Why You Don't See Michael Jordan On Hanes Commercials Anymore
One of Michael Jordan's most successful endorsement deals came after he signed with Nike, and before he inked a deal with Gatorade. The former Chicago Bulls star signed a deal with Hanes in 1989 and had several commercial spots with the brand over the years that became crowd favorites. Perhaps the most memorable commercial came in 1992 and co-starred his real-life dad and wife. In the spot, his father asks, "Michael are these your Hanes?" while holding up a pair of bright red underwear from a laundry basket.
Capturing the humanity of the NBA superstar was always the goal of the undergarment brand. "We use Michael in a different way than Nike or Gatorade does," David Robertson, Hanes's director of marketing, told CNBC in 2009. "They use him as the basketball player; we've always used him as the person and we've found that his stardom transcends the game." Even after he retired from the NBA, Jordan kept increasing his net worth and still netted $14 million from endorsing Hanes by 2015, according to the Chicago Tribune. "He has always had a special bond with the people in the company," Estee Portnoy, Jordan's business manager, told CNBC. That relationship led Hanes to keep Jordan with the brand for three decades.
Despite their good rapport, Jordan and Hanes ended their partnership in 2021, after over 30 years together, per Sportico. Somewhat surprisingly, there was no major announcement when they parted ways. However, years before Jordan left Hanes, he had starred in a controversial ad for the company that had people buzzing.
Michael Jordan's curious mustache
Michael Jordan caused a stir in 2010 for his choice of facial hair in a Hanes commercial. In the ad, the six-time NBA champion is pestered by a fellow passenger on a flight, but viewers were distracted by Jordan's soul patch and tiny mustache which many mistook for a "Hitler 'stache." Even Charles Barkley, Jordan's friend and former Dream Team teammate, weighed in on the facial hair. "That is one of the stupidest things that I have seen in a long time," Barkley said about the TV spot while appearing on "The Dan LeBatard Show" in 2010 (via Yahoo! Sports). "I mean I have got to admit that I don't know what the hell he was thinking and I don't know what Hanes was thinking," he added.
Jordan's (accidentally controversial) facial hair in the commercial led to a lot of online discourse about the ad. Perhaps coincidentally, the discussion surrounding Jordan's mustache in the ad coincided with Hanes seeing an uptick in sales the following quarter, per CBS Sports.
It was not until 2014 that Jordan appeared in another Hanes ad. That was the 25th anniversary of Jordan working with the brand, as he starred in a TV spot to promote their X-Temp line. In the commercial, a flummoxed Hanes employee tests out the X-Temp underwear while playing a round of golf with Jordan. Five years later, Hanes launched a special Jordan promotion.
Why Michael Jordan stayed with Hanes so long
Five years after the 2014 commercial aired, Hanes went all-out to promote 30 years of working with Jordan. The company created 800,000 packs of Jordan trading cards that featured photos of the athlete in Hanes ads through the years. The packs of cards were placed among packages of their Comfort Flex Fit boxer briefs, and there were even 10 special cards that were signed by the Hall of Famer. "Michael has always had his pick of brands to endorse, and we are incredibly honored that he has chosen to stay with ours for the past three decades," Sidney Falken, chief branding officer for Hanes Brands, said in a 2019 press release, per Business Wire. "This is one of the longest-running and most successful partnerships of its type to date."
Part of the reason Jordan continued to endorse Hanes for three decades was that the brand understood how he preferred to be portrayed on camera, which was an issue with other brands. "Sometimes ad-agency creatives will come in with these crazy ideas, and you'll say, 'It sounds great. It's very funny. But it's not Michael,'" Estee Portnoy, Jordan's business manager, told the Washingtonian in 2003. "Or a director will want him to wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants. That's not Michael. He's always beautifully dressed."
Even though Jordan and Hanes eventually parted ways, and haven't given an explanation, it seems clear that they enjoyed a great working relationship that outlasted his playing career.