What’s up with The Detroit News? When it comes to partially or completely unattributed rumors surrounding the GM – Chrysler merger, there’s no source vague enough to warrant exclusion from their news pages. But when they’ve got a hold of a really juicy rumor, they get all coy on us. There’s no reason for “GM mulls Tiger Woods’ Buick contract” to exist– other than as a nudge, nudge, wink, wink word in your ear Guv’nor that The General and The Tiger are about to go their separate ways. How’s this for a suggestive juxtaposition: “Buick, which has had an endorsement agreement with the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer since 1999, has no plans “right now” to scale back its golf sponsorships, [Woods’ agent Larry] Peck said in a telephone interview. The company’s stock has dropped more than 74 percent this year to $6.19 at Wednesday’s close, and GM has cut 53,000 union workers since 2005.” Given The General’s exsanguination, Woods’ other agent was appropriately sanguine. “I want to see where they are, and they want to see where we are,” [mark] Steinberg said. Will they wave at each other? You know, as GM says goodbye? Look for a Tiger at a BMW, Mercedes or Audi-sponsored event soon.
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I recall Tiger drove a Lexus RX300 prior to the Buick sponsorship.
His better half is Swedish, maybe Volvo in the cards. That’s what couple drives in Europe.
Tiger Woods is going to be seen pimping around in a C30, that would be awesome!
Meh. Was it really believable that Tiger would drive a Buick anyway?
This story is simple. His auto category endorsement is up for grabs at the expiry of the Buick contract. Mark Steinberg has now publicly announced this fact to all of the automakers of the world, particularly the lux brands. It’s a bidding contest, and Buick will likely be outbid. Clearly, Tiger’s impact on Buick sales is nominal since no one really believes he’d drive a Buick in the first place.
This whole Buick sponsorship never made sense to me. Why on earth would someone so young and successful want a Buick. It’s not like they change their image of the cars since they kept making boring ugly boats for old people.
I think sponsoring Porsche would make a lot of sense.
Sure, none of us non-Buick buyers ever understood this relationship. Perhaps it made those who were going to buy Buicks anyway feel a little more hip.
But if they were going to buy them anyway, why waste all that money on Tiger?
Well you have to start somewhere, and lets be honest: Tiger Woods isn’t hip. Tiger woods plays golf. Who else plays golf? Dudes who might buy a Buick.
Buick U.S. Sales in 1999: 446,000 units
Buick U.S. Sales in 2007: 185,000 units
(tracking in 2008 at 147,000)
So just how much did GM pay him for this 60% drop in volume?
Remember Buick’s tagline then?
“It’s All Good.”
You know when you go to a bar, and there’s always one guy there who should’ve given up the bar scene twenty years ago? But he still goes there in an attempt to pick up a hot piece of tail. And, by “pick up a hot piece of tail,” I of course mean “stare uncomfortably at anyone walking.” Eventually, after a few drinks, he reasons that sitting down with the rowdiest group of younger folks will turn out well.
Buick sort of reminds me of THAT guy.
Tiger is popular with young people. Young people don’t buy Buicks. It was a match made in heaven.
Could this be something more serious? I mean the death of Buick. Long overdue, I know. Living in Warren, I hear a lot of things from friends and relatives. Last night I was at a bar across from the GM Tech Center. And there were a lot of people there drinking like it was the end of the world. I asked one drunk woman what was going on, and she said they work at GM, and didn’t think they were employed after Friday.
53,000 workers laid off in 3 years, incredible!
Many of us old people are not interested in Buicks, we ride bicycles.
Tiger Woods should buy GM and hire Ed McMahon as the new Buick spokesman. Man, that’d be funny.
Buick’s deal with Woods made sense in the context of their overall golf related marketing. Remember, Buick sponsors two PGA tour events, including the Buick Open. That said, if Woods decides to stay with GM identifying him with Cadillac makes more sense. A good friend was a pretty high ranking ad exec and worked on the Buick account with Tiger. As far as should could tell he seemed pleased with his relationship with Buick/GM and said it was a pleasure to work with him.
Shlepping for GM made Tiger look bad