It was like a little pebble rolling down Mount Everest. It turned out to be a heck of a snowball and eventually an avalanche of commentary. Michael Phelps was nailed for smoking something he arguably shouldn’t have, but there’s a slew of support for the gold medal winner. Case in point, Tony Newman, director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance wrote in The Huffington Post:
“Few are pointing out however, that Phelps is in good company. Successful and honorable people who have admitted to occasional pot-smoking are all around us, from Mayor Bloomberg to President Obama.”
Pictures of Michael Phelps “inhaling,” from a marijuana pipe swept the media and catalyzed a torrent of public opinion and apparently social unrest in corporate board rooms and dinner tables across America. One of the greatest Olympians of our time, was caught red handed in the blur of his working and living experience – or what I call – a WorkLife Nation conundrum.
In just a few days, the star of the USA swim team fell from grace, was ditched by sponsor Kellogg, reprimanded by USA Swimming and suspended from competition for three months. Phelps said he acted “in a youthful and inappropriate way.”
There seems to be a double standard here, not sure why. It’s easier to digest a formerly tokin’ politician than it is a tokin’ athlete. In this case, when comes to the almighty dollar there are two schools of thought. Kellogg felt it tarnished the image of the 14-medal winning superstar and ditched his contract, in contrast, other sponsors took it in stride, accepted Phelps apology and are not pulling his endorsement deals.
So what’s the right thing to do? Can Michael Phelps continue to be a role model for young people and a allegedly healthy America?
This is not a commentary in support of Phelps, just a thought provoking missive. Phelps, like any other celebrity, is held to higher public standards. He might have been a bit more aware of his antics. If that’s the case, than perhaps we should hold ourselves to a new standard, lay off the judgment, and observe this with a bit more compassion and commercial savy.
As Tony Newman states in his article:
‘While some experts are predicting that the Phelps photo could cost him millions in endorsement deals, it could actually humanize him – and make him even more popular with a large section of the public.”
There’s just no such thing as bad publicity. There is such a thing as being more human in the public eye – and that’s hard to put a price tag on.
