Michael Phelps needs to fire his agent
There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.
-Sun Tzu
Phelps’ agent is playing defensively. Why?
Phelps lost the majority of his sponsors and substantial revenue when the now-infamous bong picture began circulating the Internet. The notable exception among major sponsors was Subway.
Why Subway? Big businesses don’t operate on ignorance or principle; in the end it is their bottom line. So what is the incentive for Subway supine inaction?
Financial departments of major corporations are stocked full of bright people. Many of whom were once bright, privileged, Ivy-league trustafarians. They didn’t miss the photo. They saw it. They debated it. And finally made an educated business decision that maintaining their contract with Phelps was, in economic verbiage, the “least bad solution” on the table.
Lets face it: Subway is a place people eat at for two reasons:
1. They want to lose weight and look like Phelps, or
2) Because they are really, really high — and a toasted meatball hero is amazing when you are really, really high.
Pandora’s box was opened and Subway took its hit. But Subway held its ground and stuck with Phelps because their (very profitable) audience identified with Phelps.
A good agent would capitalize on this. What is the monetary value of the marijuana demographic? those who identify with the drug, or at least are cynical of Pleasantville marketing tactics.
A Michael Phelps wallet? High Times “Man of the Year?” What if the Phelps brand pulled a 180 and used the publicity as a springboard to new revenue. It certainly worked for the House of Marley, LLC.
No agent would ever let fleeting thought slip. A reversal of this scale would alienate fans, brands, and forever alter the image of Phelps.
Like Michael Corleone in the Godfather I, the move would have to be instant, unexpected, and unconditional. A windfall of profits guaranteed at its end. 4/20 would have been the golden moment.
Two weeks postdate, one has to assume the agent missed the boat.
And thus, Michael Phelps needs to fire his agent.