Two weekends ago, a combination of Tiger Woods, CNN, Time Warner, and Nike provided a glimpse into the often invisible structure of how the media operates. Days before Tiger Woods’ return to golf (or golf’s return to Tiger Woods) and the Masters, Nike ran a two day ad-campaign on two channels, ESPN and the Golf Channel. In the ad, Tiger Woods, wearing a Nike hat and shirt, stared into the camera as a voice-over of his deceased father spoke to him.
“Have you learned anything?” his father asked. “I want to know what you were feeling.” These statements, which were taken out of context, were supposed to reference Tiger’s adultery.
The ad ran for only two days. Yet a search for “Nike ad” on CNN.com will yield ten different CNN links specifically related to the Woods-centered advertisement. Why?
As of October 2009, CNN introduced CNN Entertainment. CNN Entertainment’s goal is “to make it the premier entertainment news destination online.” One of CNN’s main entertainment affiliates is People Magazine. Time Warner owns CNN. They also happen to own People Magazine.
And by the way, Time Warner also owns Sports Illustrated.
Since Tiger’s history of adultery became public knowledge, Tiger and his wife Elin often appear in People Magazine, sometimes on the cover. So, if you’re an entertainment and gossip junkie, Time Warner will hit you over the head with Tiger news. Sports junkie? Tiger has been the subject of 30 Sports Illustrated covers. And now he’s all over CNN, including being the subject of one of CNN’s national online polls last week.
Run all you want. Time Warner won’t let you escape Tiger Woods.
Now, according to Nikedunk-store.com, Time Warner and Nike are currently negotiating an advertisement deal for Nike’s new Dunk sneakers. Last year, the two companies underwent similar negotiations and got a deal done just before the deadline.
Advertisers try to get you when you are young. Think about the 11-year-old boy whose grandparents gave him a Sports illustrated subscription for his birthday, whose 14 year old sister reads People Magazine, and whose parents watch CNN on a nightly basis. That’s what Nike thinks about when they negotiate deals. And Time Warner gives them a hell of a sales pitch on a daily basis, without even having to travel to Nike headquarters.
This may seem like a display of power not seen since Alexander the Great, but this is just a glimpse into the media web. Tiger Woods is just one of Time Warner’s pawns. Nike is just one of Time Warner’s potential ad partners. Time Warner is just one of the main owners of media.
As Anderson Cooper said on his show “AC 360” for CNN on April 8, “(Nike doesn’t) need to do a big ad-buy, because us and a lot of other folks will run (the new Woods ads) and talk about them, just as we have.