With all the recent controversy over Tiger Woods, I think this blog post is necessary. Here’s a brief run down of what has happened this past week: Tiger was in a mysterious car crash just outside of his home right after he and his wife had a heated argument in the driveway. He hit a fire hydrant and then a tree. He had several facial lacerations and was going in and out of consciousness. The air bags did not deploy and he hit the hydrant and tree at a relatively slow speed, so how did he get knocked out?! Rumors have surfaced that Tiger has been having an affair with numerous women and his wife confronted him about it. With a little investigative thinking, it’s easy to say that his wife really handed it to her husband (with a golf club).
Tiger’s reputation as a highly admired family man and golf player has been completely destroyed. His PR firm has handled the situation as best as they can. They advised Tiger to release a statement apologizing for the recent events. A good PR rule is that if you have something to own up to, then own up to it completely and you will most likely be forgiven. Tiger stated:
“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart… I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.”
This is considered public relations because Tiger Woods is not just a person with a ruined reputation; He has an empire built on his name. He has numerous companies and products and he is sponsored by huge organizations, such as Buick and Nike. The PR firm’s job is to maintain those relationships between the organizations and their publics.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/02/tiger.woods/index.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/
