CBS rejects ad featuring golfer Daly and beer
A television commercial featuring golfer John Daly singing in a honky-tonk bar amid reveling beer drinkers and later shown grabbing a beer from a friend while driving a golf cart has been rejected by CBS.
“It did not meet the standards of the CBS network,” spokeswoman LeslieAnn Wade said Tuesday. “Any implied or direct reference to excessive consumption of alcohol would not meet network guidelines.”
Wade said those guidelines do not permit any alcoholic beverages to be present when an activity involves a level of alertness, which in this case is the operation of a golf cart.
The choice of Daly for such a spot is especially curious because his battles with alcoholism have been well-chronicled. He has undergone alcohol rehabilitation treatment several times in his career.
The commercial for Maxfli golf balls, which are manufactured by TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, has run on the Golf Channel and is part of an advertising campaign that includes print and online.
However, Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said his network was exploring possible options, such as an adjusted schedule or an alternate version of the spot.
“Although the spot passed our criteria,” he said, “and our mature audience is more familiar with John Daly as one of golf’s larger-than-life characters, we’re sensitive to the issues at hand.”
The 30-second spot also shows Daly, best known for his 300-yard-plus drives, hitting off a tee. The 90-second spot also shows him teeing off from what looks to be a beer can and driving a golf cart in a reckless manner.
“We went into this with the idea that John Daly is fun, exciting and approachable,” said Bob Maggiore, senior director of marketing for TaylorMade-Adidas of Carlsbad, Calif. “In hindsight, maybe we should have seen the risk. But we looked at John Daly as someone who lights up a room, not someone with a troubled past.”
The title of the commercial is “Go Long or Go Home,” which is also the title of the song that Daly sings. Included in the lyrics: “When I step up and hit it, don’t you blink or you’ll miss it, ‘cause the long ball is all I know.”
Daly could not immediately be reached for comment.
