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Time to Boycott Kellogg's Cereal

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 10:58:20 PM EST
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What a poor move by Kellogg in deciding to drop Michael Phelps.

Here's the Facebook Group where you can join the petition to boycott Kellogg Cereal:

Kellogg's has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Michael Phelps because he was photographed allegedly smoking marijuana out of a bong. More than 100 million Americans have admitted to using marijuana, and they shouldn't be treated like criminals!

But Kellogg's wants to treat Phelps like a criminal, so we're not going to purchase their products anymore!

Here's a list of Kellogg products so you know what not to buy. The cereal list is here.

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    Time to Boycott Kellogg's Cereal | 40 comments (40 topical)

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    Reminds me of this morning (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:04:48 PM EST
    My son and I fell asleep on the sofa last night and we woke up to Sarah Silverman this a.m. on HBO I think it was.  Actually I woke up to my son laughing and then realized that Sarah Silverman was on.  OMG, he's only nine and he gets Sarah Silverman?  What have we done to him?  She finished up her program by doing a "monster bong hit" though.  My son got flustered and asked me if she was smoking pot and when I told him that yes, she was "depicting" smoking pot, he was not impressed with her one little bit.  She wasn't that funny anymore.

    Who should I boycott if I am (5.00 / 6) (#3)
    by ThatOneVoter on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:05:18 PM EST
    unhappy that the gay diver who won a gold medal in Beijing---and who is 100 times cuter than Phelps, btw---has no endorsements.

    Perhaps because the marijuana movement (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by Ben Masel on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:31:35 AM EST
    has been overwhelmingly in support of the gay community in the marriage wars.

    Parent
    Huh? No diver from the US won Gold. (none / 0) (#32)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:14:46 PM EST
    Men's Diving

    Event Gold Medal
    3 m Springboard He Chong - China  
    10 m Platform Matthew Mitcham - Australia  
    Synchronized 3 m Springboard  China  
    Synchronized 10 m Platform  China  

    Parent

    It's Matthew Mitcham. (none / 0) (#34)
    by ThatOneVoter on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:33:54 PM EST
    I was confused because there was a gay american diver who also came out before the olympics. Mitcham is gay, a gold medalist, and a hunk


    Parent
    Hmm,, I see that I didn't write (none / 0) (#35)
    by ThatOneVoter on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:34:35 PM EST
    that the diver was American. You think only Americans are interested in endorsements?!

    Parent
    Dunno. I didn't see the connection between (none / 0) (#37)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:48:26 PM EST
    a US athlete getting huge press and endorsements in the US, and a foreign athlete not getting huge press and endorsements in the US.

    US athlete Brian Clay (who?) won the decathlon in Beijing - he's the World's Greatest Athlete. At least that's what they called Bruce Jenner and Jim Thorpe.

    Life ain't fair, it's not always that way because of nefarious reasons...

    Parent

    He's still magically delicious, though (none / 0) (#33)
    by jondee on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:18:57 PM EST
    Actually, him not being offered any endorsements seems like an even better reason to boycott Kellogs.

    Parent
    The bong photo is an excuse. (5.00 / 3) (#6)
    by lobary on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:17:01 PM EST
    According to Darren Rovell's sources, the company wasn't going to renew his contract anyway, which expires at the end of the month.

    Also, Kellogg's ended its deal with the USOC in December. I'm skeptical that they ever had any intention of resigning Phelps. The photo just gives the company an easy out.

    Plus free publicity. n/t (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by Fabian on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 04:41:13 AM EST


    Parent
    Kelloggs is a (5.00 / 5) (#7)
    by cal1942 on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:18:43 PM EST
    Michigan company.  No way I'll boycott a Michigan company while the state has an unemployment rate exceeding 10%.  Some things, like keeping your children fed, a roof over your head, and preventing or at least not adding to the woe of people who had nothing to do with Kellogg's decision; outweighs cutting an athlete off from endorsement money no matter what the cause.

    During the Great Depression Kelloggs changed production from 2 to 3 shifts.  This meant that workers didn't earn extra money for working past 8 hours in a given day.  BUT, Kelloggs sought out hundreds of unemployed people in the community and gave them full time jobs to fill out the new 3rd shift increasing total employment at the plant by 50%.

    an "endorsement" boycott ?? (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by ding7777 on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:48:22 PM EST
    no thanks!

    Maybe the price of brand-name (none / 0) (#9)
    by oculus on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:55:15 PM EST
    cereal will decrease?

    Parent
    That just might be (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by CoralGables on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:22:27 AM EST
    a great way to cut costs. Get all big name athletes that endorse products to take a bong hit for the camera. That would lead to dropping the endorsements and lowering the overall expense for getting the product to market, thus helping average Americans.

    Parent
    Who says the grassroots can't help (none / 0) (#11)
    by oculus on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:00:54 AM EST
    solve the meltdown?  Although an exception should probably be made for Percy, don't you think?

    Parent
    I think (5.00 / 3) (#13)
    by CoralGables on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:21:49 AM EST
    Percy will have to reach the endzone a few times before he has to be concerned about endorsement deals.

    As for Phelps, signing with Kellogg's instead of being on the Wheaties box is a little like winning the Super Bowl and the athlete saying..."I'm going to Six Flags"

    Parent

    Endorsements are not criminal convictions (5.00 / 3) (#15)
    by abdiel on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:53:30 AM EST
    Kellogg's doesn't have to prove anything and failing to renew Phelps isn't treating him like a criminal.  It's treating him like a role model who's getting bad pub, so they have every right to stop endorsing him.  

    For the record, Kobe got dropped by a lot of his sponsors when he was accused of rape.  He has most of them back now, after being acquitted and a few years of good behavior.

    I'm not sure the TalkLeft crowd has big cereal eaters anyways.  Then again, it seems pretty supportive of marijuana....

    I don't eat Kelloggs anyway but if I did I would (5.00 / 4) (#19)
    by Angel on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 07:54:20 AM EST
    not boycott them.  What's the purpose?  They have nothing to do with whether or not marijuana becomes legal.  It's their product and they have the right to chooose whomever they want peddling it.  Like it or not, Michael Phelps is a role model for children, and he was seen in a photograph appearing to do something that isn't quite role model behaviour.  

    Oh yeah... (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by kdog on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 09:37:22 AM EST
    don't forget to boycott USA Swimming too.

    I Strongly disagree . . . (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by Doc Rock on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 10:33:57 AM EST
    . . . with your call to boycott Kellogs--not that I think their products are particularly worth purchasing, but when they pay for a spokesperson such as Phelps, they are paying for a reputation earned.  Phelps foolishly lowered the value of his name, hurting its market value.  It's like any product, if it is not delivered in the condition and quality for which it was contracted, one needn't pay for it.  This has nothing to do with criminality or innocence--it has to do with name/reputation.  

    If you want to have a meaningful boycott, on the other hand, boycott the sponsors of Rush Limbaugh or some other such propagandist and character assassin.

    As has been mentioned (5.00 / 2) (#30)
    by CoralGables on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 11:28:56 AM EST
    Olympians are out of the news soon after they win their medals (unless bong photos appear) and reappear four years later. Dropping Phelps as an endorser is more return on investment than anything else.

    Jason Giambi was supposedly dropped after steroid allegations but more likely was due to the fact he no longer was a starter for the Yankees as thus no longer financially viable as an endorser. Let's see if Alex Rodriguez loses his Nike endorsement now that it has been confirmed he tested positive for steroids.

    A friend who has a 16-year old (none / 0) (#1)
    by oculus on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:03:17 PM EST
    son who is very active in sports stated a person such as Phelps inspires high school athletes.  In my friend's opinion, he is unsuitable as a roll model as he might make h.s. kids think using drugs is o.k.  I sd., did you know Kobe Bryant's t-shirt is a best-seller?  She sd., but most kids don't know what he allegedly did--too long ago.

    Hah, when I did my short stint (none / 0) (#4)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:08:22 PM EST
    as a youth probation officer......the number of high school "athletes" who got caught with a little weed was pretty darned dramatic for me to add up.  The latest figures that I had at that time too, about 12 yrs ago, indicated that athletes no longer shun pot as they did when I was in high school.

    Parent
    The football players were the partyers (none / 0) (#31)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 11:59:49 AM EST
    in my HS.

    Parent
    I don't eat (none / 0) (#5)
    by eric on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:08:37 PM EST
    cereal, but I will convey this to my wife, who does.  I am sure that General Mills has good cereal as a substitute.

    when was that, (none / 0) (#12)
    by cpinva on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:01:07 AM EST
    indicated that athletes no longer shun pot as they did when I was in high school.

    the bronze age? i suspect i was in HS several years before you (class of '74). trust me, we weren't shunning it.

    two comments:

    1. kellogs makes sugar products, masquerading as "nutritious" children's breakfast foods, with the exception (maybe) of plain corn flakes. mr. phelps, as an olympic athelete, probably shouldn't have been endorsing them to begin with.

    2. mr. phelps (as the AP has finally admitted) never admitted to smoking pot, just in having bad judgement. the picture i saw, of him with the bong to his mouth, showed no actual smoke in the bong.

    it was an at least partially clear bong (glass or plastic, i don't know), were he actually to have been inhaling, when that pic was snapped, there should have been white smoke in the tube. there wasn't.

    i think he was actually apologizing for having been photographed with the bong to his lips, not for having actually smoked the pot, from the visual evidence i've seen.

    based on that, no charges will be filed, because there is no evidence (at this point) that mr. phelps engaged in an illegal act. good luck with that mr. prosecutor.

    What can I say (none / 0) (#18)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 07:40:42 AM EST
    I must have been hanging out with real squares :)

    Parent
    I think it was an age thing. (none / 0) (#26)
    by BarnBabe on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 10:17:01 AM EST
    If you went to a rock concert in the 70's, it reeked. It was Ft. Lauderdale/Miami. But grass was the biggest thing that most people did. We weren't in for the heavy drugs. Well, unless you count all that beer and Tequila we consumed. Heh.

    Parent
    I thought it was just a 3 month suspension. (none / 0) (#17)
    by weltec2 on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 07:07:03 AM EST
    Completely breaking him off seems rather over the top.

    The suspension was from swimming (none / 0) (#21)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 09:20:54 AM EST
    not Kelloggs cereal boxes.

    Parent
    In this economic climate (none / 0) (#20)
    by Cream City on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 08:19:09 AM EST
    even more than usual, companies take no risks.  And we can bet that their shareholders want it that way.  And Kellogg's answers to them.  

    Easy answer on the Business 101 test.  Next question?

    And, for the consumers (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 09:27:58 AM EST
    these over-the-top price tags for endorsements has a small box of cereal priced too high.

    I don't eat cereal, so have been "boycotting" all of the manufacturers for many years already. And, it was the prices that caused me to change my breakfast habits.

    I sincerely doubt that Kelloggs is dropping Phelps because they feel he's a criminal. They've most likely been bombarded by emails from moms saying they want him gone because he is a lousy role model.

    Sometimes people get themselves remembered for the wrong events in their lives, and Phelps just got his public focus shifted. If you want to boycott someone for what Phelps is going through...think Media. This was hardly worth the news time it got.

    Parent

    Lies, lies, lies... (none / 0) (#23)
    by kdog on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 09:29:28 AM EST
    Phelps lies, Kelloggs lies, society-wide we lie to ourselves putting up this phony front for "the children" that drugs are evil, which probably does the youth more harm than good, nobody likes to be lied to.  Addiction is the bad news...drugs can be good or bad depending on how they're used...why is that so hard to admit?  How did a little euphoria get such a bad rap?

    We are hopeless in our self-delusion....hopeless.

    Here Kelloggs had a chance to speak some truth...with the economy so f*cked every company should revisit their endoresement deals and either scrap 'em or scale them back...but they lie and blame it all on reefer.  I just don't get it.

    So true (none / 0) (#25)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 09:50:17 AM EST
    I have boycotted all endorsement products for as far back as I can remember. Everything from sports shoes to perfumes with the huge jump in cost because of the name attached. I resent the millions of dollars that are handed to the stars of sport and screen for a few hours a year of shooting a TV commercial.

    The drug laws in this country are so ridiculous. People should demand to know how much each household is paying a year to take people to trial and hold in prison, while we pay foster parents to keep their children just for low end crimes with marijuana.


    Parent

    when richard nixon (none / 0) (#28)
    by cpinva on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 10:30:58 AM EST
    How did a little euphoria get such a bad rap?

    saw an opportunity to take the public's mind off of the lousy job he was doing as president, by creating the DEA and the "war on drugs" out of whole (good republican) cloth.

    this accomplished two critical things:

    1. diverted the public's attention from the fact that he still hadn't gotten us out of vietnam. his "secret" plan to do so was still "secret" well into his second term.

    2. diverted lots of cash to a "para-military" type entity (the DEA), who's sole purpose for existence was to handle a job already being done by the FBI, Coast Guard and the states. in other words, a solution in search of a problem not already being addressed elsewhere. it cemented (in his mind, anyway) his "law n order" creds.

    i've always suspected he saw "reefer madness", realized it was bunkum, but also saw the opportunities it presented him.

    and here we are today.

    Parent

    How many kids (none / 0) (#27)
    by BarnBabe on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 10:23:24 AM EST
    are looking at our new President as their hero? Will he get a suspension also? He, Clinton, Gore, Bush and I am sure most of the legislator tried a little weed at college. It was a long time ago and we all survived. A few years from now, when Phelps is winning more gold medals, people will forget the picture. Well, of course, the MSN will be sure to keep reminding you as he stands on the medal box.

    One thing we did not have back then were camera phones and friends who were not really friends and were looking to take you down.

    Well, I have not forgotten (none / 0) (#36)
    by Cream City on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:27:18 PM EST
    that Hamm's endorsement fell through not for anything he did, winning the gold, but for the nonsense pulled by the other country over it.

    I hope there was outrage here then.  The Hamms are great guys who didn't let fame go their heads, as Phelps did.

    Parent

    Are we really (none / 0) (#38)
    by CoralGables on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 02:03:47 PM EST
    going down the road of comparing the endorsement potential of someone that has won 14 gold medals and holds seven World Records with someone that managed to win one questionable gold? I'm afraid that comparison carries no weight anywhere outside of Waukesha.

    Parent
    The only pol of my generation (none / 0) (#39)
    by Ben Masel on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 04:12:00 PM EST
    who I believe when he denies ever having used cannabis is Feingold. I was in every smoke filled room in Sellery Hall freshman year, and he wasn't.

    Parent
    Maybe (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by squeaky on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 04:34:22 PM EST
    He is just smarter than Phelps..  lol...

    Parent
    Time to Boycott Kellogg's Cereal | 40 comments (40 topical)

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