Oh Tiger, did you learn anything?

By now you've had time to digest the Nike commercial for Tiger Woods.

Industry and media feedback on the commercial has been both positive and negative, with some experts, like Donny Deutsch, saying it is genius; and critics saying that it is a weak attempt at rebuilding Tiger's image.

My friend Chris, a well-rounded marketing expert out of Oklahoma put it this way: "...it is a trendsetting ad, although tacky. If a person becomes a public figure, then the new age assumption is the public has equity in their private lives. Previously, that equity has been confined to tabloid editorial, and "TMZ"-ish chatter that their career is over (while it rarely ever is). The agency is basically saying 'okay, public, if you're so interested, we'll simply use it as a branding exercise'. It's really just a very direct form of Succès de scandale marketing."

So, no such thing as bad publicity (unless, you're John Gosselin or some other non-respected, washed out Reality TV "star" who is not famous for a specific, unique talent). Heh.

Tiger's brand image is one of respect (although I'm sure it has dwindled somewhat)The key here is that he had crafted a well-respected, "good boy" brand image for himself over the span of his career. People bought in to it, as they had no reason to think otherwise.

But the truth always comes out in the end.