Michael Phelps – Olympic Gold Medalist
Essay Preview: Michael Phelps – Olympic Gold Medalist
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Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has won a total of 16 Olympic medals, 14 of them Gold Medals in his career. He holds the record for the most wins at a single Olympics, which took place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Beyond the Olympics Phelps hold 48 medals from other major sporting events, such as The World and The Pan Pacific, out of the 48 medals he holds 40 are gold. Phelps has also received recognition as American Swimmer of the year for five years.
With much success and becoming a public figure always brings attention, positive or negative. Every action and decision made by public figures are chances that the media will take to exploit. Recently a photo surfaced of Phelps engaging in a “bong hit” which is a device used to smoke marijuana. Phelps has deeply apologized and taken responsibility for his actions for his actions stating “I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment”.
Once the photo had leaked, the American society was out to point figures at Phelps stating that he is a role model and should not have engaging in such compromising actions. Phelps felt the repercussions of his action not only from his fans and the society but also from his endorsers and the U.S.A Swimming Team, which governs competitive swimming. Phelps was suspended for three months and he was barred from competition during that time of his suspension.
After his wins at the Beijing Olympics, Phelps was swamped with endorsements from companies such as: Rosetta Stone, Kelloggs, Subways and Matsunichi, just to name a few. Due to the recent scandal these endorsements have been put in jeopardy. Phelps losing his endorsements would not only taint his image, but also hurt him financially. Phelps has been given the nickname by the media as the 100 million dollar man.
Michael Phelpss was going to be featured on Subway Sandwich campaign. The statement released stated that campaign was going to be delayed and no reason was given. Though many speculate it has to do with Phelpss recent scandal. The Kelloggs Company was the only one of Phelps endorsers to pull out and not renew his contract in February. Instead Kelloggs donated the already printed boxes to a Food Bank in California.
Upon Kelloggs discovery of Phelps run in with the cannabis plant they quickly withdrew the offer. Kelloggs released a statement stating, “Michaels most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg,” Kelloggs being a family orientated company could not afford to keep Phelps signed on as a spokesperson. Kelloggs has an image to maintain, a family orientated image. Having a spokesperson whom engaged in illegal activities does not coincide with their squeaky clean image.
Kelloggs target age group are young children, with their animated and bright colored packages they set images for children. Keeping