Would Michael Phelps's compromising picture mean less sponsorships?

Posted Feb 3rd 2009 7:15PM by Mark Fightmaster
Filed under: Marketing and Advertising, Kellogg Co (K), Visa Inc. (V)

Maybe you have heard, maybe you haven't. Olympic hero and NBC posterboy Michael Phelps got caught in flagrante delicto with a marijuana pipe at a party after the Olympic Games had completed. So, of course his sponsors are jumping ship left and right to distance themselves from this scofflaw, right? Wrong ... and somewhere, Cheech and Chong are smiling.

It appears that the sponsors are going to stand by their man, from Speedo to Parenting magazine. In fact, Visa (NYSE: V) came out Tuesday and stated that it supports Phelps despite his little misstep. According to Visa, the company has "spoken with Michael and he has expressed regret for the situation, has committed to being accountable and improving his judgment in the future ... We intend to support him as he looks to move forward."

Phelps apologized for his behavior and poor judgment after a picture of him imbibing in the forbidden herb appeared in a British tabloid. Yesterday, a trio of Phelps' sponsors stated that they stand behind him, although they don't condone his behavior. Kellogg (NYSE: K) has not commented on its sponsorship of the natatorial wunderkind. Of course, maybe they could put his picture on a box of Weedies?

This isn't the first time a spokesperson has screwed up, and it won't be the last. I have less of a problem with sponsors continuing to have Michael Phelps pitch their product than I do with the NFL putting Ray Lewis's picture and likeness all over the place -- I guess he was smart enough to not have a picture taken.

Tags: k, kellogg, michael phelps, MichaelPhelps, olympics, scandal, sponsor, sponsorship, v, visa

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-03-2009 @ 11:12PM

ambu7 said...

A great scientist Albert Einstein was a heavy cocain user till the day he died. The formal U.S. president Bill Clinton under oath said "I DID NOT INHAIL". Michael is only guilty of not keeping his privacy indoors. He did a mistake like any of us has. He learned his lesson now lets move on! If michael is penalized so should President Clinton!

2-04-2009 @ 12:00AM

Iridium said...

The IOC should confiscate Phelps gold medals.

Sorry but he was caught doing an illegal action and should be punished.

Any company that keeps Phelps as a spokesman should be boycotted.

If nothing happens to Phelps then you can not arrest or detain anyone for marijuana possesion. It will no longer be a crime.

Of course that is what the media wants. To me Phelps was always a terrible spokesman. He is a dumb looking dweeb that can swim really fast.

2-04-2009 @ 2:35AM

Angela said...

If you ask me, doing something like that in public knowing full well you're a famous figure is just ridiculous. Don't people even THINK anymore?

Angela from Aberdeen

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