When Brand Ambassadors Go Bad (And Containing The PR Meltdown)

It’s B&T list of the times PR people have gone into PANIC mode after a brand ambassador has done something super illegal and tarnished the brand.
Jared Fogle (Subway)
As reported on B&T this morning, the FBI has raided the home of Jared Fogle aka ‘Subway Guy’. Subway quickly tweeted that it has suspended its relationship with Jared and Subway’s US website have deleted any images of Jared.
Subway & Jared Fogle have agreed to suspend their relationship due to the current investigation. Jared is cooperating with authorities.
— SUBWAY® (@SUBWAY) July 7, 2015
We are shocked about the news & believe it is related to a former Jared Foundation employee. We are monitoring the situation closely.
— SUBWAY® (@SUBWAY) July 7, 2015
O.J Simpson (Hertz)
Hertz car rentals had a marketing deal with O.J. Simpson from 1975 until 1992. That partnership quickly ended when allegations of Simpson’s domestic abuse started circling.
It was pretty amazing foresight by Hertz. Two years later, O.J Simpson was charged with (and acquitted of) murdering his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Michael Phelps (Kellogg)
Back in 2009 Phelps was suspended from competition for three months by USA Swimming after being caught punching bongs. Kellogs food company quickly released a statement saying it would not be continuing Phelp’s sponsorship:
“Michael’s most recent behaviour is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract,” Kellog’s spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz said in a statement.
Chris Brown (Got Milk)
Also in 2009, Chris Brown assaulted his then girlfriend Rihanna and the folks behind the ‘Got Milk’ campaign quickly dropped its collaboration with Brown.
“The Milk Moustache campaign is taking the allegations against Chris Brown very seriously,” the Body by Milk Campaign said in a statement. “We are very proud and protective of the image of the Milk Moustache campaign and the responsible message it sends to teens.”
Radio stations across America also pulled Brown’s music from the airwaves.
Kate Moss (Chanel, H&M, Burberry)
In 2005, Kate Moss was caught snorting the white devil. She was consequently dropped by fashion houses Chanel, Burberry and H&M.
In a statement H&M spokesperson, Jennifer Uglialoro said: “If someone is going to be the face of H&M. It is important they be healthy, wholesome and sound.”
Chanel also said it would not renew its contract with Moss.
Burberry dropped Moss’s campaign with them. Moss had featured in nine Burberry campaigns since 1998. The company said in a statement: “We are saddened by her current circumstances and hope she overcomes her problems as soon as possible.”
Tiger Woods (Accenture, Gatorade, General Motors, Tag Heuer)
Back in 2009 golf’s golden boy Tiger Woods was caught being a golden cheater, with claims that Woods had an affair with twelve different women.
In the days and months following Woods’ admission of boning women who aren’t his wife, heaps of brands completely ended their sponsorship deals.
A spokeswoman for Gatorade said: “We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship… We wish him all the best.”
If you have any other disgraced brand ambassador, tweet us @bandt and we’ll add it to list.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Latest News

Chery Launches New Tiggo 7 Pro In Australian Market With Creative Campaign Via Chello
Independent brand and creative agency Chello has created a new integrated campaign ‘I want Tiggo’ to launch automotive giant Chery’s new Tiggo 7 pro into the Australian market. ‘I want Tiggo’ features a short film depicting a young boy who sees his father getting in the car and driving off and shouts “I want to […]

Isuzu UTE Extends A-Leagues Partnership Through To 2026
The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) and Isuzu UTE Australia have announced an extension to their partnership, reinforcing Isuzu UTE’s commitment to Australian football. The two-year extension will see Isuzu UTE Australia remain as the Naming Rights Partner of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and as a Major Partner and Automotive category partner of the Liberty […]

Seven Network Unveils New Advanced Advertising Division
The Seven Network has announced the launch of a new Advanced Advertising division to drive the development and launch of innovative new trading models across Seven’s national converged total TV ecosystem. The team has been set up to lead Phoenix, the world’s most advanced total TV trading system. Phoenix brings together the massive reach and […]

“Give an F About the Flags”: Surf Life Saving Australia Launches Summer Campaign Via Banter
Surf Life Saving Australia has launched a new campaign to fight drownings at the beach, featuring a cheeky approach designed to change behaviour. Every year, over 120 people drown outside the flags on Australian beaches, and that’s too many. So, Surf Life Saving Australia is calling on beachgoers to ‘Give an F About the Flags’ […]

Toyota & HCLTech To Appear On Aussie Cricketers’ Shirts This Summer
Toyota Australia and HCLTech have upgraded their partnerships with Cricket Australia (CA) to include displaying their global brands on the iconic Australian playing shirts. Toyota will be the men’s front-of-shirt partner and appear on the sleeve of the men’s and women’s playing shirts, while HCLTech will remain on the sleeve of the men’s playing shirt […]

G Squared Bolsters Paid Media & Search With Key Hires
Following continued new business growth, digital consultancy G Squared has made a number of senior appointments to further strengthen its paid media and search offerings. Lead Image: L to R – Steph Hasouros and Ishita Sehdev Steph Hasouros has joined as head of paid media, overseeing the paid media team and its growth. She will also […]

“Extinction Greenwashing”: Supermarkets Target Of ACCC Complaint Over Misleading Salmon Claims
Australia’s major supermarket chains have been accused of potentially false, misleading or deceptive conduct over sustainability claims on Tasmanian salmon products, according to a complaint lodged with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC). Lead Image – ACCC Complaint (Image taken from Woolworths website20 on 4 October 2023 ) Acting on behalf of Living Oceans […]

Droga5 London Launches First Campaign For ADV New Motorcycle
In their first campaign since winning the global ADV business this past summer, Droga5 London has worked with Royal Enfield to launch their new motorcycle, the Himalayan. The bike was designed for the unpredictability of the Himalayas, and the new platform takes inspiration from the ‘change of plan’ mindset that is required when traversing the […]

Mediahub Expands Into New Zealand Market
Following ongoing growth in Australia, media agency Mediahub is launching in New Zealand as it looks to expand its reach, and provide a truly trans-Tasman offering to clients. Mediahub is part of the IPG Mediabrands network. With offices in both Auckland and Christchurch, Mediahub NZ will provide a market-leading and national NZ capability utilising best-in-class […]

It Takes A Village: Havas Drives Off With Avis Budget Group’s Media & Earned PR
The Havas Media Network and Havas Red have driven off with Avis Budget Group’s (ABG) media and earned PR accounts, respectively, following competitive pitches for both accounts. The two agencies were the incumbents on the account but, with ABG wanting to assess the value it was receiving, the accounts went out to pitch. ABG looked […]

Amazon Prime Secures Rights To Next Cricket World Cup
In a massive shift in the broadcasting landscape, Amazon Prime has secured the Australian rights to the next cricket World Cup alongside a range of other tournaments run by the International Cricket Council (ICC) until 2027. The deal means that Australian Cricket fans can only access the tournaments if they have a paid subscription to […]

Limited Tickets Still Available For First Ever Industry Pantomime
With just over 24 hours to go until the world premiere of Addy Lala and the Mood Tea Thieves, limited tickets are still available for the pantomime, which will run for one night only at the Everest Theatre in Sydney’s Seymour Centre on December 5th. All in the industry are encouraged to come along to […]

Palin Communications joins GlobalCom PR Network
Specialist Australian health PR agency, Palin Communications, has joined GlobalCom PR Network with a view to delivering meaningful, consistent, impactful, global health campaigns across a range of countries and regions.

Axe-Wielding Eric Andre Stars In Opera GX Campaign, Via Waste Creatives
Irreverent campaign for Opera GX, the browser for gamers, sees actor and comedian Eric Andre confronting people using “boring” browsers

Make it your way at Highpoint Via Cyclone Creative Agency
Highpoint is inviting Melbournians to embrace what makes them different, through their ‘Make it Your Way’ campaign via Cyclone Creative agency.

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore
2045, a Melbourne-based creative agency founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore has just launched. The agency takes its name from the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted organic and artificial intelligence would converge. Lead Image: 2045 Team Evans was formerly a Partner and Executive Strategy Director at DT (now AKQA), before co-founding B.B.E in 2015. […]

Pengu Dances Their Way Through New Film by electriclime°
Production house electriclime° have linked up with Riot Games to create a new film to celebrate the launch of Teamfight Tactics Mobile (“TFT”) in Asia Pacific.

National Breast Cancer Foundation Announced as Charity Partner For NYE Sydney
The National Breast Cancer Foundation has been announced as the Charity Partner for Sydney New Year’s Eve. The Australian not-for-profit organisation is represented by the pink ribbon and raises money to fund world-class research towards its vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. Research that saves lives through a better understanding of how to prevent […]

Sunday TV Ratings: Brits Dominate With Annika, Joanna Lumley And David Attenborough Making Top 10
Sunday night strangely dominated by UK-made content. That said, Piers not getting a heap of love over at Sky.

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”
This holiday season, Emporium Melbourne has announced its festive creative campaign that celebrates and encourages the Melbourne community to embrace their personal ‘untraditional traditions’ – the unique traditions that make Christmas truly special for them, and their family. The campaign’s tagline, “Every tradition starts somewhere”, reflects Emporium’s commitment to embracing, inspiring and applauding diverse traditions […]

Stop Being A Water Waster! Sydney Schoolboy Urges Everyone To Save Water, Via It’s Friday
Planning a staff dunking booth this Christmas? Not too late to switch to 10-pin bowling with this water save campaign.

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats
Reddit has announced updates to its new ads placement with Carousel Ads and Product Ads. These new units, placed in the heart of Reddit discussions, provide an even more dynamic and compelling way for advertisers to scale to relevant audiences, deliver deeper value to users, and drive stronger, full-funnel performance among the hundreds of thousands […]

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts
Automotive Network Drive has announced its 2024 upfronts, its biggest in more than a decade, with a suite of more than 12 new products that underpin its vision to be the number one automotive network in Australia. Now in its 27th year and with a monthly audience of 2.45 million, Drive is leveraging its reputation […]

Journalist Tegan George Suing Network 10 After Being Left With “Trauma” From Bushfire Reporting
It's been a rocky road for many people & agencies in 2023; however, it's been all sunshine & rainbows for 10's lawyers.

As Big Spenders Flee, X Pivots To SMBs To Fill Ad Dollar Deficit
Elon's halo continues to slip. Joining Albo's, Harry's, Meghan's and Optus' similar downward trajectory.

Foxtel Group Extends Partnership With Mindshare For A Further Three Years
Mindshare Christmas bash upgraded from "house" to "spirits included" after Foxtel re-signs.

Sleeping Duck’s Cheeky Campaign Exposes Its Competitors’ Tricks
B&T unaware of the vitriol & acrimony between the online mattress companies. We were aware of it between News & the ABC.

The North Face Flies-In Jacket To Furious Hiker In The Marketing Save Of 2023
North Face continues to bat away a series of PR disasters. And not merely from Australian politicians being seen in it.

oOh!media Unveils 51 New Large Format Sites This Year
oOh!media continues to rapidly expand its large format digital network, launching seven new sites at premium locations across major arterials in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The latest large format digitals include another premium site in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Mosman. Positioned at the gateway of the lower north shore on Military Road, the high-impact […]

Bear Meets Eagle On Fire Unveils “Until Then” Mark II For NRMA
If there's a HOT agency at the moment, it has to be Bear Meets Eagle On Fire. Get your fingers burnt with this latest.

Seven Uses Gen AI to Push Tech Boundaries With Ignite
The Seven Network revealed the results of the second round of its flagship innovation initiative – Ignite – which saw seven employee-led generative AI concepts selected for prototype development. An inspiring three-week event, Ignite brings together internal cross-functional teams of engineers, data scientists, product managers and staff from across the business to collaborate and develop […]

Creative Tensions Boil Over In Witty New Work From Apple
Is it just B&T or does Apple continually spruiking the filmmaking credentials of its phones undermine actual filmmaking?

Shannon Noll Records Aussie-Rock Twist On Christmas Classic For Jetstar Campaign
Shannon Noll's agent receives rare call as Jetstar enlists singer for new campaign. Guy reported to be seething.

Rolling Stone AU/NZ Unveils Its 50 Living Icons Edition
Rolling Stone's living icons edition is here and it'll make difficult reading for Kyle and Ray Hadley.

Australia’s Greatest Ever Ad – The Finalists!
The end is in sight for B&T's search for Australia's greatest ever ad. You can hasten its demise by voting pronto.

CHEP Delivers A Horror Movie For Queensland Health’s Sun Safety Campaign
Queenslanders again reminded to slip, slop, slap. Also reminded not to constantly bang on about XXXX Gold & the Broncos.