Pop star Beyoncé Knowles as literal mouthpiece
The aforementioned Mark Bittman—whose beans and greens recipe came out great last night, by the way—has used his Times column to call out Beyoncé for endorsing Pepsi. His intentionally provocative contention is that one day we will view sugary sodas as comparable to cigarettes in their impact on public health. Quote:
From saying, as she once did in referring to [Michelle Obama’s fitness initiative] Let’s Move, that she was “excited to be part of this effort that addresses a public health crisis,” she’s become part of an effort that promotes a public health crisis. I suppose it would be one thing if she needed the money or the exposure but she and Jay-Z are worth around $775 million.
Since we’re a bunch of grizzled old ethicists around here, I thought we might take up the question: Is it wrong for Beyoncé to sell her endorsement to Pepsi?
