Tiger Woods Dropped From Tag Heuer Ads

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 3:05 p.m. Eastern time

Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer says it will not use Tiger Woods' image in advertising campaigns in the United States for the foreseeable future.

Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin told Swiss daily Le Matin on Friday that the company was reacting to "recent events" surrounding the golfer.

"We recognize Tiger Woods as a great sportsman but we have to take account of the sensitivity of some consumers in relation to recent events," Babin was quoted saying.

Woods has taken an indefinite leave from golf to work on repairing his marriage after numerous allegations of infidelities.

The watch maker released a statement to CBS News after Le Matin's story was published Friday.

"The partnership with Tiger Woods will continue," Babin said in the statement, "but we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time, depending on his decision about returning to professional golf."

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The newspaper said Tag Heuer will continue to support Woods' charitable foundation but will use other brand ambassadors in U.S. ads, including actor Leonardo Di Caprio.

The statement said Tag Heuer will continue to support Woods' charitable foundation but will use other brand ambassadors in U.S. ads, including actor Leonardo Di Caprio.

The watch maker could not immediately be reached for comment because the story was released on the newspaper's Web site after Tag Heuer's headquarters at La Chaux-de-Fonds closed for the holidays until Jan. 4. The full interview was to be published in Saturday's editions of Le Matin.

Tag Heuer joins other sponsors in backing away from Woods as his image has taken a beating since a Thanksgiving holiday car accident at the golfer's Florida home was followed by an admission of extramarital "transgressions."

Consulting firm Accenture dropped him as its representative last weekend, and Gillette said it would stop airing his ads for their razors.

Tag Heuer initially said Monday it would stand by Woods, but moderated its support later that day by saying it would assess its relationship with the world's highest-earning athlete.



More on Tiger Woods:
Source: Tiger Doc Drug Link a "Stretch"
World Follows Tiger's Scandal Saga
Woods Shuts out Famous Friends
Woods' Wife Seen without Wedding Ring
Woods Leaves PGA in Economic Limbo
Gillette Shaves Tiger Woods From Its Ads

[keithle1]

Do not glorify sports stars. They're all human & will disappoint you sooner or later. Just because you can play golf well, doesn't make you a god or hero. She married Tiger with her eyes open. You hope anyway. All successful/famous/rich men have women paying attention to them. Chicks dig the alpha male. Those kind of men make their fallopian tubes quiver with joy & excitement.

[dsnj1-2009]

So glad to see the "good ole boys" dump the loser. Smart men, I would buy a watch from them now, just to speak with the wallet, as many of us will now do!

[newsterl]

?The partnership with Tiger Woods will continue,? Babin said in the statement, ?but we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time, "

Corporate doublespeak for "Were DUMPING him, but were still friends"

[erb0087]

by wyodutch December 18, 2009 5:52 PM EST
How come we never see a black athlete make a "Lou Gehrig" speeech?
=====================================================

I've seen a few.

The late Arthur Ashe, more recently Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

One of the most heroic was Chicago's peerless Walter Payton. What a great, selfless man he was.

[CBSisCommunist2]

That 19th hole is the deal breaker.

[aubfmet]

It wasn't "transgressions.". It was an immoral tsunami.

[senseofproportion]

What I would like to see is Tiger play a round of golf with Roman Polanski on the lawn of this watch company, using minarets as traps.

[drthvader]

Roman Polanski and Tiger Woods have nothing in common. I'm seeing my comments in places they shouldn't be. What's with that?

[bill0bob]

Oh, Thank God!!! I was sooo afraid that I was going to have to smash my Tag Hauer watch to bits because some women claim they had se/x with Tiger!!! Thank you, Tag Hauer for dropping Tiger! Now I can wear my ga/y little watch with pride!!! ;-)

People are just so effing shallow and stupid! Tiger Wood's se/x life is nobody's business but his wife and anybody else he happens to have had intimate contact with.

[wfw3536]

Tiger is a bum. I hope all of his sponsors drop him along with his wife.

[CamdenPaulCarley]

Every one of you should be ashamed.. What Tiger has done is no ones business but his and his families... He should have not lost any sponsors... But he did cause everyone couldn't stay out of his ******* business... Seriously *** is wrong with you people that think... "OMG he is such a horrible person he cheated on his wife..." Well guess what It has not one thing to do with any of you... CBS should be sued NBC should be sued ABC should be sued.. Smite everyone who stuck their nose into his business.. Whatever he did is his own fault and I'm sure e knows he did wrong.. He should atleast have gotten a divorce before he did what he did... But guess what.. No one, not even me should be saying anything cause no one should know about his personal life... The only thing's we should know is what he does on the Golf Course.. And what he did should strongly be between he and his wife... No one else.. But NOOOO the horribly diseased infested paparazzi have to go around spreading their filth in everyone one's life, doing nothing but destroying lives and the truth.. turning fact into fiction.. Turning lies into the so called "truth" What we read is what they want us to think... we will never know the surreal truth. For all we know truths unreal and what we see could be bitter dreams.. but yet we take in everything/// everything that will never be... Tiger... You'll get through this man.. screw Tag.. you don't need them anyway... and i believe what you did you had your reasons for.. and no one can judge you but god himself... and if anyone else tries, then they themselves are hypocrites and have no room to talk.. No one is perfect....

[cbsblogger]

Actually the public made Tiger the billionaire that he is, not Tiger. If great playing made him relatively little. If Tiger was concerned about his lack of privacy why didn't he play golf with only his buddies on weekends as do most golfers that receive no notoriety. Without public backing Tiger is another weekend hacker.

This interview with says it exactly like it is and all celebrities need to understand it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5913350n&tag=related;photovideo

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/06/ftn/main5913748.shtml

[Justme8811]

Whatever he did is his own fault and I'm sure e knows he did wrong.....yes very true yet he was a role model for millions of people, that comes with being famous and popular. What he did was beyond being a PIG and I never care to watch him again! Screw Tag? Are you number 14 and screwing Tiger????????