It may be the most regrettable advertisement in the history of sneakers.  The 2011 Nike ad shows Oscar Pistorius, wearing a green track uniform, breaking out of the starting blocks.  “I am the bullet in the chamber,” the tagline to the left of the double amputee athlete says.  Nike’s ubiquitous catchphrase — “Just do it” — appears to the right.  RELATED: OLYMPIAN PISTORIUS CHARGED WITH MURDER OF GIRLFRIEND  According to sports business consultant Marc Ganis, the ad was inappropriate long before Thursday, when the Olympian from South Africa was charged in the shooting death of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.  “It’s a bad ad in general. After Columbine, we should have had greater sensitivity in these kinds of ads,” said Ganis, referring to the 1999 Colorado school shooting that left 12 students and a teacher dead. “That’s not a political statement. I think even the NRA would agree it’s not appropriate.”  Steenkamp’s death represents just the latest stumble for Nike, the global sportswear company that was still reeling from its relationship with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong when South African prosecutors filed murder charges against Pistorius on Thursday.  “Nike extends its deepest sympathy and condolences to all families concerned following this tragic incident,” the company said in a statement. “As it is a police matter, Nike will not comment further at this time.”  RELATED: BONDY: IN LIFE, BLADE RUNNER FAR FROM HEROIC  Ganis said Nike’s links to troubled athletes are partially just bad luck and partially its own fault. The company has sponsorship agreements with scores of athletes, teams and schools around the world, and it is inevitable that some of their partners would become mired in controversy.  “Sometimes they are a target simply because of their size,” Ganis said.  Nike officials could not have foreseen that Kobe Bryant would be charged with sexual assault in 2003, or that Tiger Woods would become embroiled in an infidelity scandal, he added.  But the cutthroat competitive nature that made Nike the worldwide leader in shoes and sportswear has had a dark side, he said. Nike likes to associate itself with the best in a wide variety of sports, which explains why it has had sponsorship deals with top athletes who have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, including Armstrong, Marion Jones and Alex Rodriguez.  PHOTOS: OSCAR PISTORIUS CHARGED WITH MURDER OF REEVA STEENKAMP  And sometimes the company has responded to controversy in bizarre and confusing ways.  Nike founder Phil Knight, for example, initially defended Joe Paterno after the Penn State football coach was fired in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal. The company removed Paterno’s name from the childcare facility at its Oregon headquarters after former FBI director Louis Freeh issued his report on the scandal in July.
A Nike ad campaign that features Oscar Pistorius calling himself “the bullet in the chamber” has been yanked from the South African Olympian’s website after he was arrested and charged with murder in connection with his model girlfriend’s death Thursday.