CHICAGO, (Reuters) – Procter & Gamble Co’s Gillette brand will not renew its endorsement contract with golfer Tiger Woods, which ends on Dec. 31, a company spokesman confirmed yesterday.
The decision comes as the unit, which makes shaving gel, razors and other products, plans to phase out its Gillette Champions marketing program in the first quarter of 2011, Gillette spokesman Michael Norton said. The news was reported first on USA Today’s “Game On!” blog. Woods was one of the athletes who started the ad campaign in 2007.
Woods has lost several corporate sponsorship deals since news broke of his extramarital affairs a year ago, including deals with AT&T <T.N> and Accenture <ACN.N>, costing him up to $35 million before losing the Gillette sponsorship. Norton would not say what the Gillette deal was worth.
His popularity has also waned with the public. In a recent Davie Brown Index, used by corporate clients to determine a celebrity’s ability to influence consumers, Woods’ appeal ranked 2,586th, down from 96th pre-scandal.
But some advertisers have stood by him, including Nike Inc.