[cnn]GM ends 9-year endorsement deal with Tiger Woods

Obviously getting Tiger Woods is the smart choice to sell Buicks, that's like getting Miley Cyrus to endorse Ensure. Geniuses these guys are.


http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/c3f0d1ad717a2fccc4ba9098a16db174.htm
GM ends 9-year endorsement deal with Tiger Woods
General Motors ends 9-year endorsement deal with Tiger Woods, says it is looking to pare costs
November 24, 2008: 11:26 AM EST


NEW YORK (Associated Press) - General Motors Corp. says it will end its endorsement deal with Tiger Woods at the end of the year.

GM said in a statement Monday that it is looking to reduce costs, and that the star golfer also wants more personal time as he expects his second child.

Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and has been closely tied to its Buick brand in the U.S., Canada and China.

GM's vice president for North American sales, Mark LaNeve, says the separation is the result of discussions earlier in the year and is not related to the company's campaign for $25 billion in loans from the federal government.

 

exactly!

You actually see Michael Jordan drink Gatorade. Tiger wouldn't drive a Buick if they paid him too... oh wait they did pay him

 

Apparently not enough.

At least we believe that Toby Keith drives a F150.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3722964&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

GM to halt nine-year endorsement deal with Woods

Associated Press

Updated: November 24, 2008, 2:39 PM ET


DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. said Monday it is ending its nine-year endorsement deal with golf superstar Tiger Woods as the automaker continues to cut expenses and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century.


The trickle-down effect of Tiger Woods' and Buick's parting ways may put the pinch on other players' bank accounts. And they aren't the only group in golf that will be hurting from the slowing economy. Bob Harig
The cash-strapped company said in a statement that it is looking to reduce costs, and that the world's No. 1 golfer also wants more personal time as he expects his second child.

Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and mainly has been seen in Buick commercials as the company tried to give the nameplate a more youthful image. He has carried the Buick brand on his golf bag since 2000, and his most recent promotion was to caddie for a contest winner for nine holes at Torrey Pines, where Woods won the U.S. Open this summer for his 14th career major.

The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million a year, was to end in 2009. Woods' agent at IMG, Mark Steinberg, said the decision to end the relationship one year early was "absolutely mutual."

"It was a combination of things," Steinberg said. "Tiger was looking to gain some more time, and certainly it was an opportunity for GM to reduce its spending with everything going on."

GM has been making dramatic cuts in advertising as it tries to conserve cash. The nation's largest automaker spent nearly $7 billion more than it took in last quarter and has warned that, without federal help, it may reach the minimum amount of cash required to run the company by the end of the year.

Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for North American marketing, said GM and Woods started discussing an end to the deal earlier this year, and it had nothing to do with the Detroit Three automakers' quest for $25 billion in federal loans.

But GM's statement said the decision was made as part of "the search for budget efficiencies during a difficult economy for General Motors."

Buick said last week that it would be cutting back on its deal providing courtesy cars at PGA Tour events.

GM is so concerned about costs that it cut advertising during the 2009 Super Bowl, although it still plans to sponsor the National Football League and likely air ads before and after the game. GM also has pulled out of the Oscars and Emmy Awards in 2009 -- the first time in over a decade that it is not running ads right before, during or after the two events.

U.S. automakers, the single largest category of advertisers, cut their ad spending 18 percent to $1.37 billion in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2007, according to TNS Media Intelligence in New York.

Foreign automakers also are trimming their spending on advertising in U.S. markets, with a 5.4 percent cut in the second quarter, for an overall 11 percent drop in U.S. auto ad spending to $3.27 billion, the 12th quarterly dip in a row.

Woods has carried only two logos on his bag since he turned pro in August 1996. He was with Titleist through 1999 until Buick won a bidding war for its brand on a bag that gets more television time at tournaments than any other golfer.

Woods has not played since season-ending knee surgery after winning the U.S. Open, and he is not expected to return until next year, most likely in early March depending on his recovery.

Steinberg said he would "expect there to be some exposure on the bag" when Woods next plays.

"I've got a few ideas, and we're in the process of working through that," he said.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press


Let the Chinese take over, I believe they aren't as dumb as the American CEOs that run GM.

1. The WHOLE REASON GM has all these different Brands is for different groups of buyers and demographics
a. Buick - its for Old People, like your grandpa
b. Pontiac - is the young person's brand, they play commercials with Kasabian and Jet

2. 7 Million for Tiger and what? do a bunch of 30 year old golfers start buying Buicks over BMWs?

What's next? Axl Rose for Saturn cause they need more old rock stars to buy Saturns?

GM=Stephon Marbury