Not Just... Anything

In the film, "Not Just a Game", many famous athletes were shown to be standing for different causes on top of their athletic careers. They incorporate their famous persona's to help promote their beliefs and aspirations. Muhammad Ali, for example, uses his "face" in order to help fight racism and promote his Islamic roots, Michael Jordan did his best to hide the "Reebok" logo with the American Flag at the 1992 Olympics out of respect for "Nike", and Tommie Smith and John Carlos' black-power salute at the 1968 Olympics made the world more aware of the fight against racism.

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I feel that it is safe to argue that it is not just in sports that we see this idea of using publicity as a medium; we see it everyday. For instance, musicians and other recording artists write songs about or angle songs at different topics that harbor their concern. American rock legend, Bruce Springsteen, has advocated different political candidates and causes such as those against nuclear energy or 9/11 relief. He often incorporates religion into his concerts and preaches some of his beliefs to his audience. Whether you believe in his doing so or not, I think we all can agree that he is most definitely using his publicity as a medium. Other touring artists, such as Coldplay and Neil Young, promote their endorsements with the utmost passion.

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People use this means of making the most of their position every day. A boss of a workplace may advertise a family member's band or music at the local bulletin board or at a meeting, or a regular at a bar may use his acquaintances to help out at a local fundraising activity. All of these people are incorporating their positions in order to help advance other causes that are important to them. I think a good way to describe this is the old saying: "It's not always what you know, but who you know that counts."

-Stuart Cowen