In the photo above we see Tiger Woods in happier times as he’s helping to pitch Gillette products. Since then times have changed and Tiger’s personal brand has been tarnished by scandal, and Gillette is the latest premium brand to end its relationship with Tiger Woods.

Procter & Gamble Co. will not renew its endorsement deal with Tiger Woods at the end of the year, adding another name to the list of companies that cut ties with the golfer after last year’s revelations of marital infidelities.

The company used Woods, Roger Federer, Lionel Messi and dozens of other athletes as part of its three-year “Gillette Champions” marketing campaign. Gillette said Thursday it was phasing out that program and not renewing the contract with Woods and several other athletes. It stopped using Woods himself in the campaign months ago.

This episode of course highlights the risks of celebrity endorsements though the Gillette campaign seemed like a pretty good one.

Lance Armstrong is one of the most beloved athletes in the United States, and his status as a champion as a cancer survivor has made him the ultimate corporate pitchman. Now, amid a growing story around doping allegations, can Armstrong stay on top? We’ve seen other athletes like LeBron James destroy their brands overnight with their own stupidity, but here events are out of Armstrong’s control.

I can’t find the link, but the magazine version of BusinessWeek recently ran a short story on how Lance Armstrong’s reputation has been taking a hit recently. Google searches using his name in combination with terms like steroids, drugs, liar, scandal, probe, etc. are growing.

The media is also starting to turn on him. In a recent blog post, Rich Karlgaard discusses the tragedy of Lance Armstrong and gives a powerful argument on why he know believes that Armstrong cheated.

Meanwhile, Armstrong has hired a criminal defense lawyer. That can’t be a good sign.

UPDATE: The New York Times just published a long piece on this subject. One thing I learned there involved the amount of money our U.S. Postal Service paid Armstrong to sponsor his team. Do we really need this government agency sponsoring cycling teams?