Phelps and the Corn Flakes

Another TV at the gym story....
It was a basic interview with some reporter and a spokesperson from some national obesity society. They were talking about how this society opposes Michael Phelps signing with Corn Flakes to be their new spokesperson. The basis of the opposition is that Phelps should be encouraging children to eat broccoli and not corn flakes, and that parents already have a hard enough job and he is going to contribute to the obesity problem getting worse.
Hmmmm.......
No. I don't think so. To be more specific, yes I would have liked to see Phelps promoting something I believe in more, like broccoli, but this is America and these are the behaviors of basic economics. Furthermore, this is not a new concept for any of these large food conglomerates. They know how to sell and it works.
Luckily, I was on the bike when I was watching this so at least I got a really good workout in, but I was fuming when I heard this spokesperson raging on about how terrible the Corn Flake deal was with Phelps. The truth is, the responsibility is on the parents, educators, and other support figures that are involved in the everyday life of our children. There are parents out there successfully keeping their kids away from junk food and high sugar cereals like corn flakes. Maybe not everyday, but they have a way of managing the manipulated food dilemma in our country. So it begs the question that if some have done it, why are we pinning the problem on a third party for the growing population that is not addressing this issue in their home.
Quite simply, Phelps cannot be held accountable for that. Nor can Kellogg's. Everyone has a choice and everyone has the right to raise their children and provide an education - whether it be about books, finances, food or love - they have the right to do it how they want and it is up to them to get the message across.
Also, if you don't want your kids eating corn flakes, and they ask in the store, you can always say no. Phelps is not in the store telling you that you have to.