Gatorade Has NOT Dropped Tiger Woods

Well, Gatorade certainly wants to get the word out on its Tiger Woods' position. They sent me an email on it. For those of you keeping up on the Woods saga,according to Gatorade, and despite reports to the contrary, Gatorade hasn't dropped Woods.

In their email they write to me:

We have discontinued the product, Gatorade Tiger Focus. We decided several months ago to discontinue Gatorade Tiger Focus along with some other products to make room for our planned series of innovative products in 2010. We hope to share more about our 2010 plans soon.

Thus, Tiger Woods is simply a man without a drink. You might say Gatorade is taking a Greg Mankiw type position on this, not wanting to offend anyone.(It is not known if Gatorade has a position on Paul Krugman)

For the record, this is what they said (pdf) about Tiger Focus in March:

One small step for Tiger Woods’ golf game has proven time and again to be
a giant leap for the world of sports. To celebrate Woods‘ latest leap - the launch of Gatorade Tiger® -PepsiCo’s (PEP) Gatorade brand will take his out of this world golf game to the moon with a comprehensive integrated marketing campaign that includes television and print advertising, digital communications, retail
displays, promotions, sampling and cause-related marketing initiatives. The campaign kicks off with a TV spot featuring Woods clad in an astronaut suit and also includes a promotion featuring an “out of this world”prize package to be revealed online in late April. Gatorade Tiger provides advanced hydration to fuel athletic performance and captures the unique qualities of Woods, who currently holds 64 wins on the PGA
tour and is arguably the best golfer on the planet.

"I've experienced a lot of amazing moments in my golf career, but Gatorade Tiger is taking me someplace I never imagined with this campaign," said Tiger Woods. "I’m really excited about how this launch has come together because it brings to life that I’m always thinking about taking my game to the next level.”