This post is part of a series on celebrity spokespeople who ended up doing serious harm to the brands they were hired to promote, or vice versa. See how we rank the 20 top spokesperson fiascos.
Before Michael Vick, quarterbacks were (mostly) tall, slow white men who passed the football, handed it off or got creamed by pass rushers. Vick changed the game by combining the strength, speed and agility of a running back with the arm and savvy of a quarterback. With it, he turned the traditional also-ran Atlanta Falcons into a contender. How could any company in the sporting goods field not sign such a sure-fire hall-of-famer as a spokesperson?
And sign him they did. Nike (NYSE:NKE) created a "Michael Vick Experience" ad campaign. He appeared on the cover of the 2004 version of Electronic Arts' (NASDAQ:ERTS) Madden football. The sponsor money rolled in, and when the Falcons signed Vick to a 10-year, $130 million contract, he had reached the pinnacle of sports success.
Then came the expose. News reports tying Vick to a dog fighting ring, then naming him as the pivotal figure in a horrendous gang who raised killer dogs in a kennel on Vick's property and buried the losers nearby. By the time Vick was taken into custody, his brand was so fouled that companies couldn't back away from him fast enough. The only sales of equipment with his name on it was to dog owners who used them as chew toys.
In a fiasco, everyone involved suffers. I just wish the everybody here hadn't included innocent dogs.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-17-2008 @ 4:00PM
Robert Wayne said...
I can think of two former WHITE quarterbacks who could run circles around Vick....Archie Manning and Fran Tarkenton. On top of that, they weren't animal abusing goons.
7-17-2008 @ 8:28PM
Dana said...
Vic should be feed to the inoent animals he killed
7-18-2008 @ 8:48AM
sc4188 said...
I think I hate Michael Vicks more than anyone I have ever known. He got away with murder, murder, murder!! and attrocities to helpless, voiceless creatures. He should rot and die in some cold, insect infested cave and I'd like to stand guard to see that he does suffer. Justice was not served well in this case. I literally get ill looking at that ugly, inhumane and inhuman piece of flesh. This will unfortunately be forgotten by too many people. He should have to walk each minute of his life looking behind him in fear....
7-18-2008 @ 12:19PM
Anna said...
Sc4188... I have to AGREE with you about M. VICK! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Hope he is NEVER allowed to play football again! Give a jerk money and all they do with it, is ABUSE innocent creatures (peeps/animals). Keep his foul, negative arse behind bars!
7-18-2008 @ 3:48PM
Linneda729 said...
Michael Vick is a pitiful excuse of a human being.
7-19-2008 @ 10:03AM
MARLENEM34 said...
I'd like to see him die for what he did, theres not enough ills in the world to wish him. He has a face as evil looking as the devil and ugly as sin. The way I hate the Bastard, gives new meaning to the word!
7-19-2008 @ 2:33PM
trudy said...
o.k. i get that everyone makes mistakes!!!... But come on i agree we shoud feed him to the poor INNOCENT dogs he killed... im my oppion he is a killer of one of the very things we are to protect the animial, and the child... Come on people where is your outrage this man should NEVER be able to play football again and LEED our children if we allow people like michael vick to be a spokesperson for them what message are we sending to them???p.s. i own a pittbull and he is gentel,kind and special the very thought of this man every breathing free air again frightens me to no end. they say a child kills an animal the should be locked up, for fear of what the''ll become this man killed many pet's shame on you michael vick shame on you. sincerly t.pistore
7-19-2008 @ 4:56PM
Patty said...
I am outraged by what Michael Vick did. He should never be able to own another dog as long as he lives. My son owns 2 pits and they are not vicious dogs. IT IS THE WAY YOU RASIE THEM. This is a classic example of why the pit bull breed has a bad reputation.
Did Vick not have enough money or what?
7-21-2008 @ 4:16PM
Carmen said...
Mike Vic did wrong, but there is forgiveness and rehabilitation. Only God should pronounce total judgement on anyone. and like the Good Book states, "Are you without sin?"- Americans thrash Vick however, we do not give the same importance to killers of babies and parents who misuse their abilities and destroy innocent children every way taint them and even some are impotent because of the abuses they have suffered in homes, schools in the neighborhoods and almost everywhere they go. What a shame! Michael did no more damage to the animals than what people do to us - the cripple have been called names - negroes are called names, kids with glasses are called names, fat people are called names and destroy them almost forever. Take a grip on what is important and learn to forgive othrs for one day YOU may be in the same boat and will NEED sympathy and forgiveness.
7-22-2008 @ 6:20AM
cuneo123 said...
He's Scum. He doesn't deserve to be alive.
7-22-2008 @ 6:33AM
cuneo123 said...
Anyone who fights dogs is participating in torture, and anyone who enjoys torture is sick, perverted and depraved. Vick is not guilty of a "mistake". He's guilty of being less than human - a cruel, sadistic animal with no compassion and no empathy. I predict someday he'll get religion to try to convince everyone he's changed, but people like him don't change. They don't have normal human feelings.
7-22-2008 @ 6:39AM
cuneo123 said...
Making dogs fight, and torturing those that don't win, is a lot more than "making a mistake". People are forgiven when they're inconsiderate or commit a small infraction. Anyone who fights dogs is participating in torture for fun, and anyone who enjoys torture is not making a small mistake. They're a person who is less than human with no compassion and no empathy. They're sick, perverted and depraved.
7-25-2008 @ 8:12PM
fro a fifteen year old said...
yeah right...hes not sorry for what he did
no, hes sorry for getting caught
sorry for himself coz hed rather be doing something else with his time than sitting in jail
truthfully
i feel more sympathy for the dogs than i do for vick
what he did was barbaric and cruel
i own a pit and its the sweetest most loving dog that ive ever owned...and its stupid
my lil brother and sister pick at it all day ( theyre toddlers)
and it just sits there and stares at them with a huge grin on its face like " what are you doing?"
pits arent born to have to fight like this
if we were to train our human boxers to fight like people ( morons)) train pits to fight i bet the world would cry " abuse"
if we were to treat vick like he treated his dogs in and off his sick arena, then he'd feel actual sorrow id bet