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Home > ajcsportstalk > Archives > 2009 > February > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USShould sponsors back, or drop, Phelps?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kellogg Co. has said it will not renew its sponsorship contract with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps because he has acknowledged smoking marijuana last fall.
The company said Thursday that Phelps’s behavior — caught in a photo — is “not consistent with the image of Kellogg.”
Phelps has apologized for his “regrettable” behavior and “bad judgment.”
The company put Phelps on boxes of its Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes.
Phelps has kept the backing of many other sponsors since the photo surfaced.
What do you think of the decision by Kellogg?
Comments
By DB
February 5, 2009 8:06 PM | Link to this
Good for them! Thank goodness, someone who cares more about the moral message than about their profit. Who needs a pot-head selling Frosted Flakes to kiddies?
It wasn’t just “bad judgement” and “regretable behavior.” It was sheer stupidity. The young man may be able to swim, but apparently, prolonged exposure to chlorine has killed more than a few brain cells.
While it’s true that there are a number of people who don’t see anything wrong with pot, that does not mitigate the fact that it IS illegal, and not the sort of thing that you’d expect an athlete at the highest level of his sport to subject his body to.
Sponsors should be dropping this idiot like a hot potato. As it is, it’s simply reinforcing the message that if you’re a star athlete, the rules don’t apply to you, and you get rewarded, anyway. Talked about mixed messages! Is that really the message we want to be sending young people?
By BD
February 5, 2009 8:56 PM | Link to this
@DB: How did you get all that sand in your vajayjay? It’s just pot; a less intoxicating substance than alcohol. Kellogg is well within their rights, but this whole story is a tempest in a teapot. In terms of actual harm, there is scientific and medical consensus that marijuana is less detrimental to your health than alcohol, and so what we have here is clearly a false stigma against marijuana use, driven by an indefensible government policy. There is no reason that the photo of Phelps smoking a bong should be anymore controversial than a photo of him taking a shot of liquor, in terms of actual effect on his behavior. People need to get their panties untwisted over this story.
By Nick
February 6, 2009 8:43 AM | Link to this
DB - Pot smokers are the target audience for Frosted Flakes. Stupid move by Kellogs. As for the uproar over this incident, I find the low life scum who takes a picture of someone and sells it much more troubling than Mr. Phelps partaking in an off season party
By Tiffany
February 6, 2009 10:06 AM | Link to this
I agree with DB. All that pot smoking has kill his brain cells. He is no better than a common everyday THUG. It’s about time that someone takes action against this kid. When others display irreprehensible behavior they are burned at the stake it’s time for him to face the same fate. Oh how the mighty have fallen.