FighterStyle

Anderson Silva has a big sponsorship worth $250k (USD) for the Burger King logo on his Walkout Shirt and logo on his Nike fight shorts. There was a lot of controversy on twitter about his for the a few reasons:

1. The walkout shirt is not available for purchase - so fans cannot pick up the walkout shirt to cheer on their favorite fighter for the biggest PPV event of the year.

2. What message is it sending to the youth and aspiring MMA athletes that fast food is 'cool' or a way of life for MMA fighters?

P.S. Anyone miss the old Burger King advertisements with the King dude?

Chime in and let me know what you think about it...


Added more on the this topic at http://www.fighterstyle.com

*Just wanted to state that these are not necessarily my opinions but some of the feedback I received on twitter when I released a blog post on my site about Anderson Silva's Walkout Shirt.

above

Excellent point. No different that the message that is being sent with mcdonald's sponsoring the Olympics.

Money talks. That's the message. Unfortunately.

FighterStyle

Yes, your right - its kind of a sellout move. But hey - I cant say 100% that I wouldnt take the money if I was in his shoes.

xxpillowxxjp

You're second point is pretty out there. You don't take sponsorships because you support the company, you take it to make the money. Now you could definitely decline a sponsorship because you don't support their cause. It's alot more of a "Why not?" question you would ask yourself.

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Rastaman

There is no controversy at all. Let me respond to each point:

1. There is no shirt available:
So what? Why does this even matter? Why can't a company make a shirt for only one person, I don't understand why this is even an issue. Also, who the hell would want to wear a shirt that had a giant Burger King logo on it.

2. Burger King is unhealthy, so it sends the wrong message:
This is more valid than the previous point, but still totally off base. Eating at Burger King, while not the healthiest food around, will not make you fat/have health problems unless you a) do it frequently, or b) don't exercise enough to cancel out the incoming calories. I don't see why the Olympics shouldn't be sponsored by McDonald's, and I don't see why a professional fighter who obviously understands well enough the ins and outs of nutrition should not be able to walk out in a shirt sponsored by Burger King. I swear, our current society is so concerned with protecting the "kids" that they fail to realize that any kid/parent/person who is swayed to eat Burger King (for example) to an unhealthy degree simply because their favorite fighter walks out wearing a shirt w/ logo probably deserves the negative health effects associated with eating unhealthy foods anyway.

If McDonald's were to be sponsoring the Olympics, I fully understand that there would be millions upon millions of people worldwide that would begin, consciously or subconsciously, to eat McDonald's more and thus become more unhealthy. But that leads us to a twist on a classic philosophical question: If a weak-minded person sees a McDonald's advertisement, and shifts their diet to match what it advertises and consequently becomes fat and unhealthy, does anybody care?

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Spec0688

Who cares if fighters sponsor fast food, they eat it as well, Anderson has said and made videos even when he wasn't sponsored that he enjoyed the burgers.

If you buy a product just because your favourite fighter is sponsoring it, then you really should take a look at yourself. Everything is ok in moderation. If you eat a bigmac or whopper once a month, there aren't any problems doing that, baring you eat healthy. If you start eating a burger every week or couple of days, then thats where the problems start.

Also, wearing a walk out t-shirt in public isn't cool or stylish, maybe to an event but not in the general public.

Why is there a problem for fighters to be sponsored by fast food companies, but not for the UFC and other big promotions/sports companies to be sponsored by alcohol? if anything, its worse.

beardsleybob

Always finding a reason to hate:

1. Clearly Nike made his walkout t-shirt. But they don't manufacture or distribute MMA gear, and why would they sell a shirt covered with other companies advertisements?

2. Anderson is known to love a burger or two. So why wouldn't he support them? It's not his responsibility to tell people what to eat. If they overindulge then how is it his fault?

vilify

This is stupid. You aren't expected to buy the shirt just the food. Also It may not be the healthiest but its not poison either.

above

As far as the parenting comment is concerned I agree with you.

As far as Silva being sponsored by Burger King is concerned, while paradoxical given that fast food is junk, I wouldn't castrate him for it. Personally, if I were an athlete at that level I would pick and choose my sponsors more carefully.

Now as far the Olympics and mcdonald's is conceded I am in complete disagreement. The Olympics has a long history behind it stemming all the way to ancient Greece. Having such garbage sponsor the Olympics (when it isn't necessary - they could have raised the money from elsewhere) is simply foolish and downright disgusting. It tarnishes the Olympic spirit. Even worse, mcdonalds will be the only food vendor at the olympics. That compounds the problem even more. I mean seriously... You go t the olympics and the only official food vendor allowed is mcdonald's? WTF?!

TheLyotoLegion

It's pretty common for athletes to be sponsored by fast food chains. Also, you can find the shorts Anderson wore on Nike's store. They've got them in a few different colors.

http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=sh...54/pgid-440055

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