Beyonce, Mrs. Obama & Diabetes? I mean Pepsi. | I Eat Grass

By?@johnalynn?

Beyonce and Mrs. Obama

?The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake.? -Michelle Obama

As a bigger fan of mosquito bites than football, I can honestly say I am really looking forward to the televised Beyonce concert on Sunday. There?s no better way to celebrate the success of someone who was paid $50 million to advertise a soda EVERYONE knows than channel flipping between overhyped commercials for two hours. Fifty. Million. Dollars. For a woman who looks like she no more drinks Pepsi than she wears House of Dereon. And who could blame Pepsi for selecting her for this deal? After all, her Bootylicious jelly you weren?t ready for boosted Welch?s grape sales more than Biggie?s ?t-bone steak and cheese eggs.? She?s already endorsed everything from video games to cosmetics to a Presidential sponsored youth health and fitness campaign. So naturally and unarguably so, the next phase of her entrepreneurial endeavors should be diabetes.

Here?s my argument: in 2012, Michelle Obama selected Mrs. Knowles-Carter to be an ambassador for the Let?s Move anti-obesity initiative designed to improve the quality of the federal school lunch program, encourage physical fitness, educate families on nutrition and increase their access to and affordability of healthy foods. Beyonc? transformed her mega hit song Get Me Bodied into a physical fitness anthem and workout called Let?s Move! Flash Workout. In the video she leads a flash mob of middle school- to high school-aged kids doing the choreographed workout in a school cafeteria. The video ends with Beyonc? being tossed an apple. She crunches into it, winks at the camera and walks out of frame punctuating this message of fitness with a subtle acknowledgement of the importance of nutrition.

The video has acquired more than 25 million views. That?s almost more views than most cat videos. That?s more views than all of the videos on the White House YouTube channel combined. In addition to this, YouTube is populated with hundreds if not thousands of fan videos of kids en masse performing the workout. Beyonc? even made a surprise appearance at P.S. 161 Pedro Albizu Campos Elementary School in Harlem during a Let?s Move assembly joining a stunned group of students in their performance of the workout as it was simulcast to other schools throughout the country. The infectiousness of the Let?s Move! Flash Workout is a testament to Mrs. Knowles-Carter influence as a performer and role model.

Part of the revamping of the school lunch program was the removal of hundreds of soft drink vending machines from schools nationwide. A move that probably but a dent into the profits and hearts of Coke and its carbonated cohorts. How could they possibly make up for the loss?

In a move that can only be described as diabolical, Pepsi lured Michelle ?Let?s Move? Obama?s prize spokesperson by with more money than Birkenstock would pay Jesus to endorse ugly suede sandles and will parade her around a stage during television?s highest rated program while having her proverbially shake her derriere in the face of the very hypocrisy of it all.

I?m not saying it?s Beyonc??s responsibility as a role model to save America?s youth. She?s has donated her time and money to various children?s charities around the world. But I have to wonder: when she signed up to work with the Let?s Move! Campaign was she acting as a role model or a brand? Did she do it because she had a genuine interest in the health and welfare of her young fans? Did she hope to influence them into making informed decisions about nutrition and fitness that could ultimately save their lives? Or was she just trying to increase her celebrity thereby raising her value as a candidate for a Pepsi endorsement?

Let?s Move will never have the pyrotechnic displays, light shows and glittery background dancers that a benefactor like the Pepsi Company affords. It is an initiative only trying to push one product to kids: choices. The choice of fitness over a sedentary lifestyle. The choice of fresh fruits over candy and sugary snacks. The choice of a bottle of water over a Pepsi.

Regardless of how much money Beyonc? is earning, her contract with Pepsi could irreparably damage the progress made by Mrs. Obama?s Let?s Move campaign. I would like to think Beyonc??s biting into that apple would leave more of an indelible imprint on young minds than the image of her chugging a can of Pepsi during the high octane, highly produced spectacles of her halftime show and Pepsi commercials, but I doubt it.

@Johnalynn?is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, comic and writer living in brooklyn

Source: http://ieatgrass.com/2013/01/7653/

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