Tiger Woods has lost a handful of sponsors since his post-Thanksgiving car crash led to the public outing of a series of alleged mistresses. Accenture was the first major company to drop Woods, followed in December by AT&T. Just last week, Gatorade also dumped the golfer.
The abandonment is not universal, however. Nike continues to back Woods, and new comments from Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Tag Heuer, suggest the watchmaker won't be leaving Tiger anytime soon.
Babin tells the Sydney Morning Herald that the company has scaled back Woods advertising "in the countries where the issue is quite sensitive," including the United States. The observation is interesting because just days after announcing in December that it would drop Woods from its U.S. campaigns, Tag Heuer prominently featured him on its web site next to the large text, "TAG HEUER stands with TIGER WOODS."
In other markets, Babin claims Woods' affairs have benefited the watchmaker. Tag Heuer has continued to feature Tiger's likeness in China:
"In China conversely you have Tag Heuer with Tiger Woods everywhere because [with] the Chinese it rather increases their esteem," he said. "In China, by tradition, your success is measured by your number of mistresses."
The CEO added that "China is a good example" of a market that has "bounced back already spectacularly." Overall, he says, "there is zero damage" -- a sharp contrast to the study concluding that Woods' scandal generated a $12 billion fallout.
Women linked to Tiger Woods
- Emma Rotherham allegedly had early-morning sex on Woods' office couch. Tiger reportedly loved to see her in black stockings and suspenders.