Yesterday I read this article that Art posted in the Tiger car crash thread. I really couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. I know- the millions, the women, the adoration- what's there to feel sorry about?
Anyways, when I couldn't sleep last night I got to thinking about what a good PR guy might do to help revive Tiger's image. I am not a PR professional, but have worked in a similar field and have spent enough time around PR people to have a basic handle on their gig.
My question, of course, assumes that he would like to change his image, and that he really would like to get some of those advertising gigs back that he lost, or get new ones. If he's happy with the way things have turned out, or relieved and really just wants to live out the secret life that he created, then there's not much point to it. Anyways, here's what I would advise to hopefully revive Tiger's image and get back his 87% approval ratings.
1. Air all of the dirty laundry now. Public perception of you really isn't going to get much worse than it is now, with your approval ratings hanging around 33% and unfavorables as high as 57%, so it's time to capitalize on the moment and get any skeletons out there. Plus, this way you can own the conversation and be out in front of any other scandals.
Are there still more women waiting to come forward? Stop paying them and let them do so. If there are any pictures of you naked or in compromising positions floating around out there, buy them up; or, if you don't want to pay the price, fess up to the pictures publicly.
Was there illegal drug use, or alcoholism? Put that out there. In fact, if there are any pictures of you clearly just messed up from substances, leak them. This will play in nicely with step 2 of my plan.
Do you have any illegitimate children? Own up to them and let the public know what you are doing to support them.
The toughest problem at this stage is going to be if you used PEDs. Your athleticism is your current greatest asset and any confirmed PED use, or even fairly credible rumors will take down your current greatest selling point. Still, if there is PEDs it's not impossible to overcome, but you have to be upfront on it, you cannot afford anymore lies and if it comes out later, you'll have undone all of the work that we are embarking on; hopefully it's limited to a small time frame.
After making sure all of your loose ends are all tied up and we have a straight story, you are going to hold a public press conference. In this press conference you are going to apologize for all of the pain you have caused, especially to your family. You will allude to "pressures" in your life that, while not wholly responsible for the actions you did, deeply affected how you acted. You will publicly offer to release any sponsors from contracts you have with them, if they so desire. This, of course, will be discussed with the sponsors beforehand and there will be great pains taken to make sure no one drops you after you have given this public consolation, instead that they later publicly reaffirm their support for you as a human being and the struggles you are currently going through. If you can work up any tears or overt shows of emotion, during the press conference is the time to do it. Yes, it would expose a weakness, but it would be a very human one, and would make you much more like your audience. These tears, however, must be clearly tears of contrition for pain caused, not for being caught. You will not be taking any questions at the conference, but at the end will announce...
2. Your entrance into a rehabilitation facility of some sort. Sex rehab is a bit of a public joke, so if you have substance problems, it's better to go a drug abuse rehab place and get sex rehab help at the same time. Even if a sex rehab place is the best place for you, it still shows your desire to get help, and displaces some of the blame for your actions. You will be spending at least 120 days somewhere in the desert of Arizona or Utah. You won't be at a clinic in California or New York, or any place that has the slightest air of celebrity privilege. Anything under 100 days is just going to seem like you're not taking it seriously and just doing it as a stunt. 30 days in rehab is a joke.
3. Your divorce will be taken care of while you are in the desert, handled as far away from a courtroom as possible. Double the promised prenup amount for Elin to contract never to tell her side publicly nor to give negative comments to the press about you or your relationship and to get favorable visitation rights.
4. While you are in the desert, stories about the "pressure" are going to start coming out. There are two possible winners here. The classic route would be to paint a picture of an overbearing father and a missed childhood, a la Michael Jackson, minus his weirdness. If this is not true in the slightest, or you are unwilling to implicate your father in this way, then there is another surefire winner. Option two is to describe the pressures of being a person of mixed-race in a predominantly white man's game. The demand to act in a certain way or to pretend you were someone you really weren't just to be a part of a sport you loved, especially at such a young age, caused you to suppress so much and weighed heavily on you psychologically. You found an escape in your various escapades as an subconscious way to express your frustrations.
Either way, this story will be told to a favorable and respected publication, Sports Illustrated probably being the best choice for the venue. The reporter will be set up with all of the right contacts to let them tell whatever story is determined. If you go with the daddy problems story, then the reporter will be put in touch with childhood golf trainers, grade school teachers, former neighbors, and, if you really want to make it personal, your mom. If you go with the black-man-in-a-white-man's-world story, the reporter will be put in touch with college teammates from Stanford, former caddies, contemporaneous golfers and various other insiders. Also, the mom would be a nice touch on this one too. A few pictures from your childhood will be used in the write up and will help flesh out Tiger as a person.
5. A month before you are to leave rehab, a photographer will be allowed access to you at the facility. Pictures of you with a counselor, of you befriending others at the facility (their faces blurred, of course), and you on a treadmill or some other type of exercise equipment will be published in a favorable publication, possibly SI again, or maybe something like Time. There won't be any access for tabloid people or even anything slightly approaching this medium, like People. Details of what you have been doing there, how you are feeling, etc. will be released, but you will not be giving any direct quotes. You will show a contemplative face for the pic with the counselor, your winning smile for the picture of you bonding with group members, and your game face while on the treadmill.
6. When you get out public statements will be released with quotes from you about how glad you were for the process, how much you are looking forward to spending quality time with your children, and how you look forward to getting back to work in a game that you love. Action shots of you playing on the ground with your kids will be released soon after. Your trademark smile will be included, of course. There will also be pictures of you jogging around your neighborhood. This will make you a part of your community and more like so many of your core audience out there.
7. After being out for a month or so, you will announce your return to golf for the next major. Subsequent photos of you working on your golf swing will be released. Also, photos of you consulting with someone about your game.
8. Get back to winning golf tournaments.
9. In the off season, begin dating and have a few photos of you two snapped together. However, you will not be dating just anyone. No high society, South Beach beauties, models, actresses or any Hollywood types. Definitely no porn stars, dancers, strippers, or waitresses. Preferably a midwesterner or southern woman. She shouldn't be really famous, but she should still be respectable. Preferably she would be the daughter of someone well respected in business or a well regarded profession.
10. Give your first interviews. Be candid, but don't go into depth about past problems. The focus will all be about the future and where you hope to take your life. Talk about your low moments and how you overcame them. Focus on how much you love your children and how better you feel to be able to leave that old life behind you. Do a television sit-down with some news-types, and allow ESPN to come out to the golf course with you. Be personable and keep smiling. Invite a well-respected journalist and photographer into your home for a couple of days. It will be sold as an intimate look into your life. This will be a tryout for the journalist who is to be a coauthor with you when you...
11. Write a book about overcoming adversity and living a champion's life. It will not be a tell-all or a biography, but will still offer insight into Tiger as a person.
12. Return to the course and keep winning. Pass Nicholas for the most majors won. Give a heartfelt news conference about your humility in being part of the greats of golf. Have your mom and kids appear with you at the conference.
13. Start a charity foundation and raise money for some cause.
14. Retire on top as one of the greatest ever in sports to work more closely with your foundation. Do some PSAs about your cause.
15. Do speaking engagements for exorbitant fees whenever the mood strikes. You don't have to ever marry again if you don't want, but date well if you don't.
And that concludes my plan for putting Tiger back on top and making him a beloved person again. I don't think we have any PR pros here on the board, but I know that there are several that are pretty savvy in that area.
What would you do differently? Do you think it could work for Tiger? Do you ever see him getting back to where he was before?
Anyways, when I couldn't sleep last night I got to thinking about what a good PR guy might do to help revive Tiger's image. I am not a PR professional, but have worked in a similar field and have spent enough time around PR people to have a basic handle on their gig.
My question, of course, assumes that he would like to change his image, and that he really would like to get some of those advertising gigs back that he lost, or get new ones. If he's happy with the way things have turned out, or relieved and really just wants to live out the secret life that he created, then there's not much point to it. Anyways, here's what I would advise to hopefully revive Tiger's image and get back his 87% approval ratings.
1. Air all of the dirty laundry now. Public perception of you really isn't going to get much worse than it is now, with your approval ratings hanging around 33% and unfavorables as high as 57%, so it's time to capitalize on the moment and get any skeletons out there. Plus, this way you can own the conversation and be out in front of any other scandals.
Are there still more women waiting to come forward? Stop paying them and let them do so. If there are any pictures of you naked or in compromising positions floating around out there, buy them up; or, if you don't want to pay the price, fess up to the pictures publicly.
Was there illegal drug use, or alcoholism? Put that out there. In fact, if there are any pictures of you clearly just messed up from substances, leak them. This will play in nicely with step 2 of my plan.
Do you have any illegitimate children? Own up to them and let the public know what you are doing to support them.
The toughest problem at this stage is going to be if you used PEDs. Your athleticism is your current greatest asset and any confirmed PED use, or even fairly credible rumors will take down your current greatest selling point. Still, if there is PEDs it's not impossible to overcome, but you have to be upfront on it, you cannot afford anymore lies and if it comes out later, you'll have undone all of the work that we are embarking on; hopefully it's limited to a small time frame.
After making sure all of your loose ends are all tied up and we have a straight story, you are going to hold a public press conference. In this press conference you are going to apologize for all of the pain you have caused, especially to your family. You will allude to "pressures" in your life that, while not wholly responsible for the actions you did, deeply affected how you acted. You will publicly offer to release any sponsors from contracts you have with them, if they so desire. This, of course, will be discussed with the sponsors beforehand and there will be great pains taken to make sure no one drops you after you have given this public consolation, instead that they later publicly reaffirm their support for you as a human being and the struggles you are currently going through. If you can work up any tears or overt shows of emotion, during the press conference is the time to do it. Yes, it would expose a weakness, but it would be a very human one, and would make you much more like your audience. These tears, however, must be clearly tears of contrition for pain caused, not for being caught. You will not be taking any questions at the conference, but at the end will announce...
2. Your entrance into a rehabilitation facility of some sort. Sex rehab is a bit of a public joke, so if you have substance problems, it's better to go a drug abuse rehab place and get sex rehab help at the same time. Even if a sex rehab place is the best place for you, it still shows your desire to get help, and displaces some of the blame for your actions. You will be spending at least 120 days somewhere in the desert of Arizona or Utah. You won't be at a clinic in California or New York, or any place that has the slightest air of celebrity privilege. Anything under 100 days is just going to seem like you're not taking it seriously and just doing it as a stunt. 30 days in rehab is a joke.
3. Your divorce will be taken care of while you are in the desert, handled as far away from a courtroom as possible. Double the promised prenup amount for Elin to contract never to tell her side publicly nor to give negative comments to the press about you or your relationship and to get favorable visitation rights.
4. While you are in the desert, stories about the "pressure" are going to start coming out. There are two possible winners here. The classic route would be to paint a picture of an overbearing father and a missed childhood, a la Michael Jackson, minus his weirdness. If this is not true in the slightest, or you are unwilling to implicate your father in this way, then there is another surefire winner. Option two is to describe the pressures of being a person of mixed-race in a predominantly white man's game. The demand to act in a certain way or to pretend you were someone you really weren't just to be a part of a sport you loved, especially at such a young age, caused you to suppress so much and weighed heavily on you psychologically. You found an escape in your various escapades as an subconscious way to express your frustrations.
Either way, this story will be told to a favorable and respected publication, Sports Illustrated probably being the best choice for the venue. The reporter will be set up with all of the right contacts to let them tell whatever story is determined. If you go with the daddy problems story, then the reporter will be put in touch with childhood golf trainers, grade school teachers, former neighbors, and, if you really want to make it personal, your mom. If you go with the black-man-in-a-white-man's-world story, the reporter will be put in touch with college teammates from Stanford, former caddies, contemporaneous golfers and various other insiders. Also, the mom would be a nice touch on this one too. A few pictures from your childhood will be used in the write up and will help flesh out Tiger as a person.
5. A month before you are to leave rehab, a photographer will be allowed access to you at the facility. Pictures of you with a counselor, of you befriending others at the facility (their faces blurred, of course), and you on a treadmill or some other type of exercise equipment will be published in a favorable publication, possibly SI again, or maybe something like Time. There won't be any access for tabloid people or even anything slightly approaching this medium, like People. Details of what you have been doing there, how you are feeling, etc. will be released, but you will not be giving any direct quotes. You will show a contemplative face for the pic with the counselor, your winning smile for the picture of you bonding with group members, and your game face while on the treadmill.
6. When you get out public statements will be released with quotes from you about how glad you were for the process, how much you are looking forward to spending quality time with your children, and how you look forward to getting back to work in a game that you love. Action shots of you playing on the ground with your kids will be released soon after. Your trademark smile will be included, of course. There will also be pictures of you jogging around your neighborhood. This will make you a part of your community and more like so many of your core audience out there.
7. After being out for a month or so, you will announce your return to golf for the next major. Subsequent photos of you working on your golf swing will be released. Also, photos of you consulting with someone about your game.
8. Get back to winning golf tournaments.
9. In the off season, begin dating and have a few photos of you two snapped together. However, you will not be dating just anyone. No high society, South Beach beauties, models, actresses or any Hollywood types. Definitely no porn stars, dancers, strippers, or waitresses. Preferably a midwesterner or southern woman. She shouldn't be really famous, but she should still be respectable. Preferably she would be the daughter of someone well respected in business or a well regarded profession.
10. Give your first interviews. Be candid, but don't go into depth about past problems. The focus will all be about the future and where you hope to take your life. Talk about your low moments and how you overcame them. Focus on how much you love your children and how better you feel to be able to leave that old life behind you. Do a television sit-down with some news-types, and allow ESPN to come out to the golf course with you. Be personable and keep smiling. Invite a well-respected journalist and photographer into your home for a couple of days. It will be sold as an intimate look into your life. This will be a tryout for the journalist who is to be a coauthor with you when you...
11. Write a book about overcoming adversity and living a champion's life. It will not be a tell-all or a biography, but will still offer insight into Tiger as a person.
12. Return to the course and keep winning. Pass Nicholas for the most majors won. Give a heartfelt news conference about your humility in being part of the greats of golf. Have your mom and kids appear with you at the conference.
13. Start a charity foundation and raise money for some cause.
14. Retire on top as one of the greatest ever in sports to work more closely with your foundation. Do some PSAs about your cause.
15. Do speaking engagements for exorbitant fees whenever the mood strikes. You don't have to ever marry again if you don't want, but date well if you don't.
And that concludes my plan for putting Tiger back on top and making him a beloved person again. I don't think we have any PR pros here on the board, but I know that there are several that are pretty savvy in that area.
What would you do differently? Do you think it could work for Tiger? Do you ever see him getting back to where he was before?
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