Greasy double cheeseburgers, sugar-laden Coke, frothy beer, and sodium-packed french fries. You might think adding the word “Olympics” to this list of less-than-healthy fare is sacrilegious, but these are just some of the products behind the 2024 Summer Olympic games. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Budweiser are proud sponsors of the games, which kicked off just this past weekend.
Maybe it’s me, but does anyone else find these a less-than-fitting match of sponsorship partners for a worldwide event that includes the planet’s most conditioned and fittest athletes? I have a hard time believing that the U.S. Olympic team meals include cheeseburgers, fries, and bottomless Cokes. I imagine that what these athletes put into their mouths is just about as closely monitored by their coaches as the International Olympic Committee’s meticulous drug testing procedures.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m an avid drinker of Diet Coke and if I didn’t worry about calories and fat grams, I’d eat Micky D’s french fries for breakfast. Maybe. But it just seems a bit contradictory to have the mega corporations support and endorse a competition whose foundation is built around treating the body and mind as if it were a sacred temple.
But who knows? Maybe as soon as a gold-medal athlete steps down from the winning podium, he or she hits the nearest golden arches and later toasts their victory back with a few bottles of Bud.
It’s not just you Heather. It’s a little silly. I saw an ad that featured Olympic athletes and their favorite menu item from McDonald’s. I doubt any of them have one. The female athlete I saw said it was the Fruit N Yogurt parfait.
The Olympics is about who has the most money! Doesn’t matter what the product is, I don’t think!! Amazing how the bad stuff is put in front of your face every night- makes you think it is acceptable, heh? Even “health food” products are NOT healthy but have huge MONEY in advertising such as powerbars.
I agree.
Unfortunately, Mcdonald’s has way too much money for their own good and can thus pay the IOC whatever it wants.
McD’s is clever though as they’re trying to position themselves side-by-side with what people consider to be healthy – the olympics!
Not only is it clever but sadly misleading. The reality is that there are no Olympians (or shouldn’t be any) that would even walk into a McDonald’s restaurant.
Remember when Virginia Slims used to sponsor the women’s tennis association? How many pro tennis players do you know who smoke? I can’t think of a thing I would eat on McDonald’s menu except for their coffee and salads. Everything else is high fat, high sugar and high glycemic carbohydrates. A world class athlete does not fuel up on such junk. If you would like to watch the film, “Super Size Me,” go to my blog post.