Saturday
Feb202010
Are these your kids' heroes? Olympians, sponsorship, McDonald's and more
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Earlier this week, Canada welcomed a new hero into its hearts. Not only the winner of our first gold medal during these Olympics, but the winner of the first Olympic gold ever won by a Canadian on Canadian soil, and a genuine good human being too. Alexandre Bilodeau is just the type of person I would like my kids to look up to. Not because sports are super special and sports heroes are better than anyone else, but because he had goals, he worked hard, and he achieved them all while being a great family guy and talking genuinely about how his older brother with cerebral palsy is his inspiration.
Until...
Hours after winning his gold medal, Bilodeau headed off to McDonald's. Almost everyone eats fast food now and again. I get that. We do too. But when I'm trying to convince my kids that McDonald's is not good for you, that fast food will make you sick if you eat it too often, they get to see their Olympic heroes smiling and talking about how great McDonald's is and how much they love it. Mommy isn't an Olympian. If I want to achieve something big like those Olympians, I'd better listen to them instead of listening to Mommy. I'd like to say my kids are smarter than that, but who am I kidding? They are five and almost three. Advertising works on them. If the TV says they must have it, they believe it. If an Olympic gold medalist says they must have it, they REALLY must have it.
It isn't just Bilodeau. Check out Cindy Klassen, yes the one wins lots of medals and who flew back anxiously from competition in Europe to be with her sister who had been in a horrible accident. Again, the ability to win and the human element. Just what McDonald's wants. Just what any sponsor would want. Take a look at this video where Klassen and other Canadian olympians talk about how they eat Egg McMuffins and McDonald's Fries "every chance they get".
Our children are increasingly obese and ingesting dangerous amounts of sodium. The processed foods and fast food industries are largely to blame. The last thing I need, any of us need, is for our children to be convinced by their heroes that McDonald's fries will help them become a sports star.
In his column in today's Ottawa Citizen, "Not lovin' Olympic junk-food peddlers", Dan Gardiner wrote:
A British Columbia pediatrician also strongly criticized the association between junk food firms and the Olympic Games. According to a CBC article, "MD critical of Coke's Olympic sponsorship" :
It is not only seasoned journalists and medical doctors that are making this argument. In a blog post for the Good Food Revolution, 12 year old Hanna Stein writes:
She rightly questions the government for allowing McDonald's to be a major sponsor of the games, given how much taxpayers are paying for these games and the fact that Canadians should be able to expect our taxes to benefit our country and positively reflect on our identity. Instead, we are telling the world that we love junk.
Where are the agricultural marketing boards in all of this? Why aren't the taxpayer supported organizations that exist to promote Canadian farmers and their products, the ones who sell real food, stepping up to sponsor Olympic athletes? Why isn't the government helping those types of sponsorships to take place. Not only are Canadians eating the wrong things, but our farmers are also struggling financially. The Olympic Games could have been a huge opportunity to showcase Canada's food to the world and to see athletes supporting healthy eating habits.
It turns out one of the agricultural marketing boards is supporting a few Olympians. The Egg Farmers of Canada are sponsoring female hockey players Hayley Wickenheiser and Kim St-Pierre (thank you to Brian Rice from Processing Politics for letting me know):
I'll take my eggs without a side of McMuffin, thank you. I'm glad to see the egg farmers supporting our olympians, but wish it was higher profile and wish there were a lot more sponsorships and advertising spots featuring partnerships between Canadian farm products and Canadian olympians.
But...big profits = big money to spend on sponsoring athletes = even bigger profits. No profits = no money for sponsoring athletes = bankruptcy. This is a dangerous cycle. The government needs to step in to help our farmers, help our athletes and help our kids. If they don't do it now, they'll be shelling out the money on health care costs anyway.
Until...
Hours after winning his gold medal, Bilodeau headed off to McDonald's. Almost everyone eats fast food now and again. I get that. We do too. But when I'm trying to convince my kids that McDonald's is not good for you, that fast food will make you sick if you eat it too often, they get to see their Olympic heroes smiling and talking about how great McDonald's is and how much they love it. Mommy isn't an Olympian. If I want to achieve something big like those Olympians, I'd better listen to them instead of listening to Mommy. I'd like to say my kids are smarter than that, but who am I kidding? They are five and almost three. Advertising works on them. If the TV says they must have it, they believe it. If an Olympic gold medalist says they must have it, they REALLY must have it.
It isn't just Bilodeau. Check out Cindy Klassen, yes the one wins lots of medals and who flew back anxiously from competition in Europe to be with her sister who had been in a horrible accident. Again, the ability to win and the human element. Just what McDonald's wants. Just what any sponsor would want. Take a look at this video where Klassen and other Canadian olympians talk about how they eat Egg McMuffins and McDonald's Fries "every chance they get".
Peddling junk to our kids
Our children are increasingly obese and ingesting dangerous amounts of sodium. The processed foods and fast food industries are largely to blame. The last thing I need, any of us need, is for our children to be convinced by their heroes that McDonald's fries will help them become a sports star.
In his column in today's Ottawa Citizen, "Not lovin' Olympic junk-food peddlers", Dan Gardiner wrote:
Governments give public money to the Olympics, in part to encourage healthy lifestyles, and this money helps make the Olympics a brand so powerful that McDonald’s and Coca Cola pay to associate themselves with it in order to strengthen their own brands and improve sales of junk that contributes to the spiralling rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases which governments are fighting by spending large and growing amounts of money on, among other things, the Olympics.
If public policy were a competitive sport, this performance would not own the podium.
A British Columbia pediatrician also strongly criticized the association between junk food firms and the Olympic Games. According to a CBC article, "MD critical of Coke's Olympic sponsorship" :
The Olympics might promote physical activity among young people but that does not make up for the potential harm of too many sweet drinks and too much fast food, according to Dr. Tom Warshawski.
"The nutritional damage so much of their products probably do outweighs or exceeds the good things that happen in terms of physical activity," Warshawski told CBC News Tuesday.
It is not only seasoned journalists and medical doctors that are making this argument. In a blog post for the Good Food Revolution, 12 year old Hanna Stein writes:
Any athlete training for the Olympic games could never risk eating a diet consisting of fast food. (ie. McDonald’s). They have to stay on a strict diet to keep their weight perfect for training and competition. There is no way they are living up to the things they are telling us from the televisions all over the world that they value McDonalds as a nutritious meal. Who could possibly be proud to say you value a way of eating that is not possible for an athletic when we suspect it is simply for the money they obtain through endorsements. Where is the dignity and pride that we want to see in all of our Canadian athletes that are representing Canada itself at the Olympic games? McDonalds presents a false value to our youth in telling us that a McDonald’s meal is nutritious and a substitute for real food. This can potentially have a long-term impact on the health of our future generation.
She rightly questions the government for allowing McDonald's to be a major sponsor of the games, given how much taxpayers are paying for these games and the fact that Canadians should be able to expect our taxes to benefit our country and positively reflect on our identity. Instead, we are telling the world that we love junk.
Where are our farmers?
Where are the agricultural marketing boards in all of this? Why aren't the taxpayer supported organizations that exist to promote Canadian farmers and their products, the ones who sell real food, stepping up to sponsor Olympic athletes? Why isn't the government helping those types of sponsorships to take place. Not only are Canadians eating the wrong things, but our farmers are also struggling financially. The Olympic Games could have been a huge opportunity to showcase Canada's food to the world and to see athletes supporting healthy eating habits.
It turns out one of the agricultural marketing boards is supporting a few Olympians. The Egg Farmers of Canada are sponsoring female hockey players Hayley Wickenheiser and Kim St-Pierre (thank you to Brian Rice from Processing Politics for letting me know):
Egg Farmers of Canada is proud to support Olympic and World Champions Hayley Wickenheiser and Kim St-Pierre. As the official nutritional partner of Team Canada, we know that athletes need energy to perform at their best. Eggs are packed with 6 grams of the highest quality protein giving our athletes the energy they need before a game. To perform at your best, start your day with a gold medal breakfast!
I'll take my eggs without a side of McMuffin, thank you. I'm glad to see the egg farmers supporting our olympians, but wish it was higher profile and wish there were a lot more sponsorships and advertising spots featuring partnerships between Canadian farm products and Canadian olympians.
But...big profits = big money to spend on sponsoring athletes = even bigger profits. No profits = no money for sponsoring athletes = bankruptcy. This is a dangerous cycle. The government needs to step in to help our farmers, help our athletes and help our kids. If they don't do it now, they'll be shelling out the money on health care costs anyway.
Reader Comments (52)
[...] Are these your kids heroes? Olympians, sponsorship, McDonald’s and more: Think about how it impacts your children’s food choices when their heroes are hawking junk. [...]
[...] response to my post called Are these your kids’ heroes? Olympians, sponsorship, McDonald’s and more, she wrote: I’d much rather my kids emulate an Olympic athlete than some of the other less than [...]