While Michael Phelps image is built upon his success as an incredible and perhaps superhuman athlete, it appears as though he’s not superman after all.
In the following video, The Today Show’s Matt Lauer properly labels this as a “public relations challenge” and questions what will happen in the court of public opinion:
When I originally began writing this post, early last week, the story had just been released that Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps had been caught on camera smoking pot. Originally, I began to write about the possible reactions of Phelps’ publics (sponsors, the IOC, the USOC, fans, and the proverbial “general public”). Since beginning this draft, however, the story has gone from what appeared to be an isolated incident of irresponsibility that would result in a mere “shame on you” from the world, to a suspension of competition and the loss of his contract with Kellogg’s.
To know what kind of ramifications Phelps is facing is all well and good, but the more important notion is to understand why they are happening. In short, this means understanding the power of public opinion.
At first, Phelps’ sponsors seemed to be nonchalant about this incident. Speedo and Omega released statements indicating their continued support of Phelps. From a purely capitalistic, business perspective, if your stockholders and consumers (which in this case are predominately NOT children/parents) do not seem to care one way other the other about Phelps’ misstep, why should you condemn him? Kellogg’s, on the other hand, has a different sort of public to worry about. Unlike a luxury watch brand or a producer of the most technoligically advanced swimwear on the planet, Kellogg’s brand is something consumed by the everyday American family. Therefore, it should come of no surprise to Phelps that the power of that public’s opinion would lead to him losing a contract.
It will be interesting to see what the additional fallout of this pot-smoking incident may lead to. If the opinion of officials of the USOC changes (on their own volition or due to outside pressure), will Phelps be unable to compete at the Olympic level? If Speedo’s consumers, ranging from young kids taking swimming lessons, to the most elite collegiate and professional athletes, change their opinions, will that contract also be in jeopardy?
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