[early mornin stoned pimp]

I've just received a response to my emails to Kellogg's, which follows:

Thank you for contacting us regarding Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps and our decision not to extend his contract.


We regret that the intent of our message was not clear. The contract
was set to expire the end of February and with Michael's obligations to
us met, our decision not to extend the contract was for business reasons
and in no way diminishes Michael's status as an athlete. We believe
Michael has set a tremendous example through his work ethic and his
accomplishments and are proud to have been associated with him.


The timing of this unfortunate incident and the end of the contract is purely coincidental. Again, thank you for the opportunity to share the
facts of this situation.

Sincerely,

Kathi Eckler

Director, Consumer Affairs

*above emphasis mine

One wonders though, if it truly was coincidental; would they have renewed his contract had he not been involved in this "unfortunate incident"??

[420manzana]

I'm sure if this incident involving him would not have happened they would have extended his contract at the end of feburary. That just sucks that because of this one incident they decide to not go forward with the contract.

[superface13]

Got this email from Students for Sensible Drug Policy - http://www.schoolsnotprisons.com

Dear **********,

By now you're probably aware that Olympic hero Michael Phelps was photographed lighting an orphanage on fire, and has now been suspended from competing and is getting dropped by a major sponsor.

Oh, wait. Actually, he was photographed lighting marijuana on fire, not an orphanage.

Smoking marijuana is hardly unusual behavior for a 23 year old. In fact, Phelps is being crucified for something that more than half the adult American population has done at some point in their lives.

Yet, Phelps is facing suspension from competing in the Olympics and Kellogg's cereal has decided to drop their sponsorship of the athlete, claiming "Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg."

Kellogg's needs to hear from the public that their decision will hurt their company far more than Phelps's marijuana use. Please contact Kellogg's today and tell them that you will boycott all of their products until they reverse their decision on Phelps's sponsorship (you can find a list of Kellogg's products at the bottom of this e-mail). You can contact Kellogg's by visiting http://www2.kelloggs.com/ContactUs.aspx

Just cut and paste the following message into the webform on the Kellogg's website (or edit it if you like):

I am deeply disappointed by your decision to drop your sponsorship of Michael Phelps simply because he was photographed smoking marijuana. Over half of all adult Americans, including our last three presidents, have smoked marijuana during their lives. It is outrageous that Kellogg's would hold Michael Phelps to such an unreasonable standard, rather than standing by a 23 year old who has brought more inspiration and joy to millions of Americans than most will accomplish in a lifetime. Until you reverse your decision to drop Michael Phelps' sponsorship, I will be boycotting all Kellogg's products.

Meanwhile, USA Swimming, the governing body of American swimming events, has suspended Phelps for three months for his use of marijuana. While this will not cause him to miss any major competitions, he still faces a potential four-year suspension from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency. If you have a Facebook account, please join thousands of others in signing a petition demanding that the IOC and WADA not suspend Phelps from international competition. http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/62

Have a great weekend, and please keep an eye out for further action on this next week. We're working with a coalition of organizations to send a strong message to the media that a single bong hit should never ruin a person's career.

Regards,

Kris Krane, Executive Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy

P.S. If you support SSDP's work to bring sanity and reason back to the national discussion around drug policy, please consider investing in our work with a tax deductible donation to SSDP today at http://www.ssdp.org/donate

P.P.S. Below is the list of Kellogg's products that we hope you consider boycotting until they reverse their decision to drop Michael Phelps as a sponsor:

Kellogg's
All-Bran(R)
Apple Jacks(R)
Complete(R)
Kellogg's Corn Flakes(R)
Cracklin' Oat Bran(R)
Crispix(R)
Crunch™
Crunchy Blends(R)
Eggo(R) Cereal
Froot Loops(R)
Frosted Flakes(R)
Frosted Mini-Wheats(R)
Fruit Harvest(R)
Honey Smacks(R)
Pops(R)
Product 19(R)
Kellogg's Raisin Bran(R)
Rice Krispies(R)
Smart Start(R)
Special K(R)


Kashi
GOLEAN(R)
Organic Promise(R)
Good Friends(R)
Mighty BitesTM
Heart to Heart(R)
7 Whole Grains

Pop-Tarts(R)
Pop-Tarts(R) Toaster Pastries
Kellogg's Go-Tarts!™

Snack Bars
Kashi(R) Chewy Granola Bars
Kashi(R) GOLEAN(R) Bars
Kellogg's(R) Crunch™ Bars
Kellogg's(R) Crunchy Nut™
Sweet & Salty Bars
Kellogg's(R) Granola Munch'ems
Rice Krispies Treats(R) Squares
Special K(R) Bars

Breakfast Bars
All-Bran™ Bars
Nutri-Grain(R) Cereal Bars
Nutri-Grain(R) Muffin Bars
Nutri-Grain(R) Yogurt Bars

Fruit Flavored Snacks
Fruit Steamers™
Fruit Twistables™
Kellogg's™ Yogos™

Fruit Leather
Stretch Island(R) Fruit Leather

On-the-Go Snacks
Gripz(R)
Rite BitesTM

Keebler(R) Cookies
Keebler(R) Cookies
Chips Deluxe(R) Cookies
E.L. Fudge(R) Cookies
Fudge Shoppe(R) Cookies
Golden Vanilla Wafers(R) Cookies
Sandies(R) Cookies
Soft Batch(R) Cookies
Vienna Fingers(R) Cookies

Carr's(R)
Carr's(R) Cookies

Famous Amos(R)
Famous Amos(R) Cookies

Murray(R)
Murray(R) Cookies
Murray(R) Sugar Free Cookies

Keebler(R) Crackers
Club(R) Crackers
Gripz(R)
Keebler(R) Grahams
Munch'ems(R) Baked Snacks
Town House(R) Crackers
Wheatables(R) Crackers
Toasteds(R) Crackers
Zesta(R) Crackers

Austin(R)
Austin(R) Crackers

Carr's(R)
Carr's(R) Crackers

SunshineTM
Cheez-It(R) Crackers
Sunshine Krispy(R) Crackers

Kashi(R)
Kashi(R) TLCTM Crackers

Natural
Worthington(R)
Loma Linda(R)

Organic
Morningstar Farms(R) Organic

Frozen
Eggo(R)
Kashi GOLEAN Waffles
Morningstar Farms(R)

Keebler(R) Graham Crackers Crumbs
Keebler(R) Cones
Ready Crust(R) Pie Crust
Kellogg's(R) Stuffing Mix
Kellogg's(R) Corn Flake Crumbs

[early mornin stoned pimp]

"Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg ... and we have made a decision not to extend his contract"

. . .

"our decision not to extend the contract was for business reasons and in no way diminishes Michael's status as an athlete ... The timing of this unfortunate incident and the end of the contract is purely coincidental"

Logic FAIL!

I also find this very interesting, which was supposed to go to newsrooms, but apparently Google's posting algorith can't discern the difference between a memo and a newsflash...
As Gawker put it, "Even the Associated Press isn't sure what to make of Phelps. Despite the photographic evidence of Phelps with a bong tightly pressed against its lips, the AP killed a story which mentioned Phelps as using marijuana."

AP kills Phelps Kellogg story

1 day ago
EDITORS:
The Portland, Ore., story Phelps-Kellogg has been killed. Phelps has not acknowledged smoking marijuana or inhaling from a marijuana pipe.
A kill is mandatory.
Make certain the story is not published.
A substitute story will be filed shortly.