Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Michael Phelps admitted to "stupid" behavior, after a photo of him smoking from a marijuana pipe was published by a UK tabloid. "I'm 23, so sometimes I act stupid," said Phelps in a statement. "Sometimes I smoke marijuana. Sometimes I break world records. And I am sorry."
The marijuana pipe photo, an exclusive to the tabloid, was the most disturbing image from a five page spread on Phelps, which included photos of him punching an unidentified female, as well as a photo in which he is triumphantly standing above the slaughtered bodies of four homeless men.
"This type of behavior is unacceptable from a role model," said captain Jim Long, an officer with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "For Phelps to smoke marijuana, it's just horrible. I'm speechless."
"I'm not sure about it, but I think it might be worth putting an asterisk after his name in the record books -- who knows how hopped up on hoo-jobs he was when he swam in the Olympics?" said Tom Daschle, who recently declined the nomination to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services due to unpaid taxes. "I believe that drugs are wrong. In fact, they are way worse than not paying your taxes. I think we can all agree on that. Ahem."
USA Swimming has already suspended Phelps for 3 months without financial support (with $100 million in expected lifetime endorsements, I'm guessing Phelps isn't living on USA Swimming's stipends anyway).
On the other hand, USA Swimming can't be all that mad at the Olympic champion. His suspension will end just in time to let Phelps participate in the 2009 World Swimming World Swimming Championships in Rome. Whew! That was a close one!
Additionally, the International Olympic Commission stated it will investigate the marijuana photo, which "calls into question" Phelps' dedication to "remain drug free".
"We will evaluate whether it will be acceptable for Mr. Phelps to ever compete in the Olympics again," said the president of IOC, Jacques Rogge. "Smoking marijuana may be the greatest offense ever committed by an athlete, ever."
This is only slightly more embarrassing than Phelps' other punishment, the loss of a cereal deal that expired this month anyway, for Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which Phelps doesn't even eat. Unless he's toasted. Here's a GGGRRREAT site: http://thekelloggboycott.com/
It is currently unclear if the photo has inspired millions of young, aspiring swimmers to fall into the drug-loving lifestyle of Phelps, but some experts believe that it will not be long.
"Studies have shown that within five minutes of seeing their role models behave in a specific way, 98% of children under the age of 2 years old will imitate that behavior," said US Attorney Michael Sullivan, director of the U.S. Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "I've done the math: because of this photo, there are now approximately 68 million toddlers addicted to weed in the United States."
Sullivan believes that the only way to limit the damage is to persuade Phelps to appear in a series of advertisements aimed at convincing children that what he did was wrong.
"For example, there could be several detailed shots of Michael buying a bag of marijuana from the bad kid outside the playground, then carefully rolling a joint and smoking it," he said. "After a sequence of him laughing with his friends, Michael would come back on the screen and say, 'When you smoke weed, it makes your mom feel sad.'"
The series of ads would cost over $500 billion to produce, including at least $25 to get some good weed for Phelps to smoke.
Worsterest of all, though, what about the endorsements? All those fine, generous corporations gave this miscreant millions and asked only that he shill their very excellent products in return. Now their dreams of enlarging their market share lay dashed on the floor like so many stems and seeds, with no hope of recompense.
Who else could possibly inform the public of the high quality and exceptional value to be found in Corn Flakes, Speedo tight pants and Rosetta Stone software? Kelly Slater? An animated otter? Some lousy comedian/actor? Bah!
He was our golden boy, our shining knight, our sparkly merman, so very very good at swimming. And I hardly need to tell you how important that is in a swimming-centric society such as ours. He was the only one with the ability to plumb the furthest reaches of our coastal coves and rocky outcroppings to fetch the precious pearls we so desperately need to save our economy. Now, our ruin is all but certain. Tell us, Michael, why do you love your drugs more than you love America?
MICHAEL PHELPS REACTS TO HIS SUSPENSION, FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6th
.
61 comments:
He's 23 years old. He didn't intend to be photographed. The poor kid is being hounded by paparazzi and they are out to get him. He did what most 23 year olds do. If Kelloggs is this thin skinned I'm not going to purchase their products anymore.
If the idea is to stop michael doing bong hits, why the hell are
they giving him 3 months vacation? Do these people live in the real world?
They should give the man another gold medal. Anyone who has ever been stoned will understand his extraordinary achievement.
When was the last time they dropped someone for being seen with a glass of wine?
I don't buy Kellogg's garbage anyway, this just ensures I won't "accidentally" put something of theirs in my cart. They perpetuated the drug war.
If anything his image has improved. He won all them medals while smoking pot?!! That is truly amazing.
Also I'd love to see a study showing how much Kellogg's products are consumed by stoners when they have the munchies. Kellogg's probably just pissed off 40% of their customer base.
I'm going to clean Kelloggs out of my pantry. The jerks.
what did doc mean when he said "photos of him punching an unidentified female, as well as a photo in which he is triumphantly standing above the slaughtered bodies of four homeless men"
lol You're fairly new here, and maybe unused to Dr. B.'s satire. He was contrasting which was worse, Phelps' pot smoking or his (fictitious) murder spree. Poking fun at what the media thinks is the most newsworthy.
Right. The whole blogpost was clever as hell, shining a spotlight on how ridiculous, exaggerated, and outlandish all the responses are (the media, USA Swim, International Olympic Commission, Kellogg, etc)
Go out tonight and rent "The Road to Wellville"
A story about the ins and outs of one fucking unusual health facility in the early 20th century, run by the eccentric (insane) Dr. Kellogg.
Smoke a bowl while watching it!
So next time the munchies strike, stay away from Kellogg products.
In any average bong-induced munchie attack, I could easily put away an entire package of Keebler cookies, a Kellogg subsidiary. Oh, the irony.
There are 21 days left on the Kellogg contract. if they had planned to renew they would have been in negotiations, they are just using their statement to get some media. DWI didn't bother them. he apologized for that too. the real reason is the olympics are over and he isn't center stage now
If you object, as i do, to Kellogg's rejecting Michael Phelps over this non-issue you can call them at
800-962-1413.
You can talk to someone in person to express your feelings.
ESPN reported that Kellogg's contract was up with him at the end of February and there had been no new discussions on renewing his contract. Apparently, Kellogg's is as broke as the rest of the country.
For them to come out and use this photo as the reason is a lie. It comes from corporate America so what do you expect?
Completely agree. If Phelps was moving millions of boxes of Corn Flakes based on that sponsorship, they would have renewed his deal and brushed the incident off as a "youthful indiscretion". Kelloggs couldn't care less about his morals or actions. They just want to push their cereal.
Broke is relative. The boardroom folks will get their bonuses and their big salaries. They will just lay off hundreds of loyal employees to be sure that happens.
Anyone want to hazard a guess as to the markup on that cereal? It's been awhile since I bought a box of commercial cereal but what I remember is paying a small fortune for a box of air.
Why isn't the media hassling the snowboarders! This is getting so petty. I just called Kelloggs to voice my displeasure and possible boycott.
I think they should put Tony the Tiger sucking on a bong on the front of the box.
That's a GGGGRRRRREAT idea!
Doc's pic cracked me up. They should really use that one.
Everybody - Go to this site that doc posted
http://thekelloggboycott.com/
I think Kellogg is going to feel this a lot more than they anticipated
Michael Phelps has admitted that he has ADHD.
One of the worst foods for his condition is sugar (see Kellogg's cereal box nutrition labels).
One of the ways many many ADD and ADHD sufferers self-medicate is with marijuana use.
California has even added these diagnoses to their list of diseases eligible for medical marijuana use.
This should have been looked at as an opportunity by Kellogg. Back in the day, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes was one of the greatest snacks for the munchies. Can you picture Michael Phelps and Tony the Tiger chowing down after a few bong hits? Awesome.
Too funny! be wise; legalize
Kellogg will lose TONS of money now, they are already marginalized given the fact that their products are consistently overpriced and not as nutritious as many of the smaller companies out there.
Look for lay offs at Kelloggs in the months to come.
The contract was up this month.
Kelloggs is just using the bong photo as an excuse not to RENEW the contract and to save some $$$.
There is so much junk in most of their cereal these days - parents should keep their kids away from all of it anyway.
The DEA is the real criminal here for it's inexcusable position regarding cannabis and hemp.
The new Kelloggs ad:
Michael Phelps says:
"Dude! I just smoked a bongload of some really gnarly weed, and do I have a case of the munchies! Hey, what could be better when you have the munchies than a big Eggo waffle, slathered with butter.
Yum!"
I just called Kelloggs (1-800-962-1413)
I talked to a live person, and told them they had lost a lifelong Kelloggs customer.
I urge everyone to call Kelloggs (it's a free call) and express your opinion.
Any health nut can tell you that smoking pot is better for you than getting addicted to sugar at an early age.
So take a toke, just stay away from frosted flakes.
Ok, I'm dropping Kellogs because their cereal is not consistent with the healthy lifestyle I seek for my children.
Glad you got out of the contract Michael. Doing ads for Kelloggs is a worse crime than smoking pot.
Pushing all that sugar is more damaging to kids.
New research shows sugar addiction is real. Lab rats coming off it exhibit some of the same behavior as junkies in need of a fix.
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/111801/sugar_is_the_new_heroin/
Just as well. The University of Michigan did a study of breakfast cereals and found that the mice in the study did better being fed the cardboard boxes that the cereals came in.
Who's doing their marketing? Kelloggs is making a mistake. The Phelps bong photo is the photo they should put on the boxes exactly like in doc's pic, and they should put bongs in selected boxes as prizes. Sales would go through the roof.
Its not even the substance that Phelps is being reamed over, its the illegality of it. Its ridiculous that its even still illegal.
In 2000 there were 85,000 deaths caused by alcohol and 0 caused by Cannabis.
Illegal Marijuana...what a total and complete waste of American taxpayer dollars, time, energy and resources. Filling up prisons and keeping families apart for nothing. Doc's wife Buffy was spot on in her comment from the earlier Phelps blog.
Forests of ancient timber could be saved by using sustainable hemp crops for our newspapers, toilet paper etc. Revenue could be generated. There are so many levels on which this law is wrong and I'm not even a smoker.
I'll be switching to Post Raisin Bran thank you very much!
right on..
Perhaps he can recoup his loss by endorsing Hostess Twinkies.
Classification of hemp along with heroin keeps Big Pharma happy and Big Penal thrilled. It is alcohol and tobacco that are dangerous killers and more addictive than any other drug on the planet.
This is obscene and things are going to change whether Corp likes it or not. We the people are going to give Corp the long hard look they so richly deserve now that it was found to be totally responsible for destroying the economy and American lives. That Corporate controls the law is both fact and obscenely unAmerican. That's got to change.
Stop buying Kellogg and feeding unethical Corporate protectionism.
If they would just legalize it, and the Government sell it and tax it - WE WOULDN'T BE FIGHTING TO PASS AN ALMOST TRILLION DOLLAR BAIL OUT!
I'm so tired of people telling us what we can and can't do in our PRIVATE LIVES! So what! He smoked some POT. Good Grief people.
BOYCOTT KELLOGGS!
I don't care what reefer does or doesn't do to folks,what bothers me no end is that our government can make it a felony to even possess a WEED!
A social worker friend of mine told me that about 73-78% of ALL people in jail were using alcohol when they decided to do something stupid, to get sent away for and this social worker also said that these statistics stay pretty much the same, year in and year out! Although I love my country, I gotta say that WE have some fucked up laws!
If pot smoking were legal, crime rates would go way way down, because everyone would be too mellow to commit any crimes.
Alcohol is legal but drunks commit all sorts of crimes.
Tony the Tiger entered rehab this morning...
Kelloggs is going to go bankrupt if all the stoners stop munching on Kelloggs. ROFLMAO
I love how the SC police department is trying to charge him with something.
You cannot be charged with a photograph of you and a bong. You can't even be charged if you have it in your system. You must be in possession of it, or with someone w/possession to even be charged.
The only reason its illegal is because of a damn stamp tax. Can't get the stamp for it, therefore can't have it. That seems legit, right?
A friend of my father worked for Kelloggs in the early '50's and told his son that he used to go to restaurants and schools to promote the food pyramid, something that Kelloggs supposedly made up so that grains were the basis of people's diets.
He also said that Kelloggs would pay for restaurants' menus if they would feature Kelloggs
products. This has since become the norm in how advertising is done. It, however, is one example of how our society slipped into a financial orgy.
I was raised on Frosted Flakes
and Sugar Corn Pops and I am probably less healthy today from the corn syrup and other non-foods Kelloggs made than anything I may have "encountered" in college at parties.
I'm DONE WITH KELLOGGS. Phelps is more of a man than all the executives they have ever had.
there's a penny's worth of corn in a box of corn flakes. The box it comes it is more nutritious.
Hysterical hypocrisy.
Sugary breakfast cereals are far far far more dangerous than a bong load.
How many Kellogg kids won 18 gold medals, nay ONE gold medal in the Olympics: None.
How many Kellogg kids are suger-addicted fat overweight slobs: MORE THAN I CAN COUNT.
Fuck Kellogg. Corporate Republicans.
Great...the rightwing clowns at kelloggs who think its moral to poison our children are upset at Michael for smoking some healthy pot....that's great! Remember Mr Kellogg founded the company to help the male population to stop masturbating by eating their corn flakes...don't laugh its true...look it up. Yes, lets have these people lead the moral crusade. I never eat their overpriced crap anyway.
Does not surprise me about Kellogg - they do have roots in weird forms of fundamentalist Christianity, so that alone lets us know that they are not that bright.
Isn't this the same Kelloggs that popularized the removal of the skin surrounding babies' penises to prevent the acquisition of horrific diseases no one ever caught?
Kelloggs is as bad as the Bush years, rigid, unforgiving, quick to condemn. He is young and made a mistake. He said he was sorry. Move on Kelloggs. I am 61 years old and have used Kelloggs products all my life. I am going to make a conscious effort not to use Kelloggs products anymore.
I hope Keloogs executives are kinder and forgiving to their kids and grandkids than they were to Phelps.
"Among those standing by him, even if they don't condone his behavior, are Visa Inc., Speedo, luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega and sports beverage PureSport's maker Human Performance Labs."
Lest we forget, THANK YOU to the above sponsors for behaving with class and compassion towards this extraordinary young man.
This shows that they regard him as more than just a business partner. I already use VISA almost everyday. Speedo makes more than just swimsuits, such as sportswear. Omega has some of the most handsome high quality sports watches made, and I'll give PureSport a try too.
Sheesh isn't that 'Special K' supposed to be a bad drug (maybe Kelloggs should rename their product, it's definitely a bad influence on kids calling it that!).
Contact numbers for Kellogg:
(269) 961-2000
(800) 962-1413
A contact form is available at http://www.kelloggcompany.com/contactus.aspx
They wouldn't have given it a second thought had he been shown having a beer with his buddies.
It's the hypocrisy that is so disgusting. If our country would deal realistically with marijuana and decriminalize or legalize it, we would have far less hard drug users and far less street crime -- not to mention a lot fewer people filling up the legal system.
It's okay to drink all you want as long as you don't get behind the wheel, but you take a hit off a bong at a party and the whole world has to judge you. Ridiculous.
you can also contact Kelloggs by email:
kellogg@casupport.com
I for one am sick and tired of the public spectacle that transpires every time any public figure gets photographed, arrested or otherwise outed and punished for smoking marijuana.
It's not just that Michael Phelps did what millions of other twenty-somethings do; it's that he did what over one hundred million Americans have done at least once in their lives, including the president, former presidents, members of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court, and a significant proportion of the country's most distinguished businessmen, scholars, artists, entertainers and leaders.
This contemporary flogging reeks of hypocrisy -- of alcohol drinkers and tobacco smokers condemning those who consume a far less dangerous product; of company officials who no doubt smoked marijuana themselves castigating a remarkable athlete for getting caught doing what nobody cares if they did as well; and of sanctimonious handwringers seizing on a public figure's embarrassment to drive home an anachronistic abstinence-only message when it comes to America's favorite illicit psychoactive substance.
Tens of millions of Americans think that the public condemnation of Phelps is a farce. My guess is that, like many of my fellow commenters on this blog, a substantial number of them may choose to boycott Kellogg's products in response to its repudiation of Michael Phelps.
Will it hurt Kellogg's bottom line if hundreds of thousands of Americans no longer grab a Kellogg's product when they get the munchies?
And will it hurt even more if millions of Americans who no longer smoke marijuana, or never did, choose not to buy Kellogg's products because this decision smacks of intolerance and reflects poorly on the Kellogg's brand?
I think it's time to see. More than seventy percent of Americans say that marijuana should be decriminalized and that no one should go to jail. I agree.
In fact, the residents of Kellogg's home state of Michigan recently passed, by an overwhelming margin, a ballot initiative legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
I also think that arresting almost 800,000 Americans each year for possessing a little marijuana is both a stupid waste and diversion of police resources as well as a cruel intrusion into the lives of ordinary Americans.
And I'm sick and tired of the public outings, and forced apologies and recantations, which perpetuate this shameless hypocrisy.
So let's send Kellogg's a message! Criminal laws and corporate drug testing successfully deter millions of Americans from openly identifying as responsible citizens who happen to smoke marijuana.
But a "Call Kellogg's Campaign" that lets the corporation know that their dumping Phelps is good reason for us to dump Kellogg might just make the point that more and more Americans are sick and tired of this particular spectacle.
Just say No to Kellogg's. Call them at 800-962-1413 and 269-961-3799 to tell them what you think. Or go to Twisty's comment before mine for Kellogg's email.
As usual, the Wise One makes many excellent points. No More Kellogg - it's not enough just to boycott their product - they need to hear from us that we're not buying, loud and clear, so they'll have a clue as to why sales are tanking.
Kellogg's dropping Phelps is a strong statement by the company, particularly in historical context:
According to an October 2002 Time/CNN poll, 47% of Americans have smoked marijuana. And users and advocates of the plant reportedly have included the following, several of whom are admired by Kellogg's customers:
Louisa May Alcott
Jennifer Aniston
Bing Crosby
Laura Bush
The Beatles
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Johnny Carson
President Bill Clinton
Johnny Depp
Harrison Ford
Bill Gates
President Andrew Jackson
President Thomas Jefferson**
Steve Jobs
President John Kennedy
Stephen King
Ann Landers
President James Madison
Madonna
John Stuart Mill
President James Monroe
Mozart
Friedrich Nietzsche
Peggy Noonan
President Barack Obama
Sarah Palin
Governor George Pataki
Pablo Picasso
President Franklin Pierce
Brad Pitt
Oliver Sacks
Arnold Schwarzenegger
William Shakespeare
Barbra Streisand
George Soros
President Zachary Taylor
Queen Victoria
President George Washington
John Wayne
...not an exhaustive list, and, according to an anonymous source, at least one other star athlete needs to be added.
Post a Comment