I really didn’t want to begin 2010 on a negative note, but I couldn’t pass up saying goodbye to 2009 without at least discussing some of truly disastrous turns taken by some previously strong brands. It takes a long time to establish a truly respected brand, and in some cases, just a few moments to destroy, or at do some serious damage to it. So let’s get to it - to follow are my selection for the 10 most tarnished brands of the year:
10) Gatorade was the first of the Tiger Woods’ corporate sponsors to announce they would be cutting ties with Woods following his “indiscretions” by discontinuing their “Tiger Focus” line. If we are to believe the company spokesperson who said this decision was made prior to his domestic problems, then we must concur that the drink was a stiff, instead of a “stiff drink.” Gatorade was designed for high intensity sports like football (it was launched in the “swamp” where the Florida Gators play) and granted that some consider Golf a sport, but a typical golfer will hardly break a sweat riding in a golf cart between swings. Actually, the only golfers I know that drank Tiger Focus on the course mixed it with some libations because, after all, the whole purpose of golf is for relaxation. Note to Gatorade: if things work out in the future for Tiger, maybe you should launch a drink aimed specifically for the weekend duffer – how about 90 proof “Tiger Spirits?”
9) Sadly, in 2009 General Motors announced that they are phasing out their Pontiac brand. Launched in 1926, the glory years of the brand were certainly the muscle cars of the 1960’s. The GTO still reigns as one of the coolest muscle cars of the era, and the Firebird, Trans-Am, Bonneville, Le Mans and Catalina models also bring back fond memories of beauty and power. I recall when my aunt and Uncle brought home their metallic gold Catalina convertible they were the envy of the block (I loved cruising in the back seat when the top was down as long as I promised not to soil the white interior). My love of Pontiac was further enhanced when grandfather gave me his canary yellow Le Mans – a very cool car for a broke musician to drive – and haul gear in! Whether it was adding the fuel efficient plastic Fiero, discontinuing convertible models, or the introduction of new models like the Montana mini-van, the beast eventually ended up killing the beauty.
The once proud LA Dodgers brand was first soiled when star slugger, and fan favorite, Manny Ramirez, was suspended for fifty games for testing positive for a banned substance. Neither Manny nor the Dodgers actually apologized and when Manny returned drug free, he turned out to be a pretty average player certainly not the super-star of “Mannywood.” But Manny’s descent was nothing compared top the battling McCourts who aired the dirty laundry of their bitter divorce to the press. The team ended the season in disarray which left the fans wondering who would take ownership of the once storied franchise in 2010.
7) The Republican Party was taken over not by leaders within, but by the far right media which included now author and Fox commentator (and non-politician for the time being), Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and his “Mini-Me”, Glenn Beck. Leading the tea bagger’s revolt, the GOP has now been high jacked by the extreme far right who thinks that anything President Obama does is wrong so their agenda has become to fight him every step and therefore they have become “The Party of NO (ideas).
6) The Democratic Party demonstrated how you make sour lemons out of lemonade. They had control of the house and senate, had a charismatic young president that galvanized young and formally disenfranchised voters, and yet they couldn’t seem to get anything accomplished. Even as the economy slowly improves, they are getting little or no credit because they seem to be in such disarray to the point that it looks like the Republicans will rebound in the mid-term elections. Their only strategy is to “hope” that the GOP are bigger screw-ups.
5) As the US taxpayers were bailing them out of the fine mess they created for themselves, Goldman Sachs made plans to create a market for so-called “death” bonds. These are securitized life insurance policies that were sold by policy holders to speculators, who essentially are betting that the original policy holder will die soon enough to yield a profit on the policies. Add to that the big bonuses they still want to pay their execs for failure and you can see the kind of thanks we get for coming to their rescue.
4) For the twenty plus years I have been in the guitar business, the industry has been dominated by two brands Gibson & Fender. I work for Fender and actually relish the competition from Gibson but 2009 proved to be quite a stumbling year for them. It has been a tough year for the industry as a whole but the usually savvy Gibson company made two giant blunders that added to their woes: First they released a “Strat” shaped Jimi Hendrix licensed guitar in spite of the fact that Jimi is one of the most famous Fender Stratocaster® Players of all time. They found out very quickly that they couldn’t rewrite history when they discovered that the internet was filed with blogs and chat room conversations denouncing the guitar. A few short weeks the guitar mercifully disappeared form their website. Immediately following that debacle, the Feds and local police raided Gibson Guitars manufacturing plant in Nashville and charged them with violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar. Sources reported that Gibson was involved in a scheme that shipped the wood from Madagascar to Germany and then to the United States. Adding insult to injury, Gibson’s CEO and Chairman, Henry Juszkiewicz, stepped down from his position on the board of the Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests that is supported by many major artists. Throughout their one hundred plus years, Gibson has been faced with tough times and has been able to bounce back, and they will again, but they have their work cut out for them to overcome these two serious back-to-back clumsy mistakes.
3) Based on a Yale University study last year, makers of Breakfast Cereals spend more than $156 million yearly on marketing on television. Their strategy also including placing these unhealthy cereals in grocery stores at the eye level of small children. This also means that the average preschooler sees more than 650 cereal commercials yearly. All brands are guilty of trying to sell these sugar laden “foods” as healthful so take a moment to look at this:
- Cereals directed towards children, have 85% more sugar, and 65% less fiber than those that are not.
- 42% of children’s cereals contain artificial food dye, compared to the 5% in adult cereals.
- All cereals marketed directly to children – including Cocoa Puffs (44% sugar), Cap’n Crunch (44% sugar), Froot Loops (41% sugar), Lucky Charms (41% sugar) and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (32% sugar) – meet industry’s own nutrition standards for “better-for-you” foods. Nice that the industry can make those claims when they are self-regulated but thankfully the FDA is on their case and some are begrudgingly removing the “healthy” labels from the packaging.
2) New age self-styled spiritual guru James Arthur Ray was one of the fastest rising stars in the “self-help success” field. That was until two people died in his sweat lodge retreat near Sedona, AZ. Attendees paid between $9K and $10K to attend the seminar and once inside the lodge, the heat became so unbearable that one man told him he was afraid he would perish. Ray’s alleged reply was “It’s a good day to die.” After two did perish, and many more became ill, Ray accelerated the bad press by talking about how tough it was on him and stalling the investigation by launching his own internal one. Whether it was his ego, or just a really bad PR firm, people will now think twice before following his spiritual guidance.
1) It goes without saying that Tiger Woods would have to lead the pack. No one who worked so hard on his public image fell so far so fast. Not only was the scandal so embarrassing to his family (with all the women coming forward, Tiger may soon steal the crown worn by Warren Beatty with the alleged 12,700+ women he bedded, but remember that Warren stopped when he got married) but his handling of the press was even more disastrous. Instead of AP naming Tiger their “Athlete of the Decade” they should have named him the more appropriate “Player of the Decade” (hey, if the Nike shoe fits…..) Tiger will undoubtedly come back as a top golfer, but he will never attain the level of admiration he once had and therefore the “Tiger Woods” brand will forever be tarnished.
