海角大神

A new Nike ad playing on troubled global golf champ Tiger Woods鈥檚 resurgence on the green and off suggests that 鈥淲inning takes care of everything.鈥�

As many ads are intended to do, the print spot has elicited immediate reaction. Of course, it was only four years ago that Mr. Woods鈥檚 famed career crashed and burned after he admitted to philandering with a string of women. The ordeal made global news, scared sponsors away, led to the end of his marriage, and apparently wrecked his golf game.

On one hand, the ad plays into a storyline that Nike would like to emphasize: A quitter, Woods clearly is not. His struggles back to the top 鈥� mostly made from green to green, often with frustrating results 鈥� add a compelling new dimension to his recent public image as someone dealing with human frailties and flaws. So, too, does his new relationship with world and Olympic champion downhill skier Lindsey Vonn.

But many critics would disagree with the sentiment of the ad, suggesting that it is crass, tasteless, and minimizes to Woods鈥� moral transgressions. Moreover, it may be a risky move by Nike to say only winning matters when, in fact, many 鈥渃onsumers care about how you play the game鈥� 鈥� and act off the field, Allen Adamson, a New York brand manager, tells the Spectator newspaper of Hamilton, Ontario.

Nike is clearly seeing the potential for a positive response to what鈥檚 become an emerging story of personal and athletic reinvention, especially given the amount of time that鈥檚 passed since Woods's downfall. After winning two PGA Tour events, he is ranked No. 1 in the world going into next month's Masters.

While Woods鈥檚 pre-affairs profile seemed almost too perfect 鈥� a superhuman golfer groomed from his toddler days, married to a former Swedish model 鈥� his profile today has a different sort of appeal, some psychologists say.

鈥淭his is a traditional theme in hero stories: There has to be some sort of obstacle [to conquer] before becoming a hero, and in that way Tiger鈥檚 struggles can be seen as something leading to people identifying with him,鈥� says 海角大神 End, a psychologist at Xavier University in Cincinnati. 鈥淧eople are connecting to somebody as a human in a way that they couldn鈥檛 prior to Tiger鈥檚 fall from grace, making a mistake, being humbled, and having to battle back.鈥�

Nike, which stood by Tiger even as other sponsors dropped him, released another eye-opening ad four months after the revelations dropped, a black and white spot featuring a recording of his dad, the late Earl Woods, saying, 鈥淚 want to find out what your thinking was, I want to find out what your feelings are, and did you learn anything?鈥�

The new ad is less introspective and more definitive.

Indeed, a key aspect of Woods鈥檚 鈥淲inning takes care of everything鈥� quote 鈥� a staple in his quote stable 鈥� is simply that it rings true in a society that seems at times to value winning, even at the cost of morals.

The notion that what Woods did is now acceptable because he鈥檚 winning is one that few people would admit to, argues NESN columnist Jen Slothower. Yet Nike鈥檚 powerful marketing department, she adds, is brashly positing just that with the 鈥渨inning鈥� ad.

鈥淣ike is only trying to do what Woods has done so many times before 鈥� move the spotlight to what people care about the most, knowing they will come back for it,鈥� she writes. 鈥淣ow [the company] is doing it by simply saying what everyone is thinking: Why can鈥檛 winning change everything, now that everyone has accepted that this man is loved for his wins 鈥� despite the rest of his life being less than he said?鈥�

Research supports that idea, says Professor End.

鈥淭he tendency that we tend to find over and over again in the research is that people like to associate with winners, because if I associate with a winner others are going to perceive me as a winner, too,鈥� he says. 鈥淔or some people, that identification increases as the athlete becomes more successful. For others, they have such a strong level of identification that they really can鈥檛 distance themselves, even if an athlete acts in a way that鈥檚 not socially accepted.鈥�