Nike: Tiger… Did you learn anything?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIYejgkqd0o

This is my kind of spot. As a completely indifferent third party, I’m relieved to see something so dramatic (without it being gossip because I cringe at gossip) on TV even if it is about Tiger Woods. The omniscient narrator is much more welcoming than the typical announcer format. Tiger himself is a brand. His life has been playing out like a Greek tragedy. The only difference is that his audience didn’t anticipate his fall from grace (and he may still be redeemed). Nike is sticking by Tiger through the good and the bad. I think it’s important to remember that no matter what he did, he’s still a man. He’s still a human. When individuals become brands, they transcend humanity. Poet Alexander Pope once said, “To err is human to forgive is divine.”

Tiger is speechless. Standing in front of a firing squad, what more is there really for him to say? The spot invokes his deceased father as the narrator. The feel of it is one of those father to son talks that ends like “I’m not mad I’m just disappointed.” Immediately, I thought it was a dramatic re-creation of Kanye West’s public lament on The Jay Leno Show. Kanye was also speechless when asked about what his deceased mother would think of his actions. They say “no idea is original.” I think it’s an interesting play on Pope’s quote. Can the respective deceased parents forgive? Or is it implied that they are divine and that forgiveness is granted? The speechlessness comes from feeling unworthy of forgiveness. This is a commercial for the thinkers (and an emotional open invitation for knee-jerk responses from jerks). It’s too bad there aren’t more like it.