Who Do You Choose?
Hey, I'm an American and and a guy and I love sports so I am just as big of a Michael Phelps fan as anyone out there. As such, I think I should tell him that if the rumors are true about Michael and Amanda Beard, he really should rethink that.
I also have no problems with his mother Debbie Phelps. by all accounts she is a wonderful person, an educator, a principal and a fantastic mother. With dollars in their eyes, Johnson's named Debbie Phelps "Mom Of The Olympic Games."
Hey, I know, you need to cash in while the cashing is good. In fact she is going to go film some commercials for them and Johnson's is going to donate some money in her name to some good causes.
Here's the thing. I think that the mom of the Olympics should go to Barbara Bachman, who along with her husband were stabbed in Beijing towards the outset of the Olympics. Barbara lost her husband in that attack and is just now showing signs that she will survive. Barbara and her husband were at the Games to see their son-in-law coach the US Women's Volleyball team. Their daughter was a witness to the brutal attack.
So, explain to me how Barbara is not the Mom Of The Olympic Games. Debbie Phelps doesn't need anything. Michael is rolling in the dough and can contribute far more to whatever causes Johnson's was going to donate money to in order to exploit the Phelps name. Perhaps Johnson's doesn't want to offend China and risk not being able to sell any of their products there and so doesn't want to mention anything bad or negative. No, instead they went with who could make their company the most money. They didn't go with someone who probably has incredible medical bills, a medical flight back to the US, a dead husband and a devastated family.
Way to go Johnson's. Be proud.
15 comments:
Did they ever do this Mom Of The Olympics thing before? If not then it was simply something they made up so they could get his mom in there somewhere. She would have ended up their pick no matter what.
im sorry i didn't see Debbie Phelps win one medal.or even get in the damn pool!
so if someone else won all those medals and was raised by a single Dad would he be Dad of the Olympics? or what about girl raised by her Aunt?
what a fucking sham Johnsons.
OMG... you mean an ad campaign... doesn't reflect reality?????? And an ad campaign's award... isn't being awarded based on objective empirical standards?????????
I mean, come on, people. Pick your battles.
they could have/should have hired her to do commercials without the award bullshit.
Agreed, wholeheartedly. Poor family.
And the Chinese seem like they're cheating their way through the GD Olympics, IMO.
I don't care if Americans don't win, I just think the real winners should win in every event, whomever they are.
Unless an event is TIMED and cannot be subjectively scored, the athletes apparently better hang up expecting the gold.
This is not xenophobically-based.
I'd feel the same way if USA was hosting and seemed to be getting a ton of preferential treatment.
I agree with you completely, ENT. But I am originally from Minnesota, and the Bachman's are a wealthy and well-known MN business family. They won't have trouble paying the bills. But the story is no less tragic anyway. It's a horrible story.
selenakyle i agree and think you'll like this blog about all of the cheating:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/The-REAL-Olympic-medal-count?urn=oly,101537
See your point, Ent, about this family deserving more attention from the media, but a brand would be idiotic to align itself with any sort of violent act. Brands want positive events/feelings to be associated with them. Debbie Phelps would be a win for any brand.
I'm with Marisa on this.
I feel badly for that family, but technically Barbara Bachman is the mother-in-law of a coach, not the mother of an athlete. There's a difference.
At any rate, it's not Johnson's responsibility to pony up money for this tragedy -- it's China's.
And I agree you don't make someone mother of the Olympics because of a tragedy.
Poor family, indeed. However, she would be Mother-in-Law, not Mom.
Love you enty. You know a lot about the law (if you really are a lawyer), but you know nothing about marketing to post this drivel about Johnson's.
Thanks for the tip, molly. Gonna check it out.
This seems like something pretty pointless to get upset over...
Especially since I fail to see how getting stabbed makes you anything besides stabbed. It's a horrible shame but is it as worthy of an ad campaign as a divorced Mom who helped her son make it to the Olympics? I gotta say no.
I totally agree enty. I am glad phelps has won and all but how come there is always just one or maybe two people that are the golden people and the rest are sloppy seconds who go unrecognized? At this point when i see phelps on tv i change the channel. how many times do i have to see what he eats per day and how all he does is swim and play video games? big deal.
@jasmine-no offense meant, but as a (very) ex athlete (both swimming and ice skating), what phelps has done is beyond phenomenal. he deserves every second of press coverage he gets-- i had the life-sized poster of mark spitz on my wall, and he was a HUGE asshole in mexico in '68. he redeemed himself, obviously, but phelps is a good kid, and the work he's put into his sport, unless you've tried it, you've no idea. like i said, no offense.
as for this item, this is an advertising thing. i am beyond appalled that an american family was attacked (i hadn't heard about this, i've not been paying attention for awhile) on foreign soil. whether they can afford it or not is not even a point. and, enty, while i applaud your enthusiasm,
i think we're talking apples and oranges.
it used to be all olympic athletes in the states, at least, were strictly amateurs, which meant they could receive NO PAY for their sport. when i was skating, i couldn't even work off ice behind the snack bar. i don't know how swimming works now days, but individual sports used to be a huge hardship. but now i'm just talking out of my hat.
i hope the olympic folks AND the chinese do something about this crime, and let's not take anything away from michael in the meantime.
*soapbox away*
fucking brilliant idea -- well said!
too bad commercialism, in the name of "patriotism," tends to prefer covering up anything that disturbs or ruffles the feathers of mainstram america.
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