Slur of the moment

Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice recently lost her sponsorship with Jaguar when she tweeted a spur of the moment comment following the Tri-Nations game. The tweet was described 'out of character' by her team mates, however Jaguar found the comment to be inappropriate and dumped the gold medalist late afternoon on September 6.


The swimmer coped a lot of angry responses in the media and later made a brief apology saying:

"I made a comment on Twitter on Saturday night in the excitement of the moment. I did not mean to cause offence and I apologise."

Jaguar's statement in regards to the termination of Rice's sponsorship could be seen as a tad over-reaction, however I think Jaguar's decision is justified. When somebody like Stephanie Rice, an Australian Olympic hero, comes under such scrutiny by the media and Australian public the company has to ensure they aren't also given bad press.

When she was made ambassador for Jaguar Australia, the swimmer is expected to hold a good public image. Spur of the moment comments that may offend many Australians can't be accepted by such a large brand company.

As a celeb on a social media site such as twitter, speaking your mind isn't always the way to go.