15 Super Embarrassing Celeb Endorsements Gone Wrong

Celebrities don't always make the best decisions, and when it comes to endorsement deals these poor decisions can do some serious harm to their reputations, and ultimately their careers. Whether they're in it for the money or taking advantage of a few branding opportunities while people still know their name, it's impossible to predict how their fans and the media will react to the commercials and ads they appear in.

More likely than not these endorsement deals go unnoticed or perhaps receive slight recognition from the press, but every now and then disaster ensues. A contract to do a simple commercial for a fast food restaurant turns into racial profiling, or a photo advertisement for an Arabic airline is deemed offensive to women, or the ad can be ironically tied to some legal issues in the future. And when these brands go down, they often take their celebrities endorsers down with them.

These are some of the most embarrassing celebrity endorsements that definitely didn't help the careers of these famous faces.

15 Rachael Ray Accused Of Being A Terrorist In Dunkin Donuts Ad

Probably one of the most outlandish reactions to an advertisement of all time, the sweet Rachel Ray was labeled a terrorist after her ad for Dunkin Donuts began appearing on the company's website. In it she is wearing a gray top with a white and black fringed scarf holding an iced coffee in front of a backdrop that appears to be a park. The New York Times reported on the issue stating that many confused Ray's scarf for a keffiyeh, which is a gender neutral black and white scarf that became a symbol for Palestinian nationalism when worn around the neck or on the head.

Even though the scarf worn by Ray clearly depicts a unique pattern and texture from most keffiyehs and that by wearing a keffiyeh a person shouldn't be assumed a terrorist, the ad resulted in accusations of Dunkin Donuts supporting Palestinian terrorism. In a statement the company addressed the issue saying, “In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended.” They chose to take down the ads anyway as they felt is was distracting people from the intended idea behind the photos, which was to go buy an iced coffee.

14 Oprah Endorses The Microsoft Surface From Her iPad

Back in 2012, Oprah seemed to be obsessed with the Microsoft Surface, which was new at the time. She spoke about it for weeks, added it to her list of favorite things from that year, and even compared the tablet to a Mercedes according to CNN. Unfortunately, it became pretty clear that all her talk was a way of promoting the brand when she took to Twitter to endorse the product.

Her tweet read, “Gotta love that SURFACE! Have bought 12 already for Christmas gifts.” She might love the Microsoft Surface, but whoever wrote this tweet loves the iPad more as it was sent from the app Twitter for iPad. The internet had a ton of fun with this one, and it was even pointed out that the iPad was on Oprah's annual list of favorite things just two years earlier. Whoops!

13 Ashton Kutcher's PopChips Ad Deemed Racist

It's hard to believe that Ashton Kutcher would agree to be involved in such a racially insensitive ad, but then again it's hard to believe that's actually Kutcher at all underneath all the prosthetics and makeup. This ad from 2012 depicts Kutcher in brownface and stereotypical Indian clothing, as he uses a fake accent to play a Bollywood producer, endorsing PopChips. The company eventually apologized for their ad and pulled it, but were accused of racial insensitivity again less than a year later. This time the company had a group of white actors dressed in sombreros walking around New York City with a mariachi band to promote their tortilla chips.

Even though Kutcher's ad was pulled, the sting it left of the Indian community still remains. Aziz Ansari addresses these issues in his hilarious Netflix series, Masters of None, where he even used a clip from this PopChips ad as well as many others to show how demeaning and stereotypical the portrayal of Indian people is in the media. Kutcher has remained quiet on the situation since the ad was released several years ago.

12 Kim Kardashian Hosts Bathroom Grand Opening With Charmin

The Kardashians will literally do any appearance or endorsement if they're paid enough for it, and Kim is no exception. Before she was a mother of two and wed to Kanye West, the queen of ugly crying was still making strides in the entertainment world. It seems that one of her stepping stones toward reality television stardom was endorsing Charmin toilet paper and assisting them in the grand opening of their Times Square toilets.

These toilets are brought to New York City each year for the holiday season to give shoppers the ability to relieve themselves a few weeks out of the year. Kim seemed thrilled to be attending this grand opening saying, “With my recent transition to New York, I've been checking out all the gifts the City has to offer visitors and New Yorkers alike. During the holiday shopping season, I'm happy to join Charmin as they give the gift of the Restrooms near Times Square." While the reality star likely never stepped inside the facility, she was kind enough to pose in front of it alongside Charmin's adorable mascots.

11 Jared Fogle Fired As Subway Spokesman

Jared Fogle endorsed Subway for years, and became famous for his story of losing nearly 300 pounds in under a year by eating two of the restaurants sandwiches a day. When it was discovered that most of the money Fogle made while being the face of Subway was spent on prostitutes and child pornography, the company immediately broke ties with him.

Before being sentenced to 15 years in prison, Fogle was evaluated by a psychiatrist who claimed the Subway diet was to blame for his actions. According to People, Fogle's rapid weight loss by way of turkey club sandwiches brought on his hypersexuality and attraction to children. His doctor, John Bradford, claimed “He went from 450 pounds down to around 200 over about one year. Up until that point his sex drive was very low and after that his sex drive increased quite dramatically,” and predicts that Fogle is unlikely to repeat his mistakes upon his release.

10 Jessica Simpson Rejects Her Own Clothing Line

One of the most recent failed celebrity endorsements was Kendall Jenner's Pepsi commercial, where she's depicted leaving a photoshoot to join a protest happening outside and handing a soda to a police officer. The ad was pulled after just a day after there was an enormous amount of backlash labeling the commercial tone-deaf and insensitive to the Black Lives Matter movement. Everything from the signs being held by the crowd to the attire worn by the officers has been criticised.

The image of Jenner handing the Pepsi to the officer has also been called out for diminishing the meaning of a well known photograph of protester Ieshia Evans approaching officers at a demonstration in Baton Rouge last year. Even Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., weighed in on the subject with a tweet stating, “If only my daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi.” While the soda brand claims to have been trying to promote a feeling of unity and peace, they admitted that they'd “missed the mark” with the commercial.

8 Mary J. Blige's BK Commercial Contains Racial Stereotypes

Singer and song writer Mary J. Blige was featured in a Burger King commercial in 2012 that left her fans wondering exactly what she was thinking when she agreed to this endorsement in the first place. The commercial depicts Blige singing in one of the fast food chain locations about BK's new fried chicken wrap along to the tune of her song “Don't Mind.” As soon as the commercial aired, it was criticized for playing into African-American stereotypes. Burger King immediately pulled the ad, claiming it had been leaked before it was completely finished.

According to Rolling Stone, Blige was devastated over the backlash resulting from her commercial saying, “I would never just bust out singing about chicken and chicken wings. It hurt my feelings and crushed me for two days." The singer, who had stayed quiet for a while after the controversy hit the media, spoke about how she was told that the commercial would be shot “in an iconic way” and was ultimately convinced that this would be a great opportunity for her career. Burger King apologised to Blige and her fans for airing the commercial before it was finalized, but the damage had already been done.

7 Shannen Doherty's Education Connect Commercials

Famous for her role as Brenda Walsh on the '90s hit show Beverly Hill: 90210, Shannen Doherty has since fallen from grace, earning herself the reputation of being difficult on set. Her career has failed to make a comeback since being killed off of the WB's Charmed, where she played a witch alongside Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs and she had to resort to celebrity endorsement deals to keep herself afloat.

In 2011, Doherty became the face of Education Connection, a website dedicated to connecting students an online degree program. According to CBS News, Doherty boasts that she's getting a degree in Liberal Arts online in the commercial before magically transforming into a nurse, a chef, a crime scene investigator, and more as a way to inform viewers that the website has many careers to offer besides the web degree she's going after. It seems the objective of these commercials were to let those watching feel like they could get a college degree if friggin' Brenda Walsh could do it.

6 Kirstie Alley's Insensitive Comment In Jenny Craig Commercial

Kirstie Alley made a huge comeback in her career when she began appearing much heavier in the news than fans remembered her, landing her a Jenny Craig endorsement deal. The actress lost a ton of weight and was looking great, but the company allegedly cut ties with her after gaining some of the weight back. Fast forward several years and Alley is once again the face of Jenny Craig, talking about getting rid of the weight she'd gained since she was last on the program.

Alley's comeback commercial didn't exactly encourage her fans to give her their support. According to the Daily Mail, in the commercial Alley is speaking on the phone to Jenny Craig and says, “Jenny, I wanna come home. No, no, no. I'm not like circus fat, I just wanna lose 20 pounds. 30!” The public was pretty outraged over her comment, calling her out on social media and demanding to know exactly what weight a person needs to be to be considered “circus fat.” Her explanation wasn't all that much better as according to the article she spoke to Matt Lauer on Today and said, “I know this isn't politically correct, but I grew up when there were actually fat ladies in the circus. Now so many of us are fat that you can't tell us apart. When there were actually fat ladies in the circus… they would parade the fat lady out, so I call it 'circus fat.'” Probably not what the women of Jenny Craig want to hear.

5 Rob Lowe Offends Shy Bladders In DirecTV Commercials

If you haven't seen any of Rob Lowe's DirecTV commercials, he hilariously depicts a dapper version of himself who was smart enough to indulge in their services while also portraying his not-so-hot doppleganger who uses basic cable. Not only is this alternate universe version of Lowe have an awful haircut and what looks like buckteeth, he's also wearing a fanny-pack, subtly indicating that his life would be so much better if he upgraded to DirecTV.

Unfortunately the creative minds behind this commercial also gave bizzaro Lowe the inability to use the bathroom when other people are around, and according to the Huffington Post, the International Paruresis Association felt that they'd gone too far. As this is a real health condition that many people suffer from called avoidant paruresis, the organization's CEO Steve Soifer, spoke out about the ad saying, “It's a situation that a lot of people don't understand. In this particular case, the portrayal is making it look ridiculous, that this guy is a loser for having a problem.” DirecTV stood by the commercial but it was pulled due to a legal issue between them and the cable provider Comcast.

4 Nicole Kidman Offends Women In Etihad Airways Ads

When Nicole Kidman became the face of Etihad Airways, an airline owned by the United Arab Emirates, women all over the world were outraged. As a representative of the U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for women since 2006, it seemed odd that Kidman would agree to endorse a company known for mistreating women. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Etihad had been accused in the past of firing their female flight attendants for getting pregnant as well as forcing their female employees to live in confined compounds.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants released a statement criticizing her decision to work with the airline which read, “We urge you, on behalf of the women and girls that you spoke of so eloquently [on International Women's Day], not to play a part in promoting Etihad Airways, a company that imposes abusive labor practices on its female employees and whose sole owner is a government that stands against the very world that you imagine.” The statement also referred to reports that according to Arab law, it's legal for men to rape and beat their lives as they see fit. The airline responded to be committed “to the welfare, safety and well-being of the diverse group of men and women” they employ, while Kidman chose to stay quiet about the whole ordeal.

3 Alec Baldwin Occupies Wall Street While The Face Of Capital One

As the face of Capital One, probably one of America's largest banks, many were surprised to see Alec Baldwin joining protesters during the Occupy Wall Street movement. Even though he's known for his liberal views on most subject matters, there's a clear conflict of interest by him being involved in a movement where people are fighting to get rid of the Federal Reserve. The actor was called a hypocrite for not only endorsing Capital One Bank but then speaking to protesters about how the country needs capitalism, which is likely something no one wanted to hear.

According to the NY Daily News, Baldwin pushed the blame from banks to the Securities and Exchange Commission claiming they're the problem for not regulating the banks like they're supposed to. "The banks are going to do what the banks do. And you want the banks to do what banks do. But when the banks [act] like they are a hockey player that starts throwing their elbow in your eye socket, you want the SEC to throw the flag. The SEC never throws the flag." In response to being called a hypocrite Baldwin explained on Twitter that all of the money he's made from his Capital One endorsements have been donated to the arts.

2 Oscar Pistorius Labeled Bulled In Nike Ad

Oscar Pistorius was the first amputee to compete in the Olympics in 2012, however, that's not what he's most known for. Just a year later he was arrested and later convicted for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. According to The Sun, Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through the bathroom door of their shared home, claiming he thought she was an intruder. The gun was unregistered and it wasn't long before he was found guilty of murder.

Prior to Pistorius' conviction, he was featured in a Nike ad with the unfortunate tagline “I am the bullet in the chamber” next to the brand's well known slogan, “Let's Do It.” The ad was featured on the athlete's official website, but was promptly removed after he was charged with murder according to Mirror. This probably isn't what Nike had in mind when they created this ad.

1 Lance Armstrong Calls Energy Drink Secret Weapon

When Lance Armstrong became the face of FRS energy drinks, the company likely didn't think twice about calling it “Lance's Secret Weapon.” That is, until it was revealed to the world what his secret weapon truly is. According to CNN, Armstrong admitted to using several performance enhancing drugs in an interview with Oprah Winfrey including EPOs, testosterone, cortisone, human growth hormones, illegal blood transfusions, and blood doping.

When this occurred, FRS couldn't simply part ways with Armstrong as he was also a member of their board and heavily involved in sponsorship. FRS ultimately chose not to continue their contract with Armstrong in 2012, and according to Forbes he chose to step down from the team of board members after the decision was made to strip him of his titles.

Sources: cnn.com, forbes.com, businessinsider.com, indystar.com, nytimes.com, nydailynews.com, hollywoodreporter.com, fortune.com, dailymail.co.uk, cbsnews.com, prnewswire.com, rollingstone.com, news.com.au, washingtonpost.com, thesmokinggun.com