Loading ...By MaryEllen Tribby
Many marketers called it “brilliant,” “successful,” and even “inspirational.”
I call it taking the easy way out.
You know the commercial I’m talking about: the Nike commercial that played right before the Masters Golf Tournament. Where Tiger Woods somberly looks into the camera as his father’s voice asks him what he learned blah, blah, blah . . .
Doesn’t it seem a bit like prostitution? Sacrificing his self-respect and what’s left of his reputation for a few bucks?
But even worse than that, Tiger pulled his dead father into his personal mess. Wasn’t it bad enough that Tiger sold out almost every person in his life, including his beautiful wife and children, his business partners, and his friends? Did he really have to drag his dead father into his sordid affairs?
It would have been one thing if his dad had a choice, a say in the matter. Did Tiger really need the money that badly? Does he simply have no respect or regard for his father’s reputation? Does he not understand that, by being associated with Tiger’s psychopathic behavior, his father’s memory is tarnished forever?
We could debate the Tiger situation until the cows come home. The bigger issue here is Nike. And Nike’s choice to make this commercial raises the simple question…
Who’s the Bigger Whore – Tiger or Nike?
My answer: Nike, by a mile!
It would have been so easy for Nike to do a commercial that eliminated Tiger from the equation. A commercial that really had a lesson for young athletes. One in which character trumped exceptional athletic ability.
(And by the way, I firmly believe that when you possess extraordinary skills, like Tiger does, more is expected of you – not less. Part of the gift you have been given is the ability to give back. To become a role model for the millions of kids who want to be a “Tiger.”)
So, Nike, here is an idea. (Feel free to use it!) How about a commercial with Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, and Pete Sampras all dressed in Nike golf attire on a beautiful course talking about what’s important in life… things like family, charity, and the environment?
Now that would have been a brilliant, effective, and inspirational commercial. It would not have made your spokesperson look like a total schmuck the way Tiger did.
But that’s not the only benefit of running a Tiger-free commercial. You could have showed our children that actions have consequences. The same lesson we as hard working parents drive home every day.
My nine-year-old son Connor loves playing baseball more then anything. If he is disrespectful in school – to a teacher or another kid – Connor gets his baseball-playing privileges taken away.
During the Masters, Connor actually said, “Boy I can’t believe Tiger gets to play after he hurt all those people.”
Now I’m not saying Tiger should have been prevented from playing in the Masters. But I do question Nike’s decision to glorify Tiger in such a way… and, in doing so, compromise the company’s core values.
It offends me. Not just as a mom, but as a businesswoman.
I would never do something to so blatantly disregard my company’s values and goals. In fact, that’s one reason I firmly believe that every company or organization should have a mission statement.
What Is a Mission Statement and Why Do You Need One?
The following is the Mission Statement for Working Moms Only:
“Our mission is to supply the tools that can give EVERY working mom the ability to lead a healthy, wealthy, and more balanced/blended lifestyle. To create a community where millions of working moms from all over the world come together in support and celebration of each other.”
It’s simple and it’s sincere. And everyone I do business with gets it – point blank.
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not taking the time to craft a mission statement. If you do not have one, I urge you to write one immediately.
Once you do so, you will find that your customers understand you better. You will begin working only with joint venture partners who share your values. All of your employees will have a better understanding of their purpose in your organization. You will find that it is much easier to make decisions about how to run your business (including whether an advertising campaign is appropriate!).
Your mission statement should be a formal, short, written statement of your company’s/organization’s purpose. In a nutshell, it should answer the question “Why does my company exist?”
If you’ve never developed a mission statement before, here are a few things it may address:
- The purpose and aim of your organization (i.e., a definition of what your company is and does)
- What your company aspires to be
- What features/characteristics distinguish your company from its competitors
- Your company’s core ideology, values, purpose, and visionary goals
- The products and/or services your company offers
Your mission statement should be specific and narrow enough that it couldn’t apply to just any company… but it should be flexible enough to allow for growth and change. Make sure that the statement is clear (i.e., it does not contain a bunch of buzz words or industry jargon) and easy for potential clients, partners, and employees to understand.
Once you have your mission statement laid out, you can turn to it for help guiding your company’s actions, laying out its primary goals, offering direction, and directing decision-making.
There is one aspect of your mission statement that is more important than all others: your core values.
Core Values Still Count
In an ever-changing world, core values remain constant.
Core values are NOT descriptions of the work you do or the strategies you employ to accomplish your mission. Rather, your values underline your work, how you interact with others, and which strategies you use to fulfill your mission. They are the basic elements guiding how you go about your work. They are the practices you use every day in everything you do.
Core values should:
- Govern personal relationships
- Guide business processes
- Clarify who you are
- Articulate what you stand for
- Help explain why you do business the way you do
- Guide you in how to teach
- Inform you on how to reward
- Guide you in making decisions
- Require no external justification
The following are the Core Values of Working Moms Only:
* We are committed to enhancing our customers’ financial, intellectual, and physical wellbeing.
* We continually strive for excellence in all of our products and services.
* We partner with only those who share our customer-centric commitment.
* We strive to provide a workplace that operates in the best interests of our employees’ professional and personal growth.
Once you have written your mission statement and core values, post them. Post them in a spot where everyone who walks into your office or visits your website can see them.
Review them on a regular basis with your employees and business partners. And always make sure when you bring a new employee into your business they know this is what you stand for and why you are in business.
Of course, writing a mission statement and core values is not enough. What matters is living them on a daily basis.
Use these tools to help you make decisions about your business – from which companies you partner with to which products you design to how you communicate with your clients.
Allow your mission statement and core values to guide you… and you will never find yourself making questionable decisions like Nike did with their Tiger Woods commercial. The decision will be made for you.
MaryEllen,
Very entertaining, educational, and informative post (edgy title too!).
I agree with you on the point of Nike being the "bigger whore". It's obvious that they are trying to capitalize and further their brand off the coat tails of Tiger and his "transgressions"; which is a questionable move... getting his deceased father involved, absolutely despicable.
I searched Nike's site to see if they had a Core Values statement such as what you mentioned above. Though they seem to be placing a big emphasis on "sustainability" and other hot corporate buzzwords, they lacked any language to indicate a sleazy marketing campaign like the one mentioned above would violate any values they may have.
But then again, based on Nike's past business practices, why would we expect anything more from a company that is only focused on one thing... maximizing their bottom line at any expense... including integrity.
Brian T. Edmondson
Mary Ellen, this is one of the best articles I have read in a long time. All too often people who are in the lime light get their "hand slapped" when they do something wrong. I agree with you 100% about how Nike and Tiger were disrespectful to Tiger's dead father and the fact that they are playing on emotion vrs setting good examples to all.
Great work. I love your insight and leadership.
Hear, hear! I couldn't agree more. And it angers me also. Personal responsibility lies firmly with the media's couldn't care less attitude. It would be wonderful to think that all people (including children) would see through this type of advertising and that Nike's name would be ruined as a result. Unfortunately that is not always the case and kids and people get the wrong message. What a shame!
Hello MaryEllen,
Many thanks for another excellent newsletter and post. I agree entirely, and echo Brian's thoughts.
I also thought it might be useful to comment on mission statements. At the risk of getting tripped up on semantics, I start first with the 'Big Idea', which I define to be the change we're intent on creating (or helping to create) in our community, country or the world (depending on our circumstances and vision).
My primary reference for this is The Big Idea by Robert Jones, an ex Wolff Olins brand consultant, who charted the success of leading brands on both sides of the Atlantic, finding that the leaders had simple purposes that attracted people to them and their purpose in an authentic, inclusive way.
In working with passion-led businesses and those wanting to make a social contribution, I've found that big ideas have a powerful effect inside as well as outside the company. And in today's business and social climate, I think big ideas that are backed up with real value delivery stand a much better chance of doing well. You clearly are driven by a powerful big idea, and I salute your work.
Mission statements are in my mind the more detailed follow-on from the big idea, and can also be very powerful. But I've also seen them numb corporate workplaces into a stupor, and I've seen outstanding businesses like Pike Place Fish operate very successful businesses that make a difference without mission statements. Here in Scotland, I have a friend whose big idea is that buying office supplies can contribute to saving lives by funding essential health and education projects in the developing world. Their owner isn't a fan of mission statements, but Wild Hearts in Action is most definitely delivering on their big idea - and then some.
Either way, I would offer the thought that as long as each of us focuses on continually calibrating against how well we're delivering against the promise of our big idea, that's the main point. If mission statements help a company succeed in that quest, then I'm all for it.
Hope this is useful!
Best wishes,
Matthew Newnham
Thank you MaryEllen for this posting! Great headline by the way...very effective. I am a writer and speaker on sexual intimacy in marriage. I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments that there's no room for a company to compromise just to make a buck. I am not sure what Nike was thinking with the commerical with Tiger Woods' dad's voice (Saturday Night Live even did a spoof of it that captured what I believe many viewers were thinking... that the entire "damage control" attempts had gone to a new low by using his deceased father's voice).
Thank you for the great info you provide...very encouraging to those of us balancing life with kids, work, family, dreams and goals!
Thank you so much for calling a spade a spade. It was inconcieveable to me that Tiger Woods would put his desire to continue to play a GAME above and beyond the dignity of his wife and children. Then, to be so oblivious of the damage he has done, and particiate in a commercial that uses a voice over of his deceased father, shows his utter lack of his ability to be repentant, let alone sorry for his actions. I said to my husband on the day the Masters started and the commercial came on, "his father must be rolling over in his grave!" To which he replied "doubt it. His father was a womanizer too." Wow! Is this what we have come to as a planet? To discount his morality for the sake of his ability to hit a little white ball into a cup in the grass??? I was disgusted watching him meander around the golf course to standing ovations and cheering. In essence, he was being cheered for his actions, masking it with the game of golf. Had he remained a single man and slept with any breathing thing on the planet, his "high five" behaviour would have been, at the very least, permissable. To marry a woman, father children with her, and then treat her ike yesterdays breakfast, pathetic and smacks of low self esteem and a sense of entitlement. I hope they figure things out to safeguard their childrens dignity. When his DAUGHTER comes to him 10 or 15 years from now and asks him why he would do that to someone elses DAUGHTER, I hope he has the dignity to be humble, repentant and clealry state he was a total ass.
MaryEllen-
You are MORE than the "Money Honey" you are silk over steel! It takes a working Mom to set it straight! Just validates what you always say about working Moms having more influence than any other group of people in the world!
Your son's statement shows the value of a working Mom with values & priorities in order. Love it!
Whose the bigger whore? NIKE! And Tiger, who was a role model for so long ended up pimped more than once. Thank you for restoring honor to his father's name with this!
You are an amazing role model ME!
Sandi Krakowski
Nike does have a mission statement
which can get people including Tiger in all sorts of trouble
Nike " Just Do It "
I never said it was a good mission statement
cheers
S
Before my comments please note I find Tiger Wood's behavior very unseemly as I would any person who showed such little respect for themselves much less others.
I find the whole "give back" philosophy very odd. Giving back means something was received initially. Why does the public believe it is entitled to something because a sports figure has a huge talent and practices every day for years to improve it?
I think the huge mistake is considering winners of the Masters or the Final Four or the Superbowl "heroes". Our culture has become so enamored of fame and wealth that anyone with more material goods or an extreme talent for self promotion is someone to be revered.
I think what we need to do is impress upon our children what heroes truly are and stop expecting people who use a ball in one form or another to do it for us.
I am in complete agreement with your view -- Nike should have let the dust settle instead of attempting a “ quick solution” to remove their name from bad publicity. Excellent article, thank you!
[...] "It would have been so easy for Nike to do a commercial that eliminated Tiger from the equation. A commercial that really had a lesson for young athletes. One in which character trumped exceptional athletic ability." Link to article [...]
No one held a gun to Tiger's head...only a pen to a checkbook...
Greetings MaryEllen,
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
I couldn't agree more with every point you made in this article. (By the way, LOVED the title...so appropriate for the "events".)
I did not see the commercial that Tiger did, simply because I wouldn't waste a moment of my valuable time on Tiger or Nike for exactly all the reasons you pointed out.
Whores indeed and well paid ones, at that! Shame on both of them! It saddens me every time I see the almighty dollar chosen over integrity.
To that point I would like to share a creed I found several years ago and adopted it as my personal "mission statement". I keep it posted on my fridge, in plain sight, as a reminder in times of adversity.
I have passed it along to others over the years. Perhaps you can do the same.
"The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity.
Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over popularity.
These are the choices that measure your life.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing."
Author
Anonymous
Keep up the great articles and the positive example you set for all us readers!
Carpe diem.
It's a sad, sad day when a grown man must stand behind his father in an attempt to restore his damaged reputation. When your father is deceased its just crass! And Nike...well... have they ever shown themselves to be anything other than what they portrayed in their commercial with Tiger?
The blame however lies with us. As a society we love winners, we celebrate them, and idolize them. I've always stressed to my children that talents and/or looks are not measures of character (pretty/handsome is as pretty/handsome does). That talent/looks are often the biggest weight on a persons shoulder and is often the cause of ones downfall. We make the mistake of thinking that good looks, talent, intelligence equals character ("With all that_____ how good they be anything else but a fantastic person with a great personality!") Character is used to develop ones gifts, but too often its the gifts that often hinder character development or wreck it.
I needed to write a mission statement today for the internet business that is being launched tomorrow. What a timely article!
Thank You
Hi MaryEllen!
Thanks for your insights about Tiger and Nike.....I couldn't agree more! Kudos also to your son Connor who seems to have much higher moral standards and wisdom than Tiger and Nike put together... you must be extremely proud of him!
Thanks also for the great tips on Mission Statements and Core Values. If only more businesses would incorporate them into their daily lives, what a much better world we would live in.
My husband and I are currently taking the Accelerated Copywriting Program/Companion Series from AWAI and really are enjoying it immensley. We are excited about our future as up and coming professional copywriters!
We definitely will have our Mission Statement and strong Core Values in our business.
All the best to you,
Tracey Gray
As a new business prioritising time and resource is sometimes tough. I'm pleased to say this article has made me refocus on whats important and the values I hold ture to me and the business I'm building. When business is going well it gives me the confidence to move forward and when times are tough it reminds me of why I started in the first place .
Mission statement is now written on the wall in front of me!
Maybe Tiger should take a long hard look at what his values are and begin to live a life that is true to him rather than to all the sponsors who write him massive cheques. I hope he is using the cash to get the help he so clearly needs in his misguided world !
Thank you for sharing your wonderful insights
Claire