Tiger Woods and the Case for Silence

In an earlier post I criticized Tiger Woods for retreating into a cone of silence. I still believe this is the wrong approach, however that is not to say that there are no arguments to be made for stonewalling. Over at the Walker Sands Blog, Sky Opila has a good eaxamination of the respective pros and cons of both coming clean and staying silent.

When I first started mulling over the Tiger Woods case, one of the assumptions I had was that he would stay mum mostly because he is an intensely private and guarded person who would be mortified at the thought of having to discuss his personal failings publicly. After all, Tiger has rarely been eager to share the positive aspects of his personal life with the press and public. Having to discuss his infidelity would be tantamount to taking poison for him

Another assumption was that this would turn out to be a fairly garden-variety celebrity sex scandal. However, that was before the  introduction of such elements as porn stars, possible nude photos (that Tiger’s lawyers are trying to prevent from being released), and reports of Tiger paying a Hollywood madam 60 000 $US for the services of pricey call girls. All of this, whether true or not, has added a different dynamic to the crisis. Some of these accusations may prove to be fraudulent. But what if they aren’t? What if there is more potentially explosive information that hasn’t been revealed yet? It serves to underscore that nobody here in the great unwashed really knows what is true and what isn’t in the Tiger affair. Perhaps no one besides Tiger himself knows. Perhaps that is why he is so desperate to stay silent, hoping that the story will pass before the worst comes to light.

When a business faces a public relations crisis, one of the first things that should be done is to take an inventory of all the potentially damaging information or accusations that could be brought forward against the company. When you then outline your approach to the crisis, at least one of the cases should be formulated on the premise that all of the bad news will eventually be exposed. A sort of Murphy’s Law contingency if you will. Many times it will prove easier in the long run to dump all of the ugly truth out at once, rather than let it be dragged out piecemeal by the press.

That being said, public relations crises will rarely destroy a large business. Problems can often be blamed on processes rather than people and in the cases where people are at fault the blame can usually be localized to a relatively small percentage of the workforce. After the mea culpa it’s easy to chart a way out. “We’ve re-emphasized the need to follow safe work procedures and started a compliance committee.” “We’ve fired/reprimanded/sent the manager at fault to sensitivity training.” And so forth.

But what if the information yet to be released could leave a brand non-viable? What if it could destroy the company? It’s hard, for a public relations idealist such as myself, to admit that sometimes being evasive, witholding information and stonewalling might work best, that it might even be necessary.  

Tiger Woods, at essence, is a company of one. To paraphrase a quote from would-be beer baron Frank D’Angelo, he is the brand, the brand is him. His stature has been gained through his exploits on the golf course and the image he has cultivated for himself.In the past he has been able to take all of the plaudits for his accomplishments himself. Now with a scandal of his own making, he will have to accept all the scorn for his transgressions alone. There is no where else to shunt the blame.

It’s a certainty that all of Tiger’s endorsement deals come with some equivalent of a morality clause, stating that he is to display good character and sound judgement in his actions so as to be an appropriate representative of Brand X. If some of the more outrageous accusations prove true, or are admitted to, then it will be easy for any sponsor to claim that he is in breach of the agreement. Gatorade has already severed ties, ostensibly a decision made before the scandal broke.  Now Tag Heuer has done likewise, claiming it is rotating campaigns. Other sponsors will now be scrutinized closely to see if they give indications of following suit.

Tiger’s silence may be calculated as the best strategy to hold on to what he has. I doubt it will work. The failure to address or rebut an accusation is as good as admitting to it, in the eyes of most. If there are more salacious revelations yet to come it is hard to imagine them remaining under wraps at this point. With information technology so pervasive today, no one can hope to wriggle free from a digital noose.

Tiger has a right to privacy. What he doesn’t have is a right to a legacy and to be a global brand. It seems almost inevitable now that he will have to sacrifice one of these things if he hopes to salvage the other.

 

 

 

 

   

Tiger’s Latest Troubles

Conventional wisdom amongst public relations people is that a crisis event will usually attract attention from the media for about nine days.  Beyond that the media tends to lose interest and move on to other topics. What will prolong interest in a crisis is the revelation of new information, the more lurid the better. In some respects this is what has lead to the saying in politics that “it’s not the crime but the cover-up” that tends to end or severly damage careers when scandals break.

So here we are creeping up on two weeks since Tiger’s turkey-day wreck and the story is still chugging along strongly, with more rumours and speculation being unearthed on a daily basis.  A police report has been quoted in several stories because it is revealed that an attending officer suspected Tiger of being under the influence of alcohol and/or medication.  The “bimbo eruption” counterhas been pegged as high as nine  with speculation that it could be higher and there has even been a bizarre story circulating about Playgirl Magazine acquiring what are possibly nude photos of the champion golfer.  Through it all the rumour mill continues to grind and now there is even some unusual reverse-onus being placed on women who have denied relationships with Tiger, with speculation being that those who have denied the accusations have been paid off.  There has also been several statements making the rounds, mostly unsourced, that Tiger and possibly wife Elin may be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show in the near future to provide some answers.

I’ve said before that Tiger doesn’t owe the public an explanation, however from several standpoints it might still be in his best interest to provide one.  There is the Tiger Woods brand to think of and also the legacy of Tiger Woods the person and both may have already received lasting damage.  The goal now should be to cut off the possibility of further impact from the scandal at the knees and to begin rehabilitating Tiger’s reputation as best as is possible under the circumstances. There is a good future post I’m hoping to get to comparing Tiger versus Letterman versus Agassi and how they handled the release of personally embarrasing information.

If you’re living in the rarefied air of celebritydom there is very little, aside from being convicted of some utterly heinous crime, that you can do to make yourself completely unsalvageable.  However you have to be able to make at least some of the right moves if you want at least partial redemption.  Waiting to act only serves to stack the deck further against you.