Tiger Woods’ much anticipated return to competitive golf–at the storied Masters tournament–is accompanied by his return to advertising. The black-and-white TV spot for Nike Golf simply shows a silent Woods looking directly at us with a facial expression that is subject to interpretation–perhaps part serious, part sad, part introspective.
The only voice heard comes off camera and is that of Tiger’s late father, Earl Woods, seemingly offering food for thought to his son. Earl Woods says, “Tiger, I am more prone to being inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are and did you learn anything?”
The spot–directed by Max Malkin of Prettybird, Santa Monica, for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland–has already elicited mixed reactions in the blogosphere, from those who are offended that Earl Woods has been resurrected to help his son break back into the ad game after his much publicized infidelity, to those who view the spot as smart in that it positions Woods as a man hearkening back to a positive influence in order to recover from his transgressions.
What’s your take on the spot? Have a look here and get a rundown of the creative and production credits.
Snubs and Surprises In Oscar Nominations
In one of the more wide-open Oscar fields in recent history, there were plenty of nominations surprises Thursday. Not too long ago, it seemed that people like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman were destined for best actress nominations, while general audience disinterest in the young Donald Trump movie "The Apprentice" might have indicated its awards chances were dead on arrival. But the members of the film academy had something different in mind. Here are some of the biggest snubs and surprises from the 97th Oscar nominations. SURPRISE: Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice" The young Trump movie "The Apprentice" has been one of the bigger awards season question marks, especially after it failed to resonate with moviegoers in theaters. And yet both Jeremy Strong, for his portrayal for Trump lawyer Roy Cohn, and Sebastian Stan (who was also in the conversation for "A Different Man" ), for playing the future two-time president, made it in. Only Strong got nominated by the Screen Actors Guild. SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, "Hard Truths" This will forever be one of the more confounding awards season oversights. Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivered one of the all-time great performances in Mike Leigh's "Hard Truths," as the perpetually aggrieved and sharp-tongued London woman Pansy. The general thinking is that it was either going to be Jean-Baptiste or Fernanda Torres, and Torres got in for the equally beloved "I'm Still Here." SNUB: Pamela Anderson, "The Last Showgirl" This is perhaps up for debate, but there was certainly a lot of goodwill behind Anderson's movie-star turn in Gia Coppola's "The Last Showgirl," especially considering her SAG nomination. But like with Jennifer Lopez and... Read More