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Gillette to phase Tiger Woods out of ads New York — Associated Press Published on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 11:57AM EST Last updated on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 4:05PM EST New York — Associated Press Published on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 11:57AM EST Last updated on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 4:05PM EST One of Tiger Woods’ major sponsors will phase the world’s most valuable athlete out of its advertisements while he takes time off to repair his personal life. Gillette’s announcement Saturday marks the first major sponsor of the superstar athlete and corporate pitchman to distance itself from Woods. “As Tiger takes a break from the public eye, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs,” said Gillette, a division of Procter & Gamble. Other sponsors are mulling their options and trying to gauge the fallout from the man who has become the face of golf, as he drops off the circuit for an unspecified period. AT&T said it is evaluating its relationship with the golfer. Representatives from Accenture won’t say what its plans are regarding Woods, whom the consulting firm has used to personify its claimed attributes of integrity and high performance. “I think you will see the handful or so of companies that he has relationships with doing some real soul searching and making some probably, for them, difficult decisions in the next few days,” said Larry L. Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, in Louisville, Ky. Late Friday, Woods announced an indefinite leave from golf and public life to try to rescue his marriage after a two weeks of intense coverage of his infidelity sullied his carefully cultivated good guy image. The decision and contrite tone of his statement was seen by marketing experts as a smart step to repairing his public image. His previous brief and vague statements on the matter were criticized as insufficient to quell the intense scrutiny and to lessen the damage from more than a handful of women who claim to have had affairs with him. “It’s just like your most beautiful fashion brand is being trashed,” said John Sweeney, director of sports communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “I don’t expect Tiger to be the gold standard anymore, but he’s not going out of business ... He’s too big and too talented to be fired, but he will have significant declines from what he was.” Woods, 33, spent 13 years burnishing a pristine personal brand. His good looks and multiracial heritage gave him broad appeal. His domination of the game and fist-pumping flair for the dramatic established his tournament appearances as must-see TV. His work ethic is admirable. Marketers were drawn to his image as a clean-cut family man who mourned the death of the father who taught him the game, doted on his mother and married a former Swedish model with whom he has two young children. Woods is the pitchman for brands ranging from AT&T to Accenture to Nike. His array of endorsements helped him become the first sports star to earn $1 billion. Michael Jordan, Woods’ closest contemporary, is a distant second. Jordan has accumulated about $800 million during an NBA career that spanned nearly 20 years, according to Forbes. Nike, which built its $650-million golf business around Woods, said late Friday it supports his decision. Gatorade, a unit of PepsiCo Inc., said previously it supports Woods and said Saturday it has no updated comment. Gillette’s decision includes phasing out Woods from its television and print advertising, and from public appearances and other efforts linking the two entities together, Gillette spokesman Damon Jones said. “This is supporting his desire to step out of the public eye and we’re going to support him by helping him to take a lower profile,” he said. Gillette, which operates from Boston while parent P&G is based in Cincinnati, has had a contract with Woods since 2007. Jones declined to provide further details, including length and value, of the contract. Woods hasn’t been seen in a prime-time television commercial since a Gillette spot on Nov. 29, according to research firm Nielsen Co. Jones said that was because golf is currently off-season, so the company is promoting new products like Gillette Fusion MVP with football and baseball stars instead, because those seasons are more current. As any ads featuring Woods expire, they will not be renewed. Jones said that did not mean the company was severing its ties with Woods. There had been no upcoming scheduled public appearances for Woods, he said. He declined to comment on when the company would resume including Woods in its marketing, and would not say whether that would be linked with the timing of Woods comeback, when and if he decides to resume playing golf.

West Island green space sale raises concern The wooded area extends from Cap-Saint-Jacques nature park in Pierrefonds alongside the l'Anse-a-l'Orme Park to Angell Woods in Beaconsfield. (CBC)A call for tenders for green space on Montreal's West Island has caught both environmental activists and government officials by surprise. Quebec's industrial development corporation, the Société générale de financement, which owns the land, has published ads in local papers seeking bids for the 98 hectares of land. The ads announce opportunities for residential and industrial construction. The wooded area extends from Cap-Saint-Jacques nature park in Pierrefonds alongside the l'Anse-a-l'Orme Park to Angell Woods in Beaconsfield. David Fletcher of the Green Coalition said he's worried the land - home to beavers, a herd of deer and rare species of plants and trees - will be spoiled. "We already have enough development," said Fletcher. "We already have enough strip malls. We don't have enough areas conserved." Local environmental groups and officials at the city of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue said they had been told at one time the land would be turned into a conservation area. "When we saw the ad in the paper, we thought, obviously we've been lied to perhaps," said Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Coun. Ryan Young.David Fletcher of the Green Coalition says the land should be preserved.David Fletcher of the Green Coalition says the land should be preserved. (CBC) The city had been planning to change zoning bylaws on its portion of the land this fall, said Young. But some worry it could be too late. A spokesperson for Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp confirmed the ministry had hoped to turn the land into a conservation area. He said she is not happy about the decision to sell it. "I think that speaks volumes," said Young. "I've been speaking to activists inside Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and there's a move afoot to demonstrate … public support [to save the land]. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/06/16/mtl-west-island-woods.html#ixzz0r77Ccrlu

Voici un cas typique du débat entre développement et préservation... ou vous situez-vous dans ce spectrum? Not out of the woods yet Montreal wants to preserve a mature forest, but Ste. Anne de Bellevue argues tax revenue doesn't grow on trees MICHELLE LALONDEThe Gazette Sunday, May 25, 2008 CREDIT: ALLEN MCINNIS THE GAZETTE Participants in a nature walk point at flying birds during their travels through Woods No. 3, part of the Rivière à l'Orme Ecoforest Corridor. Environmental advocates fear the old-growth trees will soon be cut down, as developers plan to build houses on the site. CREDIT: ALLEN MCINNIS THE GAZETTE Hikers examine a tiny red salamander in the Rivière à l'Orme ecoterritory, which is home to rare animals and plants.If the city of Montreal wants to preserve an ecologically valuable forest in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, it will have to pay off not only the real estate developer that owns the forest but also the town that stands to lose tax revenue if it is not developed. At least, that's the view of Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Bill Tierney. Developers plan to build about 60 homes on 13 hectares of mature forest in what is known as Woods No. 3, tucked between the Rivière à l'Orme and the town of Kirkland's western border. The site is within the borders of the Rivière à l'Orme Ecoforest Corridor, one of 10 ecoterritories the city of Montreal identified in 2004 as being ecologically significant. The Rivière à l'Orme ecoterritory is home to an unspoiled mature forest, rare and endangered flora and fauna, and cedar groves that provide habitat for a population of white-tailed deer. Montreal set aside $36 million to acquire private lands within the most sensitive parts of these 10 eco-territories in March 2004. The island council later expressed its support for Montreal's efforts by identifying these same ecoterritories as "heritage areas of collective interest." Ste. Anne de Bellevue is one of three municipalities through which the Rivière à l'Orme, the island's only inland river, flows. The Rivière à l'Orme Ecoforest Corridor includes land in Pierrefonds, Beaconsfield and Ste. Anne de Bellevue. While some island municipalities, like Beaconsfield, have welcomed Montreal's efforts to preserve ecologically valuable forests and wetlands in their communities, Tierney says Ste. Anne de Bellevue needs to grow and requires the tax dollars the new development would bring. Besides, Tierney says, Ste. Anne is already plenty green, thank you, what with McGill University's Macdonald Campus Farm, the Morgan Arboretum and the Ecomuseum. "This is not the middle of Montreal. This is not Verdun. It's already very, very green," Tierney said in an interview. The land in question has been zoned residential for at least 25 years, Tierney notes, and last year the town council adopted a development plan for the area confirming that zoning. In March, the developer was granted the right to subdivide the land and West Island conservation groups fear the felling of trees is imminent. "When Montreal decided to protect these green spaces, they did not have the force of law," Tierney said. "The only sure way Montreal can protect this land is to acquire it." The city of Montreal is trying to do just that. Helen Fotopulos, the city of Montreal executive committee member responsible for parks and green spaces, said negotiations are under way with the landowners, Groupe Immobilier Grilli Inc. and Jean Houde Construction. "I'm optimistic" Woods No. 3 can be saved, Fotopulos said. "For us this is a priority and always has been. ... The discussions are going on and we hope to be able to have our great-grandchildren enjoy the fruits of this forest." But Tierney said Ste. Anne de Bellevue should not be expected to stand by while Montreal butts in, buys the land and deprives his municipality of future tax revenues. He argues the cost of ecoterritories, including lost tax revenues, should be shared by taxpayers across the island. "Ste. Anne is not a rich city," Tierney said. "Maybe losing that money means not being able to meet our collective agreements or not bringing in programs like improved recycling and bicycle paths." The new housing development would be very eco-friendly, and include such features as geothermal heating and preservation of much of the tree canopy, he said. But a canopy does not a forest make, and conservation groups like the Green Coalition say Ste. Anne de Bellevue needs to get its eco-priorities straight. "This land is of the highest value in terms of ecology and how intact and undisturbed the forest is," said Daniel Oyama, of the Green Coalition, a non-profit advocacy group. He wants to see cities like Ste. Anne change their development plans to reflect the need to preserve what little is left of unspoiled green spaces on the island of Montreal. "They should get out of the woods and build in higher density on what's already been spoiled and leave the mature 100-year-old trees alone," Oyama said. Meanwhile, Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti said he, too, is confident Woods No. 3 will be preserved. Benedetti joined Fotopulos last year in Montreal's efforts to preserve part of Angell Woods, which also fall within the Rivière à l'Orme Ecoforest Corridor. But instead of demanding compensation money, Beaconsfield contributed $600,000 toward buying the land from the developer who owned it. "We were in a different situation," Benedetti said. "Our citizens had made a clear decision they wanted to preserve that forest." Benedetti sits on a committee set up by the island council to deal with issues related to the Rivière à l'Orme Ecoforest Corridor. He said it's significant Tierney has agreed to meet with the committee next month. Since Woods No. 3 is just across Highway 40 from Angell Woods, Benedetti is keenly interested in seeing it preserved, too. "I subscribe to the dream of a huge West Island regional park that would go from Cap St. Jacques down to Angell Woods on both sides of the Rivière à l'Orme, with a green corridor over or under Highway 40," he said. But realizing that dream may require significant financial help from the provincial government, Benedetti acknowledged. mlalonde@ thegazette.canwest.com © The Gazette (Montreal) 2008 http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=e9128069-0cb5-4af8-a982-f1768c6d9d56&sponsor=