Alas, there's also Tiger-the-Endorser. Who smiles and tells you to buy Buicks and wear Tag Heuer watches, and to use your American Express card to pay for everything. And who wears that Nike swoosh on dang near every article of clothing he puts on.
The companies that pay Tiger big bucks to promote their products rely on you thinking he's a trustworthy and upstanding spokesman. Only "good guys" are selected to convince you they really do use those products.
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So Robert Wagner (Jonathan from "Hart To Hart") and James Garner (from "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files") can do endorsements, but Eli Wallach (who just celebrated his 94th birthday yesterday) and (the late) Lee Van Cleef (the not-the-Good guys in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly") don't/didn't get to. It's not that Eli and Lee are less trustworthy than Robert and James; it's that the characters they played (which is really what the corporate suits want you to think of) were bad guys.
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It's the same for sports celebrities. Tiger was the perfect endorser. Personable, handsome, with a calming voice, and who is absolutely the best golfer of all time. He's a much better choice for deciding on your next car than, say, that mean old Bill Lambeer, or "I don't expect the hotel room service girls to bend over backwards for me; I expect them to bend over forwards" Koby. (*)
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The reality is that it's the well-known image of the celebrity that sells the products. And it works. We the consumers get seduced by a winning smile, big boobs, and/or the nostalgic memory of a "good- guy" role that some actor/actress played years ago.
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Well, fairy nuff. We may be gullible suckers, but at least we're entitled to celebrities that can keep their zippers zipped. So, Tiger-the-Golfer, you go right ahead and keep playing. No problem-o. But Tiger-the-Endorser, you're fired. We don't believe in you anymore.
(*) sic.
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