NEWS RELEASE
For More Information Contact: Gary Ruskin (503) 235-8012
For Immediate Release: January 31st, 2006
Commercial Alert Statement on First Sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby
Following is the statement of Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, on today’s announcement by Churchill Downs that Yum Brands is the “historic first-ever presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby.”
“It’s a shame that the Run for the Roses has been degraded into a run for junk food. Next year, will the thoroughbreds run at Taco Bell Downs? Maybe they’ll require that each of the horses must be named after a menu item. Here comes Chalupa down the homestretch, with Gordita one length behind.”
“It’s ironic that Churchill Downs picked Yum Brands as a sponsor. When people eat a lot of what Yum advertises, they get so fat they can’t run anywhere.”
Commercial Alert is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon. Our mission is to keep the commercial culture within its proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting the higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and democracy. For more information, see our website at: http://www.commercialalert.org.