Tick … Tick … Tick … Tick, Tiger
Tiger Woods in better times.
It’s not good enough that Tiger Woods – the world’s best golfer – has accepted responsibility for a minor accident by driving his Cadillac Escalade SUV tank into a fire plug and tree. We all have bad days … or rather nights, because Woods car accident happened around 2:30 a.m.
The Tiger Woods image crisis situation that is spinning out of control isn’t about the car accident. It’s about the fact that the cops sat on the report and kept it from going public for more than 12 hours. It’s about Woods’ refusal to meet with the police. Mostly, it’s about s i l e n c e by Woods. He is creating his own nightmare at this point.
In the digital era, silence in a crisis situation can make a bad situation get worse. Silence breeds rumor, speculation and shrill gossip, the basic food groups of today’s news media.
- Is Tiger having an affair with party girl Rachel Uchitel?
- Did Tiger’s wife cause scratches on his face instead of the car smash?
- Is Tiger frantically working to find a way to spin his early morning car crash?
- Why is the Orange County (Florida) sheriff’s department giving Woods special treatment?
- Why is Woods stonewalling talking with cops?
The world’s most famous celebrity athlete is now paying a price for his fame and his silence. Silence is doing nothing but fueling rumor and igniting further world media attention and speculation. Silence, in this case and in most crisis situations, has taken on a life of its own.
My advice:
- Do something – take personal control of the situation.
- Cooperate with authorities immediately.
- Get before the cameras and microphones as quickly as possible.
- Don’t play favorites with the media.
- Do not hide behind statements that other people deliver.
- Explain what happened and tell the truth in a sincere manner. Woods’ only chance to keep it a “private” matter evaporated with his delay to act.
- Do not make any effort to “spin” the facts.
- Avoid counsel from someone like an agent or attorney because they have their own vested interests and are not communicators.
- If you made a mistake, apologize. We’ll still admire your talent, and life will go on.
Silence in a crisis situation is like a cancer untreated.
Finally, if I might add a word to Cadillac … It is obvious that your company is working feverishly to capitalize on what happened in order to market your obscenely large gas guzzlers. Your promotions in just the last 24 hours have become shameless. I am referring to the sharp increase in Internet advertising and planted stories about how safe Cadillacs are. I would label it profiteering by Cadillac at Tiger’s expense, and it demonstrates a lack of integrity by Cadillac.
Filed Under: Crisis Communications • Featured
About the Author: David is a veteran communications strategist ... writer ... blogger ... online publisher ... and Emmy Award winning former CBS Network News correspondent. He lives in the Washington, D. C., area, and works worldwide.
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he had better get himself a nice big spade to dig himself out of this bunker…
Woods is supposed to be a mentor and a leader for young people. I’m with you, David – every minute that goes by where he won’t even speak to the police (God forbid he were an average black man living in the inner city who’d been found on the ground, bloodied, in the middle of the night – doubtful he’d been given immunity from talking to the cops) is another wasted minute. Tell the truth, Tiger, be a true sportsman, and quit acting like a privileged child.
Ahhh, Christine. What a clear perspective you have on events. David
Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.
Yes. Thanks.
You hit the proverbial nail on the head, David. Perhaps that’s also what Elin did to Tiger.
Is Cadillac shamelessly self-promoting or forestalling a lawsuit (or doing a little PR of its own, for that matter)? Judging by your remarks, it’s a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation for the car company. Otherwise, you had astute remarks about the situation.
But … I did not write or suggest that.