Posted December 14, 2009 11:09 AM
By Ascend Worldwide Admin
Spirit of a Tiger
It’s hard to avoid and even harder to ignore the news came this week that Tiger Woods the global phenomenon, sports star and overall great guy wasn’t that great. Everyone’s inner gossip went wild with Tiger’s loose morals and looser belt which have meant that his reputation and marriage hang in the balance. The question reverberating around the world is will he still be marketable and will he lose his endorsements? Well in the airline industry he’s apparently more marketable.
Of course you may now ask yourself why?
Tiger endorsements include Gillette, Nike and American Express but here in a land of opportunity the opportunists in this instance are Spirit Airlines.
Hot off the back of their last ingenious (very successful) campaign, ‘We’re No Virgin Sale’ a campaign going after new competitor Virgin America Airlines service from the West Coast to Florida, comes ‘The Eye of the Tiger Sale’. This advert features a Tiger (animal) crashing an SUV into a Fire Hydrant. For me it’s not clever or particularly witty but has seemed to ‘hit’ the mark.
For all now intrigued, here is the clip - as you can see no expense spared…
Spirit Airlines the Ultra Low Cost Airline, are renowned for their ‘different’ marketing campaigns and have clearly reacted to the world’s hottest topic which must be applauded but will they come out with much dignity and moreover more bookings?
At this stage it looks like yes they will have more booking but no sadly their dignity may never recover…but not from this! On closer inspection this is the company that brought us such comedy risqué campaigns as ‘WTF’ (World Travellers Fair), ‘M.I.L.F’ (Many Islands Low Fares), ‘Mullets in Paradise’ and the majestically named ‘We’re having a Threesome Join in The Fun’. All have been ridiculed but have gained a fair amount of press coverage something for which Spirit’s Marketing Team could be quite proud.
Last word has to go to the Tiger himself, granted Spirit have dived on his personal tragedy but he will no doubt get more hurtful press than this! Women may hate him but most of his endorsements will stick by him. They employed him on the standards of his sporting persona and not on his home life if we look at David Beckham after the Rebecca Loos incident we can see the press coverage and more over the money his sponsors have made, so Tiger will probably not be too out of pocket!
If you know of any crazy campaigns or want to comment on the Spirit’s ‘moral’ campaign feel free.
Leave a comment