Boy talk about Haterade, this weekend, a Denver TV station broke the story that some creative, irreverent wag replaced Tiger Woods Gatorade bottles marked “Focus” with the label “Unfaithful.”
Now we hear that the FDA doesn’t think the switch is funny, but a dangerous breach of security, and is investigating.
I understand the concern. The safety of everyone’s drinks is paramount to a good laugh, That being said, someone in branding and marketing night want to jump on the idea. Hey Ryan Ballengee! Steph Wei! Might you also have friends in focus groups that might be able to tell us how many more bottles Gatorade might sell with the new label? As a novelty item, Gatorade could stand to make a killing by turning the negative into a good joke!
While some of you think Tiger might not find it funny – and yes, he is one of the most humorless stiffs around, at least when he’s taking it not dishing it out – a little self-aggrandizing humor might be a start in the right direction to rebuilding his shredded image. After all, that’s how Boy George came back – he did a video lampooning his bad behavior, poking fun at himself, everyone had a good laugh, and he was able to stage a comeback.
But of course, when have Tiger or IMG ever admitted they were wrong or behaved in a genuinely apologetic manner, admitting they were wrong? After all, he’s a pro athlete: niceties like humility and remorse don;t apply to him…don’t you know who he is and what record he’s chasing? Isn’t that – and the corresponding money – more important than anything else?
Meanwhile, Yahoo’s Jay Busbee has a great write-up of this story.
