EA Sports Team Golf with Tiger Woods and Curling Meets Golf

Tiger Woods teams up with three other PGA players in new advertising campaign for the June 8 launch of team golf game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. The game, for Xbox, PlayStation and Wii, is by EA SPORTS, label of Electronic Arts, Inc., Redwood City, Calif. The campaign, breaking today, was created by advertising agency Heat, San Francisco.

The commercial has football-style pre-game hoopla that leads to a Team America (Tiger plus Rickie Fowler) v. Team Europe (Ian Poulter and Edoardo Molinari) golf match. The U.S. team huddles and takes advice from coach Mike Ditka. Tiger putts for the win. Red fans, on cue, “Go Crazy.”

Also breaking online this week is the first of five hybrid team sport/golf videos. Curling sweepers guide Tiger’s putt. Team Europe shoots basketball 3-pointers, with a pitching wedge. A hockey goalie stops three Ian Poulter drives-on-goal; a fourth scores. A soccer goalie leaps to block Tiger’s putt. And an omnibus combines all those sports, plus football.

The campaign concept is “All the excitement of team sports meets golf... now with team play.” Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 introduces team golf and Ryder Cup play. The campaign is tagged “Welcome to team golf.”

Media includes the NBA finals on ABC and such online sports sites as ESPN.com, SI.com, FoxSports.com, SportingNews.com, and Sports.Yahoo.com. Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, is the media agency.

Creative credits go to Heat executive creative director Steve Stone, associate creative director/copywriter Warren Cockrel and art director Anna Rowland. The director is Justin Reardon of production company Anonymous Content, Culver City, Calif.