to explode in the 90's with eight figured deals popping up all over the place. Phil Knight, the founder and chairman of Nike, played an instrumental role in making the basketball legend Michael Jordan, "a brand name in the international consumer marketplace," (Putnam, 1997 p.255). Jordan's assignment was pretty simple, "to be himself" in order to establish a foothold in the athletic footwear market. So far it has been a major success story, and the only other athlete capable of overtaking Jordan's commercial clout is Tiger Woods. This is where the term cultural construction comes in to play. Is it Tiger Woods himself, his family or the media and marketing firms that have made him such a sporting superstar? No one can deny his overwhelming natural talent for the game. He has broken records that most golfers thought impossible, so not all of his success can be a result of marketing exploitation. However, a lot of people argue that he is being paid too much money to represent Nike at $1
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