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(NaturalNews) While New York Giants' quarterback Eli Manning achieved an astonishing success in leading his team to a 17-14 Superbowl win over the New England Patriots, he has so far positioned himself as a junk food peddler off the field by agreeing to star in television advertisements promoting Oreo cookies to audiences that include children. What's wrong with Oreo cookies? Amid our nation's worst epidemic of obesity and type-2 diabetes among children, teens and adults, Oreo cookies are precisely the kind of processed junk foods that contain ingredients widely understood to contribute to those diseases: sugar, processed wheat, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup. Are these the kind of ingredients that a role model like Manning should really be promoting?
In one advertisement, Eli Manning appears alongside his brother Peyton Manning in an Oreo cookie licking contest. While the contrivance seems cute, the message is actually quite serious: Manning is using his celebrity status to promote junk foods that directly contribute to the worsening health of his own fans. By selling his celebrity status to a processed food corporation, he is trading the health of his fans for his own personal financial gain.
Should celebrities be responsible for what they promote?Now wait a minute. Many would argue that football players aren't supposed to be nutritionists. How are they to know that certain ingredients found in the products they promote may contribute to obesity, diabetes, heart disease or even birth defects? This is exactly my point, actually: Celebrities who accept money in exchange for appearing in commercials have an ethical duty to fully understand the effects of what they're promoting. Pleading ignorance is not enough, especially when you're walking away with a check for millions of dollars (Manning could earn as much as $5 million in celebrity promotions this year, thanks to his Superbowl win).
I hope I'm not alone in expecting sports heroes to uphold ethical standards of behavior when choosing endorsement opportunities. While Manning's on-the-field victory was monumental, his off-the-field promotional choices have so far been nothing short of shameful. He may be a football hero today, but until Manning decides to more carefully choose which products to promote to his fans, he will only be a shamed junk food promoter playing a highly influential role in the continued destruction of the health of the very people who made him famous: His fans.
Of course, Manning is not alone in this celebrity hall of shame. Countless adorable celebrities have sold out to junk food companies and traded their recognizable faces for a hefty paycheck. Even Jackie Chan -- a martial arts superhero and generally thought of as an honorable human being -- has promoted diet soda for companies like Coke and Pepsi.
Some would argue that I'm being too tough on these celebrities. They shouldn't be held up to these high standards of ethical behavior, some say. Celebrities should be free to promote whatever they want: Junk foods, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals and even war. But I strenuously disagree with that selfish, greed-driven view of personal fame. Isn't it precisely the role of our most cherished celebrities and sports heroes to rise above the norm and serve as role models for our nation's youth? I believe celebrities have a very serious social responsibility to make sure their actions are constructive, not destructive. Being featured in an advertisement of an Oreo cookie cream filling licking contest is hardly a constructive role for a sports superhero.
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Monday, February 04, 2008
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