• by John Gaffney , November 25, 2002

Four: Right now it’s a curious battle, this boycott of Augusta National and The Masters being led by the National Counsel of Woman’s Organizations. But it will affect the ad business. First the NCWO tried pressuring Augusta National to change its rules and admit female members. I promise you; Augusta cares more about the condition of its short grass than PR. Then NCOW tried CBS. No dice there, CBS had already lost its sponsors. Then it tried Tiger Woods. Not. The next logical step is to target sponsors of the PGA. That will hurt. PGA sponsors like Buick and Nike need good PR. If they start to pressure the PGA on this issue, that just might turn out to be the strongest leverage point in this game.

Long Time: There has been a lot of back and forth talk about creating 90-second and longer TV commercials. Despite the non-committal stance, I believe this will be a commonly used tactic by June of next year. You can’t tell me that if I’m using a celebrity or music, that I won’t create a 90- second execution of a 30-second spot. And if I’m a cable channel looking to make some noise, I’ll push them aggressively.

Parting Shot: I think retail holiday shopping ads have been well placed so far, but flat on the creative side. Maybe the coming holiday weekend will change my mind.