March 6th, 2010 by Phil Reich PGA Golf Art

Last December, about two weeks after Tiger Woods‘ post-Thanksgiving auto accident, Gatorade confirmed it was discontinuing its “Tiger Focus” line of sports drinks. The timing was coincidental. The discontinuation was actually first reported in a trade publication a couple days before Woods’ wreck.

But there’s nothing coincidental about today’s announcement: Gatorade confirmed that it will no longer be associated with Tiger. While the company said it remains committed to the Tiger Woods Foundation, Tiger himself won’t be back as an endorser.

“I can confirm that we no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship,” Gatorade spokesperson Jennifer Schmit told CNBC. “… We wish Tiger all the best.”

Gatorade joins Accenture and AT&T as companies that have discontinued their endorsement deals with Woods since the scandals erupted. Nike and EA are among the companies publicly sticking by Woods, while Tag Heuer and Gillette still have deals with Woods but diminished or (perhaps temporarily) halted Woods’ advertising appearances.

Gatorade Cuts Ties with Tiger Woods originally appeared on About.com Golf on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 18:24:09.

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