protected his privacy off it. None of us know what happened and frankly we are we not entitled to know The Enquirer, People Magazine or TMZ be damned. It is none of our business.

If he is your client, you respect those wishes to the best of your ability.

I totally disagree with the gentleman from USC on this one. You too Amanda. I understand that Tiger is under no obligation to say anything, but if he doesn’t the story will continue to be controlled by the media, and in particular TMZ, and that doesn’t do anyone any good.

Whether he deserves it or not this is a story now and he may not be Obama but he is a public figure. He has the opportunity to control the story and he’s letting it slip away.

If TMZ is correct and the FHP is trying to get a warrant for his medical records to see if his injuries were sustained in the accident or prior to — there may have indeed been a crime committed (perhaps by Elin) it will get out eventually and he is still in a position to control the message. Even if he is protecting his wife, he can still come out and say something to stop the speculation.

An observation from someone outside the PR world . . . the fact that there is such a wide range of opinions from this circle of experts tells me that PR is not a recipe, but a rather delicate craft. And sometimes, the poop’s gonna fly no matter what course of action you take – the best you can hope for is to tame the stink. I’ll bet it makes for a very interesting career!

[...] what’s the problem, you might [...]

Thank you for your observation, Mike. It also goes to show that without licensing, anyone can enter the field. Even realtors need to be licensed, teachers too. Yet none for journalists or PR people. If you have a high school degree (hell, that isn’t even necessary) and no background in the field, you’re qualified to join any professional marketing club and present at its annual conference.

[...] what’s the problem, you might [...]

I have to agree with Mike—I am outside the PR world and work in a normal, non PR type office. However, all the talk around my office today was about Tiger Woods. Did he sleep with someone? Is he in a coma? Why did he cancel his appearance in the golf tournament? Did he beat his wife? Did his wife beat him? Did he drink and drive? Was he taking a sleep medication and decided to drive when he was in a sleep induced coma? All I can say is his PR people are flat out stupid! He should have just come out and said what the heck is going on. He is a good enough guy and has never done something wrong so we will believe it the first time. But you can’t have it every way. You are a star and the reason you earn the amount of money you do is because the public loves you. But you can’t ask for privacy when for all these years all you wanted was to be in the public eye. Make a statement—man up!

Watching from a distance, I have to throw my visor in with the folks who say that Tiger should just ride it out, as he has been doing. The Arab News gave it featured coverage in the Nov. 30 back page “World Newsmakers” section, but I predict that it will be old news by tomorrow (er…today). This is a classic case, as one commenter noted, of needing to avoid “breaking into jail.” Yeah, it will be a rough week or two, but every and any thing he says beyond “Sorry folks, this is a private matter” just gives the gossip and Celeb Roob Press (CRP) fuel for further speculation. Luckily for TW, there are plent of celebs queued up with scandals a’ brewin’ for the roobs to drool over.

I predict that if the Woodsman follows the estimable rap prophet Shaggy’s line — “It wasn’t me,” — he’ll be out of the rough with just a one-stroke penalty.

P.S. I just made up that Celeb Roob Press thingie. Feel free to use it (with proper attribution, of course) and mark up a beer on the Drink Board for me.

Well, I don’t have anything to throw (unlike my Veeds of Arabia friend), but I have to side with Len on this one. Tiger doesn’t have to worry about his image in Saudi Arabia right now – his worries are closer to home. The ONLY person I have ever seen survive the evasive or no comment strategy is the coach of the Patriots.
Even if this dies down due to Tiger’s lame response, if and when anything happens in the future (and it will), it will automatically bring up this incident and how he responded to it. Future events will be colored in that light.
Anytime you’re involved in a profession where your actions/sport are televised regularly for a viewing audience, you’re not a private citizen anymore. Whether or not you have the legal right to remain silent is moot. Mark my words, his silence now will come back to bite him in the you-know-what. Could be in a month, could be years from now.

JVeeds – great to hear from you!!

Dan, I totally agree with you. Tiger owed the media nothing. In fact I thought the non-story was so silly, I wondered why the rest of the media were even picking it up. Man hits fire hydrant is not in the same category as man bites dog.

Here’s something to put this in perspective. On his FB page, he stated (in Oct) “I’m asked why people don’t often see me and Elin in gossip magazines or tabloids. I think we’ve avoided a lot of media attention because we’re kind of boring…”

Some 3,000 people gave that comment a thumbs up.

To Linda VandeVrede, “The ONLY person I have ever seen survive the evasive or no comment strategy is the coach of the Patriots.” Don’t want to spark a debate, but would like to supply 2 words – Kobe Bryant.

Some of you might think that Tiger does not owe the media anything. But the folks at CNBC have put a cost to this PR disaster… $100 mil in terms of what this car crash has cost him. Now all you people who think you are PR professionals can do with this number what you will. But I am sure he could have hired the entire Phoenix PR group here for a fraction of that cost. He should fire who ever he has in charge.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34220598

Not saying I was right, but Tiger finally did today what he should have done over the weekend:

http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/200912027740572/news/

I’m reading this ‘apology’ very differently. It sounds over the top about ‘transgressions’ etc.; the real meat is his defense of privacy.

Len, I’m saying you were right.

[...] to the media. Most PR have said that remaining silent was not a good way to handle this crisis. (Interesting discussion here at ValleyPRBlog, where I also blog.) I beg to [...]

I’m sorry Len, if you were Tiger’s PR rep, you would have been fired.

Like you and everyone else, I believe it’s best to get out in front of crises. But there’s managing the client and managing the media and these are most often mutually exclusive. **You must always do what’s best to protect your client.**

It would have been far more shocking and salacious if at the outset of a minor car crash he blurted out that this was all because he was having an affair(s).

Their team is correctly taking each event one step at a time and responded appropriately to give Tiger and Elin time to breathe and contemplate next steps. So today’s statement wasn’t a real surprise now was it?

If it didn’t happen soon enough for the public, that’s their problem — but you don’t gild the lilly and break into jail, particularly with potential legal implications.

Long term — and those are the REAL risks you you have to think about in these situations — this does little to nothing to Tiger’s image. He’ll take his lumps and move on.

Righteous doesn’t mean right.

Further to Dan’s point… are these your opinions as moral human beings or as PR people? Because if they’re not the same (and I’d be embarrassed if they were) then perhaps you should think about it.

Here is someone living his life. I HIGHLY doubt that the 100m means a thing to Tiger vs his privacy. Infact, not only do I feel he owes us nothing, but shame on us all for assuming we deserve anything. He has specifically stayed out of the limelight when possible. He deserves his privacy.

So this is the last I am going to say about all the great minds of the “PR World” here in Phoenix. Anyone who said it is a private matter, and that he need not get out in front of this (um. Dan that would be you) is wrong. The reason the guy got into a car crash was because his wife found out about the affairs, they got in a fight, and he stormed out of the house. The story was that he avoided the media after the crash.
It could have been simple. He simply acknowledged that he had an argument, left the house and got in a car accident. Wow, we would be concerned. Poor Tiger so upset that he hit a tree and look he has scratches on his face to show it. Our heart hurts—not. Next, when a reporter asks him a follow up question about the fight, it is simple. “Marriage is difficult and hard, we have been working some problems out that I wish to keep private. I love my wife and my kids and feel upset that I have caused so many people to worry about my accident. We would appreciate some time and privacy to work it out. “Umm, Mr. Woods a follow up question if I may? Were there any other women involved? That is a very private matter, between my wife and me, but since you asked yes. While I understand your desire in wanting to know, please understand that my wife has feelings and emotions and we have had enough of the spot light in the past 48 hours. Out of respect for all involved we ask that you drop this matter and let me concentrate on my family and my very important charity event this weekend which will serve to help thousands of children in this country. I ask that all of you follow me to this event this weekend as we try to help so many needy children.
The story would have been tied in to every other story this weekend– Black Friday, holiday shopping, and the crisis in Dubai. It was a travel weekend and people were not home watching TV. A good PR crisis manager would have asked Tiger “are there emails, text messages, or voice mails that we need to be concerned with—or perhaps another blue dress? But instead he did what every other man has done in this situation does—hid in the closet.
So here is a good bet that I am wondering if anyone out there is willing to make? Tiger made $10 million on golf and $90 million in endorsements. Who out there wants to bet me that in 2010 he will make less than the 90 million in endorsements?

I never said don’t get in front of it. That’s always what you attempt to do. (See previous comment). Every crisis is different and always depends on the situation.

If you don’t think his lawyers and agents (fellow golfers?) already knew about his sexcapades you’re smoking something. They all knew. They always know. But you can’t take the bait and play into the media’s hand. Could it have been handled better (faster)? Sure, but we’re not privy to all the details and in many cases, some things are better left unsaid and unexplained. He couldn’t get in front of this one, so it was about being truthful while limiting the damage. We got what we got.

So, you protect the client and must think long-term. Yes, this sucks now but it’s temporary — and it’s not up to us. Depending if there’s a divorce, etc. it should go away relatively quickly. And once Tiger wins a tournament or two, it goes away completely (see Bryant, Kobe — and he did MUCH worse). In a couple years he’ll be earning more money than now. They’re doing all right.

[...] A third perspective is that Tiger owes no one an explanation, has committed no crime, and by coming forth he is “breaking into jail.” You can see a good rundown of differing opinions on my fellow blogger Len Gutman’s post, The Trouble With Tiger. [...]

If I’m ever caught chasing my husband with a golf club at 2:30 a.m., I want Len to represent me.

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