A Tiger of a Dilemma..

..it has been for advertising firms - to continue with Tiger Woods or dump him? His confession obviously did not do him any good, considering the media onslaught on him continues. An american daily today carried a speculative report on the possibility of his wife filing for divorce.
Is this all to Tiger Woods, who was once hailed as one of the greatest sportspersons of all times? In the United States, I expected people to be a little mature than conservative India and do a Hillary Clinton to the entire saga - accept apology, be kind, look beyond his human frailties and help the sporting legend find his feet back in the world. Instead, exhibiting ample double-standards in their moral order, they are feasting on gossip around Tiger's life, which is disturbing. Simply because Woods is a global figure leaves him to public scrutiny and the lesser known ones - in offices (read sexual harassment at workplace), roads (read rapists), families (read incest), can continue doing what they want?
Let us leave Woods to mind his own personal life and set his own moral benchmarks. He is answerable to his wife, children and family alone and no one else. What has happened is really unfortunate and should not be encouraged but media bashing of such accompilshed sportsman is sheer violation of his right to privacy and right to settle his own matters without any external influences tiling scales against him.
As for Accenture and Gillette, well, did Accenture build its entire brand around the perception that Tiger Woods did not and could not sleep around or that Tiger Woods, the excellent golfer had 14 Majors to his credit in 13 years? It's certainly not just Woods, who erred. Woods just proved that he was human (though I must clarify that I do not appreciate his sexual philandering). It's firms like Accenture too, who rope in celebrities thinking they would play advertsing angels for them. They make God out of humans prone to lapses of reason and it's they who must pay for their flawed business decisions and not the likes of Woods whose lives may very well take unexpected turns like anyone else's.
In the last few weeks during which media and social networking sites awash with cheap jokes around it have largely fed on the Woods controversy , Kunal Pradhan's article today has come across as a balanced piece of writing in many days, which gives the golfer his due and asks intrusive media to take a chill-pill.
You must read Tiger Tiger Burning Dim.
Do not miss the related NYT article Accenture, as if Tiger Woods Were Never There.
See you soon.