Thursday, March 10, 2011

"Let's Move!" U-S-EH?


This is not a knock on Canada, Mike Green, the Washington Capitals or the Chicago Blackhawks. First Lady Michelle Obama has been the champion of a program called "Let's Move!" an initiative to get America's children active for at least an hour a day. The campaign has teamed up with celebrities and athletes alike to get out the message that kids need to be active and that does not mean repeating Up Up, Down Down, A, B, A, B on a Nintendo control pad. This is not a knock on what the First Lady is doing nor the campaign.

However, I saw this tweet from @NHL today and I thought, What's wrong with this picture?


The problem isn't that the NHL is partnering or that this is taking place during the Blackhawks visit with the Stanley Cup to the White House. The problem? The featured players are from CANADA! Wouldn't it make more sense to have John Carlson (Natick, MA) and Patrick Kane (Buffalo, NY) be the highlighted athletes for national effort for the United States? Both are young and popular in their markets and throughout the U.S.

I think the initiative is great and even I need to remember to get out once a day and be active. But come on, knock-knock, White House press/community relations department, doesn't someone realize that they should highlight US stars for a US campaign?