Gatorade Loses Its Taste for Tiger Woods

It looks like Gatorade wasn't too impressed by the abject apology Tiger Woods offered the world last week.

The sports drink brand has ended its sponsorship of the world's top golfer, according to the Associated Press. "We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts," a spokesman was quoted as saying.

It was largely thanks to endorsements that Woods became, in the reckoning of Forbes, the first athlete to earn $1 billion. But those endorsement deals began to unravel immediately after Woods confirmed widespread media reports of serial marital infidelities shortly after Thanksgiving. Accenture, Gillette and AT&T were among the marketers who decided that Woods' image, once pristine to the point of deeply boring, had acquired too much baggage to be of value to their brands.

Gatorade initially reserved judgment, although it did quickly cancel a special line of beverages named after Woods. Pepsico, which owns Gatorade, did say it would continue to sponsor Woods's charitable foundation.