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Tiger Woods isn't the only celebrity losing ads for bad behavior. Add Charlie Sheen -- and by association, Michael Jordan - to the list.Hanesbrands Inc., the maker of Hanes brand underwear and casual clothing, announced that it is ending its relationship with Sheen in response to the domestic violence charges related to his Christmas Day altercation with his wife Brooke in Aspen, Colorado. Since 2008, Sheen, the star of CBS' "Two and Half Men" and films such as "Wall Street" and "Platoon," had been featured in a series of Hanes ads alongside Jordan, who has been a spokesman for Hanes since 1989.
Hanes' decision to discontinue running the spots marks the first time a Jordan-related advertisement has ever been taken off the air prematurely -- or besmirched by the whiff of controversy. The most recent Sheen-Jordan TV spots continued to run for a few days after the actor's latest saga first made news, but were pulled off the air on Dec. 28, the first business day after Christmas, according to Hanes spokesman Matt Hall.
A few print Hanes ads featuring Sheen are still scheduled to run in selected magazines this year because they could not be pulled in time for those publications' production schedules, according to an email Hall sent to FanHouse. Sheen's contract with Hanes ends in the middle of 2010, but it's not clear whether Hanes had plans to shoot new ads with Sheen and Jordan before the actor's marital problems became tabloid fodder.
"It's a pretty standard, straightforward call when somebody who's in your commercials is arrested on suspicion of something of this magnitude," Hall told the Associated Press. "We would suspend the ads, both for the company and, really, for Mr Sheen and his family as well."
Hanes says it has "nothing to report yet" on when new ads featuring Jordan will appear. David Falk, Michael Jordan's agent, wrote in an email that he was "not in position to comment" and Jordan, now a part-owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, could not be reached for a statement.
In recent years, Hanes has paired Jordan with a series of Hollywood stars -- including Cuba Gooding, Jr., Matthew Perry and Jackie Chan -- in ads for the company's various lines of men's underwear. (Jordan has sung the praises of just about every possible Hanes product, including "Fruit of the Loom" briefs "No Ride Up" boxer briefs, as well as "Tagless" undershirts.)
Sheen's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, says the actor has no comment on Hanes' decision.
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