Thursday, November 06, 2008

The Chocolate Olympics


The 2012 London Olympic games will be brought to you by - Cadbury.

And probably Coca-Cola, McDonald's and other healthy living giants.

Cadbury's share of the Olympic pie cost them $40 million.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Cadbury's involvement has raised some eyebrows from obesity advocates like Tam Fry of Britain's National Obesity Forum who stated his organization is,

"disappointed that the London games have gone to Cadbury, because sport and chocolate don’t mix"
The controversy reminds me of the uproar when Michael Phelps decided to endorse McDonald's.

While I'm all for more regulation and legislation to help in the treatment and prevention of obesity, overweight and sedentary lifestyles, getting your feathers ruffled by who sponsors the Olympics seems like a waste of energy.

Why?

The Olympics happen once every few years and last for two weeks.

Real life happens every day and lasts forever.

While I agree it's intellectually off-side to have fast food and chocolate as Olympic sponsors I'd rather see energy spent campaigning for such things as mandatory calorie labeling, better in-school food, better nutritional education, subsidies for fresh produce, banning advertising targeting children etc.

Picking every single battle just makes you look churlish and takes the wind out of your main sails.