The Irony of Athletes Selling Junk Food to Kids
The GSC panel looks at whether or not athletic demigods should be featured in junk food commercials.
Commercials featuring superstar athletes are nothing new. Since the dawn of the TV era, athletes have been telling us where to shop, what shoes to buy, and which Japanese facial massage devices will give us the jawline of a Grecian god. However, a recent study published in health journal Pediatrics found that potential associations between athletic feats and unhealthy fare could could have detrimental effects when junk food ads are involved. Research showed that the majority of advertisements during the 10 sporting events most watched by viewers aged 2-to-17 featured products that are bad for you. Considering athletes are physically fit people themselves, should they be allowed to pitch junk food to kids?
Riley Nicklaus Evans: It’s less about the irony of our healthiest people selling us unhealthy products, and more about what it means for the value of sponsorships. The entire idea behind celebrity product endorsements is that you’re supposed to be endorsing something you use because you think it’s a good product. Jordan Spieth got killed (and continues to get killed) for accepting a sponsorship from Coca Cola, especially because he’s so popular with kids. It’s really hard to make rules about what athletes should be permitted to endorse, just because establishing an objective standard for what is “healthy” and what isn’t requires a lot of research. However, if athletes are going to openly endorse shit we all know they don’t use, then companies need to re-examine how much that particular athlete’s endorsement is worth.
Kyle McLaren: No, and it has nothing to do with unhealthy food and marketing to children. I’ve always been against someone pimping a product they don’t use themselves. Sure, there’s great money involved, but you should at least be a fan to be able to sell something. This doesn’t apply if an NFL O-lineman is trying to sell me shitty foods… or Bartolo Colon.
Brandon Anderson: First of all, we are doing studies on two-year-olds watching advertisements now? Maybe the athletes in the advertisements are not the only problem here. Anyway, why shouldn’t athletes be allowed to sell anything they want if someone will pay them to sell it? They’ve earned what they’ve got, so more power to them. Do ads work anyway? When in your life have you seriously watched an ad and then decided to buy that product? Ever?
Afi Ahmed: These 2 to 17-year-old kids that this study is based on have parents who can tell them what is good or bad for them. They don’t need to follow some ads by athletes. Who even says that these athletes don’t eat junk food? Yes, they are beyond fit, but that’s because they work hard and train all the time. Do they slip up and have some junk here and there? Most likely.
Yes, they aren’t using these products that they endorse all the time, but there can also be the argument that they aren’t 100 percent of the time against it as well. But regardless, these guys are out here trying to get that paper and have worked their whole lives to make it to the top. Do what you got to do, athletes. #MoneyTalks
serge: For as long as I can remember, I’ve found great irony in sporting events being sponsored by McDonald’s or Coca Cola. I’m not just talking about athletes here; I’m talking about the entire sporting events such as the Olympics. But hey, maybe if your local vegan grocer had the budget of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, this wouldn’t be as much of an issue. I personally don’t drink carbonated drinks (with a few notable exceptions at the movie theatre), but if Coca Cola asked me to shill out for their something or other to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, God do I ever drink all the carbonated drinks on camera. To paraphrase Diddy in the greatest performance of our generation, “Hell no, I don’t like African Child, but if he asks me, I LOVE AFRICAN CHILD. I brush my teeth to that shit.” I’m not going to blame the athletes, many of whom have come from less than privileged backgrounds for grabbing the bag.
Bonus question, when was the last time you think LeBron actually had a Sprite?
‘The Junction’ is edited by Sandy Mui, who is the Facilitator of Special Projects for Grandstand Central. She takes pride in being a “multi-platform journalist” and has covered more than just sports: features, opinions, entertainment… you name it. You can follow her on Twitter here.
