The top 8 Olympic marketing screw-ups

4. The Suzy Hamilton slasher ad (Sydney 2000)
The blunder: Nike unveiled an advertisement that showed U.S. Olympic middle-distance track darling Suzy Favor Hamilton running through the woods, using her speed and shoes to escape a masked slasher film caricature who was trying to cut her up with a chainsaw. Critics said the ad encouraged violence against women, and the ad was taken off the air.

Mitigating circumstances: The advertisement was technically better than the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake that came out a few years later.

Chris Richardson adds: “I thought it was a cool ad, but I can also see how people could think it’s not good for everyone to watch. It’s the kind of ad I’d expect to see on SportsCenter at 11 at night, not on the prime-time hours during the Olympics.”

3. Ben Johnson loses medal (Seoul 1988)

AFP/Getty Images Was Ben Johnson signaling to his dealer?

The blunder: The year before the Games Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was the Associated Press Athelete of the Year and had parlayed his fame into endorsements his coach reportedly valued at $480,000 a month. But by the end of the games he was the highest-profile athlete to test positive for banned drugs in Olympic history. He set the world record in the men’s 100 meter sprint, and then had to give up his gold medal to second-place finisher Carl Lewis. Johnson wasn’t the first athlete to use banned drugs, but his scandal did more to stoke suspicion in the average Olympics fan, and it tarnished the Games.

Mitigating circumstances: Johnson would have fit right in if he played professional baseball or another major league sport, which in 1988 didn’t seem to care about banned drugs.  

Chris Richardson adds: “I remember watching the qualifying events, and he wasn’t blowing people away. Then he wins big, and loses the medal. I was 17 and still felt an innocence about sports. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, there really are cheaters out there.”

2. The logo debacle (Barcelona 1992)

Getty Images M.J. made sure he wouldn't dissapoint ... Nike.

The blunder: Reebok had exclusive rights to produce warm-up outfits and other apparel for American athletes at the 1992 Summer Games. Michael Jordan and other members of the USA basketball team had contracts with Nike and refused to bare the Reebok logos when they accepted their gold medals.

Mitigating circumstances: Jordan covered the Reebok logo by draping himself in the red, white and blue of the American flag. (It would have been much, much worse if he used the old Soviet hammer and sickle.)

Steve Hall adds: “What could be worse for a brand than have their logo covered up when 100 million or so people are going to see it?”

1. Dan and Dave disappoint (Barcelona 1992)

Getty Images Dan O'Brien, left, and Dave Johnson were happy to cash Reebok's checks.

The blunder: Reebok spent millions of dollars on advertising that promoted the prospects of Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson, two American decathletes who were expected to perform well at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. O’Brien, who held the world record in the sport, failed spectacularly when he was unable to clear the pole vault. He scored zero points for the event and failed to qualify for Barcelona.   

Mitigating circumstances: Despite the huge disappointment (which could have been avoided if he had set his pole vault height at a lower level), O’Brien appeared in commercials rooting on Dave, who won a bronze medal. O’Brien won the gold four years later in Atlanta.

Mark La Monica adds: “Reebok hyped it up, and Dan didn’t make it. I don’t think anyone will ever forget that. Actually I wonder if Reebok might have benefited? If Dan and Dave had won I doubt we would be talking about it now.”

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