Golf, Sex, the LPGA Tour, and the Sporting Economy

I think any organization/brand knows that “sex sells” – but there’s a difference btw being tasteless and classy and most of that lies in how it’s presented. The LPGA ladies DO in fact bring sex appeal and that’s not a bad thing – most won’t deny that either.

Indeed they pose in bikinis for golf magazine. I think many of them find it rather funny and crack jokes about it. Most of those who agree to it dress conservatively on the golf course. (not that it matters so much but they’re not prancing around in anything inappropriate while playing – just saying.)

I’ve mentioned this in previous posts – they’re attractive, charming and fun, and of course, awesome golfers. That’s also why the LGPA is such a strong product and why I see them surviving and thriving after they get through some economic challenges (ones that ALL sports are enduring).

As for Camilo’s white pants ripping while he was playing (reference to post on monday), he didn’t do it on purpose. It wasn’t a choice. (I’m not saying women can’t wear ‘tighter’ fitting clothing on tour, like i implied above, it’s HOW you wear it, not WHAT you wear.) It’s not like he took them off a la Henrik Stenson – which I found inappropriate. Had a woman done that (not that one would) on Tour, it, uhhh, would not be taken lightly. But again, I don’t foresee that happening.

Sex appeal on Men’s tour and sports is prevalent – my roommate was quoted in Newsday during the US open at shinnecock – "I don’t know that much about golf, so I was looking for the cute guys, She admired [Adam Scott]‘s deep tan and the way his dirty-blond locks curled around his cap. "He looks like he’s a surfer." HA :)

proud I did not write what I REALLY wanted to say about this topic…

I love moralizing and double standards :-)

Taken almost word for word from my comments at Steph’s site…yes, I’m a lazy a$$ blogger.

The best thing about blogging (as opposed to writing for a traditional publication) is that it allows one to more freely express an opinion – however controversial it may be – without concern for sponsors, advertisers and/or public opinion.

PGD is primarily a Las Vegas Golf Travel and Event Planning Company, and as such I find their marketing strategy spot-on, and completely appropriate. I see nothing demeaning in their approach at all, in fact I find it strong and empowering.

PGD is about “entertainment”. Vegas-style entertainment. The golf part of their business is “entertainment golf” – albiet on an exceptionally high level.

They make no claims to offer a competitive golf experience nor do they make any effort to align their marketing campaign with that of the LPGA, or associate the PGD brand with the LPGA brand. Some of the PGD players have played on the LPGA tour, others aspire to get there some day, and all respect the LPGA and its players as representing the highest level of women’s professional golf.

As far as the TIME piece is concerned, I was surprised that this magazine – which once prided itself on hard news, well researched and reported – had so changed (with the trying times, one would suppose) that they were now doing stories that in the past, were once the fodder of People Magazine …or even the tabloids. Ribald references to “escort services, girls for rent and spring break bar maid outfits”, in a supposedly serious story, used to be strictly tabloid territory.

One of the golf blogging gentlemen commented somewhere that Nisha should have been more cautious and shouldn’t have been surprised to be taken “out of context” because that’s what reporters/journalists/copywriters do. And yes, it IS what they do, these days more than ever, even if they’re with TIME magazine and even if they appear to admire and respect you and your organization. I’m pretty sure Nisha learned a valuable lesson with this experience.

Just one final observation regarding the LPGA and it’s players. A couple of weeks ago at Sybase I saw some players wearing skirts that were shorter, and shirts that were more revealing, then the ones worn by Play Golf Designs… while others wore much more traditional clothing. As far as dress code is concerned it seems to be up to the individual players with little in the way of restrictions. Which makes total sense in that they are a competitive golf organization whose players are there based purely on their golf skills and talent. As such they don’t all look good or feel comfortable in “minimal” outfits The fact that a number of the most popular players chose the more revealing outfits is telling though, and… as Court pointed out… the fact that these amazingly talented golfers now feel free to show off cleavage and chat about tits… and all those good things, shows that they see the value of “showing their light side”.

I LOVE the videos Stephanie Wei does with the LPGA girs as I think just about everyone does.

In conclusion, I’ll throw this out there. Though it’s a bit off topic. Many men resent the fact that an attractive women can be admired simply for her looks. And resent the fact that an attractive women wields so much power over men. And resent the fact that a woman’s sexuality is so much more highly valued than a man’s is. I think it’s often those resentful men who complain that “the poor women are being objectified”. I think those same men would to be happy to have the option of being “objectified” But they would call it “making the most of a valued asset” or something like that. The sad thing is that these men do a really good job at pitting women against each other, and making them feel like they’re being exploited for their good looks …instead of being empowered by them.

OK, I’m done. ;o)

I’m paraphrasing some of my collaborators comments as he and I exchanged thoughts on this topic last night…but @GolferWriterGuy said that in some ways this whole debate highlighted a bigger question of – why are we even that riled up about this?

Yes the headline was sensationalistic…and probably out of line. No they’re not prostitutes…YES they do use sexuality to sell (not sex, big diff). Yes it is another example of traditional media evolving from their own ‘traditional’ roles in an effort to expand and capture more eyeballs – and it worked big time in this case.

Is the problem that some guys feel that inner macho thing that they need to rush to defend these women?

Maybe in some cases…I don’t think that was it w/you Ryan as your point was more around it being a lazy ass effort. But I’ve seen it in some comments on other blogs where the ‘angry boyfriend’ vibe is put out.

And I think in some ways it relates a bit to GG’s point in her last paragraph. Or maybe not L.

Anyway, the women withe PGD are adults…they know what they’re doing…they have the ability to exercise good (or bad) judgment. Could they have been more savvy in anticipating some backlash, sooner or later, to their means of selling? Sure probably…but now they’ve learned and will account for it moving forward presumably.

Contrary to what one earlier commenter said…I find these types of discussions far more interesting than the latest club review L though we do those too of course :).

Part of me was pretty surprised that it was Time who would write something like this. I mean, if it was the NY Post, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Time just strikes me as a magazine of high repute. When I did speech and debate in high school, I cited it a lot of basic facts and deep analysis of tough issues. Not articles on sexy female golfers.

I know that a lot of media is struggling for attention and relevancy. Hell, as I said to Nisha, I hadn’t read a Time piece in years because I think there’s better stuff out there (Economist, etc.). Maybe that was their small mission – to get people to take notice. In that regard, they won.

In some regard, Nisha and PGD kind of won. Sure, one guy wrote a piece quoting three people that weren’t too supportive, but PGD also got way more exposure than they may have ever gotten on their own. As was always told to me by my marketing professor in college, “There is no such thing as bad publicity anymore.” For every member of the vocal minority that is outraged by PGD, there are probably a ton of potential clients who just put Nisha on their speed dial.

They must be the explanation for John Daly’s popularity, too.

Haha, perhaps the ladies love Daly’s tight pants.

Ok, here’s a question for you LPGA fans: when Lorena starting sporting a skirt, what was your first thought?

Tina Miller, one of the PDG girls, dropped me a line on Twitter to share her GolfWRX thread on this subject that has some good responses and chatter as well.