NBA athletes experimenting with their looks is a common thing nowadays. However, it wasn’t the norm back in the 90s, except for notable exceptions like Dennis Rodman. But even in that era, Michael Jordan once pulled off something so audacious that his good friend at the time, Charles Barkley publicly roasted him.
Advertisement
In 2010, Jordan shot a commercial for Hanes Underwear. The advertisement had nothing wrong with it per se despite its slapstick humor. However, Jordan sporting a Hitler-like toothbrush mustache was a little too much to endure for many.
In the ad, MJ was seen flying commercial when a man comes up to him to flex the benefits of the Hanes Underwear. The otherwise funny commercial turned the NBA legend into the butt of jokes because of his toothbrush mustache. Barkley was among those having fun at the Bulls legend’s expense.
During a short conversation with Sports Grid in 2010, Barkley had said, “When I saw that commercial, I had to do a double take…I don’t know what the hell he was thinking.”
The Chuckster was amazed that no one saw what was obviously wrong in the campaign during the taping of the commercial. To be fair to the people working with Jordan, not a lot of people can say no to him. Barkley would later find out why after MJ would stop talking to him over the former’s criticism of him as an NBA executive.
Remember that time Michael Jordan grew a Hitler mustache like he thought it was totally fucking normal or something? pic.twitter.com/K6oFVw8G5Y
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) December 3, 2017
Barkley compared the major blunder in the Hanes ad to his own commercial shooting experiences. He added, “That is one of the stupidest things that I have seen in a long time. I mean…when I am shooting the Taco Bell commercial, they have got this little woman making sure that every cinnamon twist and every piece of cheese is in order and now they let my man get on TV with that terrible mustache.”
The longstanding partnership between MJ and Hanes came to an end three years ago.
Michael Jordan and Hanes were longtime partners
Throughout an illustrious NBA career, MJ partnered with several big corporations who benefitted from his stardom. The most commonly known brand affiliation of the Bulls legend is Nike, who helped him become the first NBA billionaire.
But Hanes-Jordan is an underrated success story that ran for over three decades. The company signed him in 1989 and they worked together till 2021.
In 2019, they celebrated 30 years of association and Hanes’ chief branding officer, Sidney Falken said in a news release, “Through the years, we’ve certainly benefitted from Michael’s enduring popularity with such a wide audience. MJ continues to be one of the most recognizable people in the world, and we’re thrilled he’s working with us to make the world a more comfortable place.”
Only two years later, the partnership came to an end with little to no fanfare and media coverage.
