Are we tired of the headlines yet?  Details unveiled about the steamy private life of one of the world’s greatest golfers.  Tiger Woods has strayed.  The puns abound.  His wife (we gather from press accounts) is angry.  His mother-in-law fainted.
 
Tiger hasn’t built his career just swinging a club. He has been the darling of corporate America.  He was the face of Buick, when Buicks were becoming dinosaurs.  He was connected to every big company that wanted to look suave, cool and hip, not to mention sports drinks, equipment and clothing, and is a walking billboard for Nike. It's been said, he's the first billion-dollar athlete.
 
Who will fill that bill when companies no longer want to tie their image to a man who has been outed by the world’s tabloids?   Is there another athlete with a multicultural heritage in America at the very top of the heap who has
not been tinged by errors in judgment, philandering, or something that damages their squeaky clean image who is a household name?  None spring to mind.
 
Will corporations step back and reconsider their positions once again? They’ve had to do it before with the likes of Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Britney Spears, and the list go on.  Do they need the face of a personality to make us believe in their product or service?  Because this is the way it’s done, should it be?  We have often seen the mighty fall but should they knock over all the dominoes when they go down, taking the integrity of business with them?
 
But once again, America is trying someone in the court of public opinion. The greater public did not seem so outraged when TV’s David Letterman admitted affairs with co-workers, even though women’s groups have assailed it as clear abuse of power in the workplace.  But CBS did not shutter his program, a tacit endorsement of his rights above others.  But at least with Letterman we heard it straight from his mouth.  He is a public figure and acknowledged at least that. Then there are the scandalous politicians but there’s not enough room here for that discussion.
 
At this point, folks are waiting to hear from Woods himself but as the media continues to exploit the stories of women alleging association with the high flyer, there seems to be no end to “new” revelations. He too is a public figure and earned his living by being a public figure, not just a great golfer. The onus is on him to set the record straight.  He hasn't even given the spin doctors a chance to help him or the businesses he represents.
 
And the onus is on businesses to decide how they will rely on celebrity in the future. Maybe the audience should help to shape the decision in a very proactive way. Businesses should ask their employees, or their women's ERGs or affinity groups about who should be the face of their company to save potential embarrassment down the road.

Helen Jonsen is a business journalist and editor of workingmother.com.