New EA Sports Ads Skip the Tears, Show Tiger Woods Actually Having Fun

Tiger Woods, past and perhaps future sponsor magnet, lost a number of high-profile endorsement deals in the wake of his extramarital sexcapades. But a couple of those closest to the game -- golf, that is, not skirt chasing -- stood by him.
Nike (NKE) and EA Sports (ERTS) never seemed to waver on their support for the embattled athlete and, surprisingly enough, saw no discernible consumer blowback. (Hey, Nike doesn't often prune its roster amid misconduct allegations -- Kobe Bryant comes to mind -- so that brand's pretty much Teflon).
Nike, memorably, launched the first post-scandal commercial with Woods, the much-maligned voice-of-his-dead-dad spot. Now it's EA Sports' turn, but the video game marketer is going in the opposite direction, putting Woods in frothy, fun ads that have nothing to do with teary-eyed close-ups and public mea culpas.
The spots launched Thursday on Facebook and YouTube for the release next week of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11," the latest in the mega-selling franchise. The ads will debut on sports and gaming websites tomorrow and on national TV this weekend during the NBA finals on ABC.
The ads mix the somewhat staid game of pro golf with other sports like football and curling. (Bet Tiger wishes he could've had those guys with brooms pushing his putts into the hole during the Masters). NFL coaching legend Mike Ditka makes a cameo in one spot, so you know it's meant as a goof. There are also appearances by pro golfers Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter and Edoardo Molinari.
I'll embed one of the ads here, but just know that EA Sports -- in a truly idiotic move -- requires you to register before they'll show you the embed code. (Press gets special treatment. Well, this time).

NOTE: This is a guest post by Terry Stanley.
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