Tiger's TV ads vanish after affairs come out in open

Advertisements featuring Tiger Woods have disappeared from prime-time broadcast television and many cable channels following reports of his extramarital affairs, according to data from Nielsen Co.

The last prime-time ad featuring the 33-year-old golfer was a 30-second Gillette Co spot ran on November 29, according to New York-based Nielsen. Woods also was absent from ads on weekend sports programmes tracked, including NFL games, Nielsen said.

The No 1 ranked golfer’s standing with the public has plunged in the wake of reports of infidelity that followed a November 27 car accident outside his home near Orlando, Florida. Woods’s ranking among celebrity endorsers tumbled to 24th from 6th, according to the Davie Brown Index, which is used to gauge the ability of personalities to influence shoppers.

“Near term, you’ve got to pull the ads,” said Larry Novenstern, managing director at Optimedia, a New York-based unit of Publicis, the French advertising company. “A transgression of this type in his personal life is never good but if anyone can weather a storm, it’s probably Tiger Woods.”

Woods has endorsement agreements with Accenture Plc, Nike Inc, PepsiCo Inc’s Gatorade, Tag Heuer International SA watches, Electronic Arts Inc and Procter & Gamble Co’s Gillette.