Men's Wearhouse Boots Gravelly-Voiced Founder

"George Zimmer" may not be a household name, but his is a household voice. Zimmer is the guy who's been saying, "You're gonna like the way you look. I guarantee it" in Men's Wearhouse commercials for the past 28 years. In addition to being the company's gravelly-voiced spokesperson, he was also its founder and chairman ... "was" being the operative word. The chain announced today that it had terminated Zimmer, USA Today reports. The statement did not offer a reason why, but Zimmer offered a statement of his own.

In it, the 64-year-old claims he's been talking to the board of directors about his concerns with where the company is headed; the board, he says, "has inappropriately chosen to silence my concerns," ABC News reports. Zimmer was a substitute school teacher who started the discount clothing chain 40 years ago in Houston. He served as CEO from 1991 to 2011, when he became executive chairman; one analyst says Zimmer apparently "had difficulty letting go of the reins." What's more, he adds, the company was no longer sure Zimmer was an effective spokesperson, "particularly with the millennial consumer." (More George Zimmer stories.)