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.
