From knockouts to flops: The best and worst celebrity endorsements in history

Before Foreman, athlete endorsements were a nice side hustle – some extra cash for lending a famous face to a sneaker or a cereal box. But Foreman? He turned an endorsement into an empire.

After reinventing himself from heavyweight champion to wholesome dad-turned-fitness-guru, Foreman put his name (and signature smile) on the George Foreman Grill, a kitchen gadget that claimed to make America’s burgers healthier by letting the grease slide away. People ate it up – literally. The grill sold over 100m units, making Foreman more money than his boxing career ever did.

His endorsement was a knockout success, but plenty of celebrities have entered the endorsement game only to be met with an epic brand fail.

Let’s break it down: five endorsements that became marketing gold and five that ended up flat on the mat.

5 Celebrity endorsements that crushed it

1. George Foreman and the George Foreman Grill were a match made in marketing heaven. It wasn’t Foreman’s idea – Michael Boehm invented the grill, but it needed a face. Foreman, fresh off a boxing comeback and preaching fitness, was perfect. He didn’t just sign the check; he genuinely loved the product and promoted it like a man possessed. Over $200m in earnings and a grill in nearly every college dorm and bachelor pad for a decade say he knew what he was doing.

2. Michael Jordan might be synonymous with Air Jordans, but his longest-running endorsement? Hanes. For over 30 years, he’s been making underwear look respectable, even if the commercials gave us some peak dad-Jordan energy. Awkward? Sometimes. Successful? Absolutely.

3. Cindy Crawford’s 1992 Pepsi ad was the kind of marketing magic that brands dream about. A red sports car, a can of Pepsi and Crawford in denim shorts – it wasn’t just a commercial; it became pop culture. Pepsi knew it had struck gold, so much so that it remade it decades later, proving its legendary status.

4. Jennifer Aniston turned Smartwater into the designer handbag of bottled water. If she’s drinking it, it must be good, right? That kind of endorsement power led to Coca-Cola shelling out $4.1bn to own the brand. If hydrating like Aniston meant aging like Aniston, we’d all be drinking it by the gallon.

5. Shaquille O’Neal has endorsed more products than we can count, but The General Insurance was an unexpected cult hit. The ads looked like they were designed by a high school intern, but Shaq’s sheer charisma made them work. So much so that The General got a brand glow-up and became a legitimate player in the insurance game.

5 Endorsements that went up in flames

1. Hulk Hogan might have made one of the worst business fumbles in endorsement history – not by turning down the George Foreman Grill, but by simply missing the phone call offering it to him. By the time he got back to the deal, Foreman had already claimed the opportunity. Instead, Hogan put his name on the Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill, which went up in smoke – sometimes literally. Meanwhile, Foreman’s grill went on to sell over 100m units, leaving Hogan to watch from the sidelines. Ouch.

2. Tom Brady bet big on FTX, the now-infamous crypto exchange and lost in spectacular fashion. When FTX collapsed in scandal, Brady and other endorsers got hit with lawsuits. The moral of the story? Just because you’re good at throwing footballs doesn’t mean you should throw your name behind a financial scheme.

3. Kylie Jenner’s 2017 Pepsi ad might be one of the most tone-deaf commercials of all time. The idea? Solve social injustice with a can of Pepsi. The execution? Jenner handing a cop a soda at a protest as if that was going to fix everything. The backlash was swift and brutal and Pepsi yanked the ad within 24 hours. That might be a record for fastest flop.

4. Lance Armstrong was once Nike’s golden boy, with the Livestrong brand riding high. Then came the doping scandal. Nike dumped him, Livestrong tanked and Armstrong went from sports icon to cautionary tale. Turns out, lying to millions of people isn’t great for business.

5. Tiger Woods and Buick never made sense. Buick wanted to look younger and cooler. Woods was young and cool. But no one believed he actually drove one and the endorsement fizzled out in 2008 when GM’s finances hit the skids. If an endorsement deal requires people to suspend disbelief, it’s already on thin ice.

Final bell: Foreman did it right

Foreman’s legacy isn’t just about boxing or even selling 100m grills. It’s about knowing when to put your name on something – and when to step back. He actually believed in his product and that’s what made it work. Jordan actually wears Hanes, Cindy Crawford actually drinks Pepsi and Shaq? Well, he could probably sell a brick as long as he smiled while holding it.

But then you’ve got the other side. The misfires. The ones that make you ask, “Wait, why is Tiger Woods trying to sell me a Buick?” If the fit isn’t right, it doesn’t matter how famous the face is – people aren’t buying it.

Be a Foreman, not a Hogan. If you’re going to pair an endorser with a product, make sure it’s more than just a gimmick. George Foreman wasn’t just a boxer – he was a blueprint for how endorsements should be done. And in a world where celebrity endorsements are everywhere, his success remains one of the greatest of all time.