1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

'This is Adam Schefter for 5-Hour Energy'

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Dick Whitman, Jan 3, 2014.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    This morning, I heard a commercial on the radio in which the ESPN NFL reporter extols the virtues of 5-Hour Energy brand energy drink.

    This is the same energy drink that has been linked to 13 deaths by the FDA:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/5-hour-energy-death_n_2133434.html

    Presumably, NFL players use this stuff. Should Adam Schefter, from an ethics standpoint, be pimping it?

    Because what does he do when this story pops up on his beat:

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2003/02/18/bechler_investigate/

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2003/02/25/stringer_ephedra_ap/

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    No, he shouldn't.

    Nor should Glazer be doing Subway commercials. I have less of a problem with SportsCenter hosts doing it because they're not "reporters" but it's a conflict of interest for both, without question.

    Was this just a radio read or an actual commercial? Not that one's OK and the other isn't, but I haven't seen or heard the ad yet.
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Actual commercial.
     
  4. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Still doesn't beat Erin Andrews for Tru-Biotics Help Me Poop.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Yeah, that kills me every time. She might fall into the category of "not actually a reporter" category, but I could see both sides of the argument on her.
     
  6. Morris816

    Morris816 Member

    I definitely agree journalists shouldn't be promoting products because the conflict-of-interest potential is so high. I can think of plenty of journalists who became famous for their work on TV, but I don't recall most of them ever promoting a product.

    The only time it might be OK for a journalist to promote something is as a spokesperson for a non-profit organization the journalist supports -- but even then, you have to be careful, because you never know when conflict of interest could arise.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Unfortunately, it doesn't matter anymore. This isn't going away. It's one thing when it's Berman or Dan Patrick or Kenny Mayne, but now we're having Glazer and Schefter and Rick Reilly and if those guys get it in their contracts that they're allowed to do commercials than the next round of guys are going to get it in their contracts. Most of these guys have the same agents.

    It will be also one more reason for the few remaining big names to leave the newspapers, unless the newspapers want to let their columnists pimp out energy drinks or the local sports bar.
     
  8. tapintoamerica

    tapintoamerica Well-Known Member

    I thought ESPN had a policy forbidding any on air people from endorsing products or services. .
     
  9. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    I've always wanted to snag a deal endorsing a laptop, preferably Apple, and would do it for the mere compensation of their top-of-line MacBook Pro. I think an on-deadline sportswriter would be a great spokesperson -- show you and your laptop in a pressbox, barely missing getting hit by a foul ball, or some rosin on the keyboard at courtside of a basketball game, or running through an airport to catch your next flight, banging out a story while in flight, etc., touting durability, portability, battery life and reliability -- but I don't fit their commercial demographic anymore.
     
  10. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Damn, Joe, you're hired!

    Forget this journalism crap -- you need to get into advertising. That's good stuff. I can picture the ad in my head already.
     
  11. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Hey, Joe's idea can't be any harder of a sell than the ubiquitous commercial with the guy in the pressroom hawking Viagra.

    I mean, I consider myself an ink-stained wretch, too, but I don't know many women (or men) whose idea of foreplay is waiting 'til 6 a.m. for your man to come home from his shift in the pressroom.
     
  12. Since when?
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page