Glass Houses
Remember Andersen Consulting? It was the old accounting and consulting firm that got caught up in the Enron scandal of 2001. The firm changed its name and applied a fresh coat of paint to its image as it worked to save itself from itself and has continued doing business under the invented name of Accenture.
Accenture has now reportedly dropped Tiger Woods as its celebrity spokesman. Woods is “no longer the right representative for its advertising” after the “circumstances of the last two weeks,” Accenture told the Associated Press.
In order words, Woods current image as a shameless playboy doesn’t fit with the image Accenture has of itself. It’s the price Woods is paying as a philanderer.
I agree with Drew Sharp of The Detroit Free Press who has written that Woods’ reputation is “irreparably damaged.” But I also believe that Woods has and is getting really poor image counsel and advice. His most recent statement that he is taking a hiatus from golf in order to focus on his marriage and his life reads like a carbon copy and superficial confession of yet another adulterer politician than the world’s most famous athlete. It lacked depth, sincerity or any human element of emotion. It reads like an attorney wrote it.
Woods is a man who continues doing damage to himself and those around him. He is a public figure on the world stage but he’s not acting like one. We all know he hasn’t acted responsibly … and he still is not by hiding out.
Woods needs to come forward publicly and stop talking through his lawyers. He needs to announce that he is enrolling himself in a serious program of therapy. He needs to publicly ask forgiveness, not only from his wife, children and family but from his fans and sponsors. He needs to share his plan for saving himself from himself. His silence over the last couple of weeks has forfeited any chance he had at privacy.
Woods may be a pro on a golf course but we are seeing by his actions that he’s no pro as a man.
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Tiger’s statement is an excuse not to say anything and buy time while he and his handlers figure out what to do. Sadly, everything I’ve seen in the mainstream sports media (i.e., ESPN) seems to endorse this short-term focused, “damage control by test pattern” approach.
Time may indeed heal all wounds, but I agree that being more proactive and specific would benefit Tiger in the long-run.