Gillette 'limiting' Tiger Woods role in marketing

[Richard Pascoe]

Gillette has become the latest company to distance itself from Tiger Woods following allegations that the world's top golfer carried on a series of extramarital affairs.
The Procter & Gamble razor company said on Saturday that it would limit the golfer's role in its marketing programmes to help protect his privacy amid allegations that he cheated on his Swedish wife.

"As Tiger takes a break from the public eye, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programmes," Gillette said in a statement.

The announcement came a day after the 33-year-old golfer admitted for the first time since the scandal broke two weeks ago that he had be unfaithful to his wife Elin Nordegren. He said he would take an "indefinite break" from professional golf to try to mend his marriage.
Woods said: "I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person."

The star has been linked with up to 13 women, including cocktail waitresses, a lingerie model, former porn actresses and most recently prostitutes.
Gillette's announcement came as other corporate backers who made Woods into the first billion-dollar brand in sports history hinted that they were no longer going to stand by their man after his spectacular fall from grace.

This weekend his name disappeared from the website of the financial services firm Accenture, one of his major sponsors. The telephone giant AT&T was also re-thinking its ties to him. "We support Tiger's decision and our thoughts will be with him and his family," the company said. "We are presently evaluating our ongoing relationship with him."

The one company that has stood by him so far is Nike, his biggest sponsor, which pays him $30 million annually to endorse its $800-million-a-year golf division. But the sports goods business also made clear that it hoped his costly absence from the sport would not last too long.

"Tiger has been part of Nike for more than a decade," a spokesman said. "He is the best golfer in the world and one of the greatest athletes of his era. We look forward to his return to golf. He and his family have Nike's full support."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/tigerwoods/6797689/Gillette-l...