Why Did Hanes Stand By Charlie Sheen For So Long?

[DainBramaged]

The news that Hanesbrands Inc. has officially severed its ties with actor Charlie Sheen comes as no surprise given the domestic violence charges facing the star of CBS Corp.'s hit comedy Two and a Half Men. What is surprising is that it took the maker of T-shirts and underwear more than two weeks to make what would seem to be a no-brainer of a decision. That long pause was almost as strange as the now-suspended advertising campaign featuring Sheen and basketball great Michael Jordan.

I can only imagine the frantic meetings that must have been going on in the offices of Hanesbrands' Winston-Salem, N.C, headquarters since Sheen's Christmas day arrest for allegedly threatening his wife, Brooke, with a knife. Tabloid reports have claimed that she was drunk at the time, and that he, who had claimed for years to have conquered his substance-abuse problems, was intoxicated as well. Domestic violence, of course, is a horrendous problem, and the couple are the parents of two toddlers, who matter a hell of a lot more than underwear ads. But for shareholders, Charlie and Brooke are not the villains in this story: Hanes is.

Throughout the scandal, Hanes buried its head in the sand. The company ducked the press for a while, at least calls from DailyFinance. Perhaps Charlie Sheen's agent had convinced executives that the story would blow over, or maybe they were just closing their eyes and hoping it would go away. The statement the company released today -- after no doubt many hours of blood, sweat and tears -- was pretty innocuous.

"Hanes is not running the Hanes television commercials featuring Charlie Sheen, and those commercials will not run again," the statement says. "The commercials were suspended effective Dec. 28, the first date possible after Mr. Sheen's Christmas Day arrest. There are a few trade publication print advertisements featuring Mr. Sheen scheduled to run this spring. Unfortunately, the production schedule of those publications do not allow us to pull those ads."

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/why-did-hanes-stand-by-charlie-sheen-for-so-long/19306962/

[hlthe2b]

1. Fortunately for HANES, they never had him model...

their "wife beater" line. :sarcasm:

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie... when will you grow up?

[DainBramaged]

3. I heard that term for the first time in my life this week.

I wear black muscle T's and my lady goes to me "you have a hole in your wife-beater" and I was stunned because I had never heard that before. Then she showed me online and I understood. It still bothers me that a shirt is associated with that kind of behavior.

[seabeyond]

4. i have heard the term a couple times and thought surely referring to something else

not comfortable with that name for a garmet.

googled it last night and sure enough, about beating your wife. and we casually use it in terms of a shirt.

does say something about a society that can so casually call a garmet by a name that hurts women and not even blink. i have never used the term for tanks.

[hlthe2b]

6. Yup.... true, that....

[hlthe2b]

5. I have always thought it went back to Marlon Brando...

wearing one in "streetcar named desire..." but it might go back even further.... It has had a "bad boy" image for quite a while...which amused me, since my Dad used to wear them--the kindest and most gentlemanly guy to women, you could meet. ;)

[KharmaTrain]

2. Short Term Memory...

File this under the "what have you done for me lately" file. Sheen's personal life has long flown under the media radar cause he "delivered the hits". His teevee show was among one of the most popular, thus making him attractive to hawk skivvies. I'm sure Haines also used what they call the "Q Rating"...a focus group who rated "like" or "dislike" about Sheen. Also, Sheen had been a good boy of recent vintage and surely Haines built in an escape clause (which they used to drop him).

The interesting thing is few people will notice the ad being pulled...except when its pointed out like this. There's been little really said about this case since it broke, but its sure to make headlines when Sheen has to face the charges. Thus Haines cut their losses before it did any real image damage.

[CBGLuthier]

7. Two weeks is too long?

I guess taking a moment to see what happened is wrong now? Called them villains? They suspended the ads within 3 days.

Whiny. Just fucking whiny.

[DainBramaged]

8. Just remember squeaky clean is the byword even if the corporation is corrupt..