Tiger Woods Nixes Nike Ad Shoot
Golf superstar Tiger Woods has decided to honor a strike by TV and radio commercial actors and has refused to film an ad for Nike.
"There is a strike going on and we're abiding by it," said his agent, Mark Steinberg of International Management Group.
Woods had been scheduled to shoot a Nike commercial Tuesday at Islesworth Country Club, the golfer's home course near Orlando, Fla. Steinberg said no ad would be shot for several weeks.
Woods' decision was greeted enthusiastically by the Screen Actors Guild, which authorized the strike along with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. About 135,000 actors are represented by the unions.
"We deeply appreciate the support of this international superstar," SAG spokesman Greg Krizman said. Woods "stands together with the working class SAG and AFTRA performers who depend on a fair commercials contract to maintain a decent standard of life."
Woods' deal with Nike was being re-negotiated and could pay him a reported $80 million to $90 million over five years. Union membership is mandatory for anyone who appears in more than one commercial, athletes included.
The unions have vowed to picket film shoots proceeding with nonunion actors or guild members not honoring the strike.
Ad-makers have said they are confident they can continue production with nonunion actors and union members who were not participating in the strike.
The actors say they are striking to resist changes that advertising companies want to make in so-called "pay-per-play" formula for network television commercials.
Currently, commercial actors whose spots air on network television are paid every time the commercial runs. The advertising industry has proposed instituting a flat rate.
The Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies on Broadcast Talent Union Relations, which represents advertisers in the dispute, has filed a complaint against the unions for unfair labor practices.
JPC claims the actors aren’t bargaining in good faith. It claims the unions have threatened actors who cross picket lines with being barred from union membership.
JPC negotiator John McGuinn said the industry’s offer—which it describes as a $4,200 fee for one day’s work on a network commercial—is a "fair and very lucrative economic offer, designed to make contracts first created during the 1950s apply to the reality of today’s media marketplace. Our goal is to provide economic stability to performers throughout the country."