Kelowna.com - Kelowna. Right Now!

By Kathy Michaels

While I’m still working in pixels, I’ll refrain from writing the delightfully distasteful double entendres that have passing by my lips all day thanks to a local man’s business venture.

Instead, I’ll offer a rundown of  the best good-news story to come out of the Okanagan in years and ask that you let your minds do the word play.

As most know by now, a West Kelowna man by the name of Mike Caldwell was recently struck by inspiration that allowed him to capitalize on Tiger Woods’ epic fall from grace.

By simply pasting the cartooned mugs of Woods’ bevy of babes and gronks onto a set of golf balls, and coming up with a catchy name he created the most compelling product since the Snuggie.

The lechery themed 12-ball set titled “The Mistress Collection,  Tail of the Tiger” has not only managed to make Caldwell a dump truck full of dollars in a matter of weeks, but it’s also gained the attention of the international media—say thank you Tourism Kelowna—and even turned a former porn star into a litigious feminist. Say thank-you, Naomi Wolfe? Erm, not sure if that one works.

Anyway, according to various American publications, former adult film actress Veronica Siwik-Daniels—aka Joslyn James—is pouncing on the Tiger-themed balls and claiming that this is misogyny in action.

Well, that’s more or less her tack. She’s actually saying that she wants her face off the balls and has her lawyer working all the angles to get it done.

On Wednesday, her attorney Gloria Allred appeared in Los Angeles arguing that putting the face of a woman on a ball which golfers hit with full force could result in marks on the image that might resemble bruises and may lead to inappropriate jokes about hitting women.

No judgments,  but of all the people to take a swing at the feminist angle, should it really be the former porn star? I mean, there’s an issue of credibility at play, isn’t there?

More importantly, her legal argument threatens a tradition of beloved celebrity endorsements, of which the mugshot applique is a staple and that just won’t do. I mean, can you imagine a world where the images of Celine Dion or Britney Spears  aren’t used to shill goods? I’m horrified by the concept and it’s just daft anyway.

Hannah Montana has her face plastered on everything Made in China and as we speak legions of five-year-olds are smacking their Montana-mugged  lunch boxes, balls and toys into all sorts of things with as much force as they can muster because that’s what kids do.

Is anyone going to try and take down Disney  for raising a new generation of violent offenders. No, of course not.  Though, now that I think of it….

Back to Caldwell though, he says he’s got his legal bases covered because the images are cartoonish and the mistress tag is alleged. Woods’ name isn’t even technically on the box, adding an extra layer of safety.

I hope he’s right and he moves through this unscathed, not only because dollars in his pocket amount to some local spending, but because he’s lightened up what was beginning to look like a particularly gruesome work week with some of the best jokes I’ve heard in months.

kathy@kelowna.com

Tags: Joslyn James, Mike Caldwell, Mistress Collection, Naomi Wolfe, Tail of the Tiger, Tiger Woods, Tourism Kelowna

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 4:41 pm and is filed under Kathy Michaels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.