Back into the PR swing of things

**Originally posted February 8, 2009**

In order for me to get back to what this blog was originally supposed to be, I am going to try and pick topics to discuss from hopefully what will be a PR standpoint. At the beginning of the month, a photo was printed of Olympic Champion Michael Phelps partaking in some what has been called “less than responsible behavior”, “irresponsible”, and “shameful” among other things. Within a day of the photo being published Michael Phelps released a statement in regards to the photo’s publication.

His statement said

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

Granted, he’s someone who is in the public eye and while his activities may or may not have been a great decision, it’s not as if he’s the first celebrity to ever participate in said activities. He’s also not even close to being the first celebrity to ever have photos taken and released of said activities.

As a result of the publication of the infamous “bong shot” Kellogg’s has decided to withdraw their endorsement deal with Phelps and USA Swimming had suspended him for three months from competition. He was also at risk of losing his deal with Subway–they had apparently removed all evidence of him from their website and according to a source who made comments to various people, Subway’s legal team was trying to find a way to get out of their deal and get their endorsement cash back. However earlier today, Subway released a statement of their own saying

“Like most Americans, and like Michael Phelps himself, we were disappointed in his behavior. Also like most Americans, we accept his apology. Moving forward, he remains in our plans.”

Phelps has also stated that he may not swim in the 2012 Olympics as a result of the backlash from the photo. While I do understand Kellogg’s deciding to cancel their deal with him and his being suspended from competition to a point, I also have to say WTF? Yes, he “made a mistake” but he was also upfront about it, he apologized for his bad decision and has taken full responsibility for his bad judgement.

For all intents and purposes, what he did (or what there’s proof of anyway) is better than what he could have been doing, so why the persecution over it? In comparison to all the other celebrities who have done considerable worse things he could have done. As far as I’m concerned he and “his people” have handled the whole situation in an appropriate manner–by taking responsibility for the whole issue, so right now it just kind of seems that the whole thing may be getting overblown and people just need to relax.