Are Buick Invitational Ads Promoting Tiger Woods Misleading?
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Tiger Woods Prominently Featured In
Buick Invitational Ads |
Ads promoting the February 2-8 PGA Tour Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego are “dominated by the image” of Tiger Woods, the tournament’s defending champion, even though it “appears highly unlikely" Woods will play in the event, according to Tod Leonard of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The print ads include smaller photos of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia, while some online ads “promote only Woods.” Leonard wonders, “Is touting Woods so heavily for the Buick misleading?” Buick Invitational Dir Tom Wilson: “We always promote our defending champion, and we’ve been fortunate enough to have Tiger the last four years. When [John] Daly won, we promoted him. When Mickelson won, we promoted him.” Wilson added of Woods, “It’s not totally out of the realm that he won’t be here.” Leonard notes Woods "has given no indication of when he might compete for the first time" in ’09. Wilson said that Buick Invitational ticket sales, which account for about 20% of the tournament’s revenue, were “ahead of last year until November, ‘and it’s slowed down substantially since then.’” He said that corporate hospitality sales also are “down slightly, but some companies that have pulled back have been replaced by others.” Wilson said that the Saturday Pro-Am is sold out, and the Monday and Wednesday Pro-Ams are “close to being full” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/30).
THE FULL MONTIE: ESPN.com's Lewine Mair profiled the endorsement strategy and marketability of golfer Colin Montgomerie and wrote, “You ask IMG (UK) where he stands in terms of marketability among their list of clients and they mention him in the same breath as ... Padraig Harrington." Montgomerie’s contract with Yonex “remains safely in place, as do his arrangements with companies such as Aberdeen Asset Management and Lexus.” There also is a “new clothing line of his own boosting a long-standing arrangement with the Peter Scott knitwear company, while further course-design deals -- 10 of his designs are already in play -- are imminent.” In total, Montgomerie’s business dealings “could be nearly $8.5[M] or more.” Meanwhile, as a pro-am companion, Montgomerie is “in a league of his own.” European Tour officials “always send him out with the people who matter most.” Montgomerie: “The days when a player could go out for a pro-am and not talk to any of his partners -- something which used to happen -- have long since gone. Especially in the current economic climate, you have got to be prepared to give more of yourself, not just for your own sake but for the sake of the Tour as a whole” (ESPN.com, 12/29).
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