11/30/09

Oh Tiger.....

So everyone has heard about Tiger Woods, his car, and his wife. To sum up my guess on what happened before I get into my thoughts on the bigger picture.....I'm betting that they got into a fit, she slapped/scratched him, he stormed out, she ran after him, busted the car window with the club, and because of the broken window, he was distracted and drove the car over the hydrant, and then into the tree. Is it bad that a husband and wife got into a fight? Of course it is. Should we care any more because it was Tiger, versus Joe Blow from 2 streets over? I'm not sure. Are we, the public, somehow entitled to know more about what happened? Does someone's celebrity come with some forfeiture of privacy? Where does that privacy end?

My belief is that when you decide to do something that puts you in the public eye, and especially when that provides you a living, you give up a lot of privacy. If you're an athlete, an actor, reality TV star, you make your living because people want to watch you. You're an entertainer. As an athlete, you don't get paid because you play a sport well. You get paid well because people will pay to see you. When you take that endorsement money, you're getting it because we watch them pitch something to us. Gatorade doesn't pay Tiger because he's a great player. They pay him because he gets a lot of exposure on TV and people like him. There's a lot of people out there that are great at something, even world class in that something, and don't get paid a huge amount of money. When you become famous as an actor or athlete, you're making a decision to put yourself in the public spotlight.

Especially when you start accepting the big endorsement deals, you are trading in a lot of privacy for the big payday. Tiger doesn't have to have his face everywhere with Nike, Gatorade, etc. When Nike comes to you with that kind of money and exposure, you have to realize you can't just say "Please give us privacy". If you really wanted the privacy, you wouldn't take the deal. You can't do both. That's just the reality of today's world. Is it wrong to take the deal? Of course not. I fully support someone's ability to make a pile of money in the public eye. You can be a jackass if want. Just please be aware that if you take the public's money, you do have some responsibility to answer them when they ask questions.

11/5/09

I'll have a Moons over M'Hammy,.....and can I see the wine list?

I found a terrific news release about a new product at 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven is bringing a private label wine into their inventory. I saw a few other people making jokes about 7-Eleven having a private label wine. This isn't all that funny, as pretty much all grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, etc have some kind of cheap private label wine. For 7-Eleven, trying to give itself some space from other convenience stores with this, is actually a pretty good idea. So what's really funny about this news release? If you keep reading the article, you come to this delicious nugget:

Also participating in the launch and carrying the new beverages are Ito-Yokado super- and hyper-markets, York Benimaru supermarkets in northern Japan, Shell Garden upscale grocery stores, Denny’s family restaurants, Seibu and Sogo department stores,

Denny's will have wine! How freaking great is that? Maybe a nice red with your Grand Slam breakfast? How about a refreshing white with your Moons over M'Hammy? With as many drunken 3am Denny's trips I had when I was in college, the humor of having the option to order wine is just unbelievable. (well, we probably couldn't have ordered wine at that time of night, but still, the jokes would flow like wine). How will it be served? Will Denny's have a collection of wine glasses? Will the wait staff bring it out and open it? Oh my goodness.....I feel a Denny's trip coming up.