The Real Moral Of The Phelps Bong Hit Photo? (Don’t Mess With The Sponsors.)

“We have been in touch with those sponsors,” the U.S.O.C. spokesman Darryl Seibel said, “and let them know that we’re disappointed and that going forward we expect different and better conduct.” — from: Phelps Apologizes for Marijuana Pipe Photo (NYT)

It seems the American public and media now largely take in stride the knowledge of someone — such as the President, for example — having smoked marijuana, but, at least in Michael Phelps’s case, there is a completely different threshold for the image of it. (One BAGnewsNotes reader addressed the point directly on the recently surfaced Obama college photos, saying how lucky it was for Obama the photographer held onto the pics till after the election, given the visage of him simply smoking a cigarette held like a joint.)

But then, where is the real injury here, given that cannabis is not considered a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency during out-of-competition testing — this visual “bust” occurring in that period of time. Is it a character issue when, according to the NYT: “Phelps has never tested positive for a banned substance” and “last year … (he) agreed to increased testing to prove that he was a clean athlete.” Or, are we to think — again, back to the issue of the power and impact particular images are supposed to have and mean — that a photo like this might actually contribute to the corruption of America’s youth and override, in people’s minds, the knowledge of the intense discipline and rigor Phelps applies to his sport?

Even though the media frames Phelps’s act, in all its visual glory, as morally earth shattering, what I’m actually wondering is this: How much of a social offense would we be talking about here if the media industrial complex, fronting for behemoth corporate sponsors including Kellogg’s, Mazda, Subway, Visa and AT&T (as if corporate America had no moral baggage of its own) wasn’t absolutely freaking out right now over their multi-million dollar investment in the most critical image of all — that of Phelps as the “all-American boy”?

(image: News Of The World.co.uk. via:What A Dope)

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http://safer.com chris

Yeah, we expect different and better conduct. I guess that means drinking alcohol instead? Whatever.
http://whynot.com chris

more to your question, here’s a substantial (non-visual) distinction between Obama and Phelps in re pot: this photo was taken in November 2008, shortly after Phelps’ glorious American success, whereas Obama claims to have given up the weed long ago.
gizmo

It’s not clear to me why marijuana is still illegal, other than the fact that prosecuting people for smoking it keeps massive local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in business.
John

It’s been my experience that all-American boys tend to smoke marijuana. I’ve always thought that events like these should be instructive. Rather than allowing this to influence one’s opinion of Phelps, it should instead influence one’s opinion about marijuana. He’s the same person, the same successful, hard-working person as he was before the photo was taken (and I’d bet dollars to donuts that he smoked marijuana before the Olympics), so why should one have a lower opinion of him if he smokes marijuana? The reaction that makes more sense to me is “hey, maybe you can accomplish your goals AND smoke marijuana,” and “hey, maybe smoking marijuana isn’t some indication of a moral failing.”
bystander

How much of a social offense would we be talking about here…

I posit, None. There’s a certain element of “crowd affirmation behavior” (who knows, I just made that term up) in this, ZOMG, did you hear about Phelps?
Poor Phelps. I don’t know the circumstances of how the photograph came to be taken. Still, were I to guess, I’d offer one piece of advice. For him to choose his “friends” with more care.
http://futilitynow.com jmags

Did anyone else’s RSS feed show an ad for a crack torch? So hilarious.
bystander

By the way, Michael. My bi-focal(ed) eyes offer you enormous thanks for the modification to your CAPTCHAs.
Cointreau

Take home message? Change your bong water more often. What an embarrassment!
http://profile.typepad.com/boxcar boxcar

On ABCNews.com, there was this sub-headline:
“Psychological experts say the thrill of victory contributed to his misbehavior.”
Translation: “Winners Do Drugs!”
….now what’s my excuse?
peace
box
TB

OK,so let me get this straight. The last three presidents of America smoked pot, a record setting Olympic medalist smokes it currently, and the vast majority of Americans over the age of 15 have tried it … but pot is bad?
OK, I guess I don’t get it.
http://www.victorfitzsimons.net Victor F

Right. Maybe this won’t hurt Phelps’ image more than it’ll help marijuana’s? I mean, seriously, the dude’s a swimming machine. If he can swim that well and still occasionally smoke some weed, what’s that really saying to people? But we Americans must hold our public figures up to higher standards, because otherwise we’d be forced to stare ourselves down in the mirror all the time.
any

I’m going to Disneyland!
desertwind

All I see is News of the World (from UK where pot is decriminalized) and wonder how much some rat was paid for the photo.
I’m grateful to be old enough to have missed the cameras-everywhere recording my youthful indiscretions era.
Progressive Mom

All I could think of when I saw this pic: What a lung capacity that guy must have!
http://www.wvablue.com/ Clem Guttata

desertwind — As an interesting count-point to the News of the World likely paying for this picture, you ought to read their accompanying article. It talks about all of the incentives Phelps agents and sponsors supposedly offered not to publish to photo. (A Phelps weekly blog, guaranteed advertising at NotW by Phelps sponsors, and so forth.)
The article also provides a bit more background that makes it now seem like an obvious point–Phelps needs to learn a bit more discretion for his off-duty activities.
Back to the photo: I find it interesting there are no other people in the photo, only a computer. The plastic cups aside, it looks like a solitary activity, not the social event it supposedly was.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192335/plotsummary yg

are you asking what the reaction would have been had phelps been african american?
with the economy collapsing all around, that corporate america can still afford multi-mullion dollar contracts for celebrity endorsements, feels anachronistic. hard to believe phelps actually moves product.
with his shock of hair and cap, reminded me of jughead or goober.
Rima

Maybe it’s not pot; maybe it’s an inhaler for treating asthma, or some other lung ailment
Lefty Lefty

The point is mentioned in passing here, but not directly stated. It was pointed out to me (MANY) years ago when a buddy lit up a bowl at a bar in Chicago-it’s ILLEGAL. It has to be made legal for these types of “news events” to go away. Someone famous breaking the law will always make the news.
I look on the bright side (as others have above). This may bring decriminalization/legalization closer to reality. And I get to chuckle at commenters funny asides about their pot use. (I think the bongwater looks pretty clean, IMHO.)
SPG

Does anyone recall the story of Ross Rebagliati the Canadian snowboarder who had his olympic medal stripped because he tested positive for marijuana? I think he got it back, or maybe not, but marijuana wasn’t a banned substance and most other groups of athletes weren’t tested for it even though many skiers were well known to be pot smokers. The IOC didn’t like snowboarding back then and wanted it to be known that they didn’t approve of it in their stodgy old olympics.
http://mxrk.net Mxrk

There’s way too much water in that bong. This isn’t the Olympics, Michael.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/01/presidents-portfolio-200901?slide=12#globalNav yg

just think of all the revenue that could go to rescue state/federal budgets if we could tax weed.
Joe Blow

I don’t see any smoke in that bong…and where’s his lighter?
http://www.errolmorris.com/content/interview/stopsmiling0306.html yg

sometimes a bong is just a bong.
jtfromBC

Olympic snowboarder defends Phelps over pot shot
ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090205/canada/oly2008_swim_phelps_people_canada