mars blackman with my main man, michael jordan. >> reporter: spark lee starred in the early ads withsaid they were groundbreaking. >> as far as african-americans are concerned, let's be honest, the faces of american companies, up to that point, had been aunt jemima and uncle ben. >> because the fear was that the white consumer would not buy a product with a black face on it. >> we were a running company. and he really helped us move into obviously basketball as a category, which, then, allowed us to move into several other categories as well that maybe he didn't play as direct role in, but gave us the confidence, the resources and the opportunity to build our brand and our business around the world. >> reporter: while jordan was building his empire, some thought he should have used his power and influence to affect social change for african-americans. >> i think it bothered him, of course, nobody likes to be criticized, but i think one of the great things about michael is that he was comfortable being himself. and it's no one's place to determine how active you should be. >> reporter