Remember Dan and Dave?

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)
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."

© 2008