"Eat like an Olympian?" - Yes please.

In Alanna's blog post, "Eat like an Olympian?" she argues that McDonald's may not be a good supporter of the Olympics because the company really does not have a place in the realm of the Olympics and its competing athletes. I disagree with her opinion as I feel although she develops her argument well, McDonald's image as a whole may be overlooked because when viewed as a "globally connecting" company it could be seen as a perfectly suitable and respectable supporter of the Olympics.

The included commercial suggests that Olympians eat fast food, yet Alanna goes on to say that when contestants from the show "The Biggest Loser" visited the Olympic Training Center there was no fast food to be found. This may have been the case at the Colorado training center, as I suspect the center was used solely for training, but the Olympic Village in Toronto was used not only for the competition but also to accomadate the temporary residence for many athletes and spectators. In order to accomadate such guests, a restaurant would be needed - McDonalds filled the spot.

McDonalds is known to participate in charitable campaigns and thus corralates with the Olympics, known to spread a message of "positive global relationsions." In this article by Laura Welden, the connection between the Olympics and McDonalds is found to be one of long-time support as McDonalds has sponsored the Olympics for 40 years and in 2008 launched the "Champion Kids" program. The program was designed to help children "receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the Games first-hand."

Although McDonalds does not serve the healthiest food, typically associated with professional athletes, it works towards building community relationships and in this way serves to be a rightful sponsor of the Olympics. Alanna's cited author, Monika Evstatieva may want to change her quote to "If you want to eat like an Olypian, eat like one, train like one, and for heaven's sake, think about the positive aspects of McDonalds."

Photo Credit:
Ronald - www.huffingtonpost.com
Golden Arches - www.sportsfeatures.com