The Tiger Woods PETA, ITunes TigerText and Howard Stern Connections

How are Tiger Woods, iTunes TigerText, Howard Stern and PETA connected? As the athlete's sponsors jump ship even after his televised apology, the pro golfer is unwittingly supporting a whole new cottage industry. Will you buy into it?

Gatorade Dumps Woods

The Insider reports that Gatorade is the latest high-level sponsor to drop the disgraced golfer. Following on the heels of Accenture and also AT&T, the publication quotes a Gatorade spokesperson as saying "We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts." Yet even as Tiger Woods and his sponsors sever ties, there are new connections being formed.

Tiger Woods-PETA: The Connection That Did Not Happen

Quoting the Associated Press, USA Today revealed that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) revealed plans to set up a billboard in the vicinity of Tiger Woods' home that read, "Too much sex can be a bad thing ... Always spay or neuter!"

The billboard was to bear the likeness of Tiger Woods. PETA decided against the publicity stunt and announced it would replace the golfer's likeness with the image of Mark Sanford.

Tiger Woods Inspires iTunes TigerText?

Billed as the iTunes application that lets the user "send texts that don't live forever," TigerText automatically deletes text messages from the sender's and receiver's phones. The sender is in control of how long messages will remain stored on the phone.

Marketing materials refer to a woman's checking her man's phone messages; it is anyone's guess if Tiger Woods' text messaging fiasco factored into the creation of the iTunes app or its naming. According to TigerText founder Jeffrey Evans, Tiger Woods and his text messages had nothing to do with it.

Howard Stern Capitalizes on the Tiger Woods Scandal

Always ready to capitalize on sex and scantily clad females, Howard Stern plans on holding a Tiger Woods Mistress Beauty Pageant on March 10. The London Times claims that thus far four of the 13 named ladies in question agreed to participate and strut their stuff in the categories "swimsuit," "talent" and "personality."

Howard Stern is joined in his publicity stunt by Ashley Madison, the dating service that pairs up married folks in search of extramarital affairs. Adding insult to injury, Howard Stern claims that he contacted Elin Nordegren and offered her a judging spot in the pageant.

Will You Buy Into the Tiger Woods Cottage Industry?

Whereas previously Tiger Woods used his carefully groomed image to make money off his sponsors, the now tattered and dilapidated image is being used by marketers on the underbelly of the business to make money off Tiger.

Organizations and media professionals in desperate need of attention go to great lengths to use the golfer's tarnished image for their own ends. It is up to the consumer whether he will buy into the emerging cottage industries - and support PETA or Howard Stern - because of their swipes at Tiger Woods or if he will choose to drop them for the very same reason.

Sources
The Insider. "Gatorade Rep: We No Longer See a Role for Tiger in our Marketing Efforts" (accessed March 1, 2010)
USA Today. "PETA won't use Woods image after talk with lawyers" (accessed March 1, 2010)
iTunes TigerText
Time. "TigerText: An iPhone App for Cheating Spouses?" (accessed March 1, 2010)
The London Times. "Shock jock Howard Stern lines up lovers of Tiger Woods for $100,000 beauty contest" (accessed March 1, 2010)