I watched Michael Phelps shatter Mark Spitz’s Olympic record in an Australian bar in Manhattan called Eight Mile Creek, surrounded by an army of ex-pats and a handful of decidedly less rowdy locals.
As you might expect, his name, his face, and his record breaking exploits have since been splashed all over the American media.
While the eight gold medals themselves are worth virtually nothing [$1225 according to Marketwatch: they’re actually made mostly of silver, Go figure!] marketing experts are suggesting that, on the back of his achievements and all-American looks, he’ll bring in upwards of $50 million over the next few years.
Even his Mum is getting in on the act. She’s just done a 30 second commercial for Johnson’s.
But already Phelps’ judgment – or at least that of his management company – has been called into question.
Phelps’ representative, Octagon Sports, has inked a deal for his face and name to endorse both Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and, quelle horreur, MacDonalds.
This in turn has prompted MeMe Roth of the National Action Against Obesity to remark that “while Michael Phelps may consume thousands of calories a day and burn them off through Olympic training, America’s kids aren’t so lucky — they’re fat, sickly, and have little hope of accomplishing a single sit-up much less Olympic Gold. Kids are watching, and Michael Phelps’ going for the quick cash of pushing junk food at the expense of children tarnishes his image similar to an association with cigarettes or alcohol would.”
Harsh words. But it’s a reasonable assertion.
Phelps is a hero to millions of kids worldwide, and with that should come some sense of responsibility.
There’s certainly a feeling that his management team need to strike while the iron is hot. Says Ryan Schinman, founder of New York City-based Platinum Rye Entertainment, which matches celebrity endorsers with Fortune 500 companies:
“Right now, the guy’s got the world on a string. He’s in that upper realm, not in terms of income but in terms of profile, with Tiger Woods and LeBron James and Lance Armstrong.”
But there is a prevailing opinion that he needs to sign these deals before the football season kicks in, and sporting obsessions are diverted. For a few months, at least.
Despite this urgency – or perhaps because of it – the Frosty Flakes endorsement just doesn’t sit well, even given his own junk food preferences (he has famously lived on a 12,000 a day calorie diet).
It’s perhaps a little ironic in the wake of criticism leveled at Phelps’ by certain nutritionalists that America’s other hero from these Games – 41 year-old Dana Torres, the first US swimmer to swim at four Olympics and who won two silver medals the same night that Phelps won his eighth gold – is fueled by Living Food: uncooked, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains.
Yup, the contrast couldn’t be greater.
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