'Sizzling Forever': Baseball Team Strikes Back After Activist Group Attacks Over 'Glorification' of Meat
Sure, we’ve heard of plenty of teams that have faced pressure to change their image to fit with the cancel-culture times: the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Chiefs among them.
Some have caved, some haven’t, but all of those woke name-change campaigns had at least a shred of explicability behind them. The campaign to get the Macon Bacon to change their name, however, is a pig of a different color.
According to WGXA in Macon, a health advocacy group campaign headed by nutritionist Anna Herby is urging the collegiate summer-league baseball team to consider its association with the delicious foodstuff and offer “plant-based alternatives” to the food at its games.
Herby’s group — the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine — has also purchased a billboard on Interstate 16 near the team’s stadium to make its point, too.
“Macon Bacon’s glorification of bacon, a processed meat that raises the risk of colorectal cancer and other diseases, sends the wrong message to fans. I urge you to update the team’s name to Macon Facon Bacon and promote plant-based bacon alternatives, such as Facon Bacon or Mushroom Bacon, that will help your fans stay healthy,” Herby wrote in the letter, dated June 1.
“As for Kevin, Macon Bacon’s mascot, he can reveal that he is actually plant-based bacon.”
🥓: Plant-based activists demand the Macon Bacon baseball team located in Macon Georgia. To change its name to stop its glorification of bacon because the processed meat raises the risk of colorectal cancer pic.twitter.com/xArNFXKKCA
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) June 23, 2023
Just so we’re clear, this was dated June 1, not April 1. It’s not an April Fool’s Day joke.
The letter went on to cite that there would be nearly 5,000 new cases of colorectal cancer in Georgia and roughly 1,640 deaths in 2023, according to statistics from the American Cancer Society — something clearly caused by the Macon Bacon.
“Colorectal cancer is striking Americans at a younger age, and processed meat, like bacon, plays a role. A study published by the American Cancer Society earlier this year found that the proportion of individuals with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer who were younger than 55 years old has almost doubled, from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019,” Herby’s missive continued.
“The National Cancer Institute says, ‘There’s mounting evidence linking an unhealthy diet — in particular, one high in processed meat and fat, and low in fruits and vegetables — to early-onset colorectal cancer.’”
A group of plant-based activists suggested the Macon Bacon baseball team update its name to include mention of a plant-based alternative – like “Facon Bacon or Mushroom Bacon” https://t.co/O3dFM04Elt
— CNN (@CNN) June 24, 2023
The committee’s head, Dr. Neal Barnard, actually went further and made the case the team’s name would end up killing young children.
“It’s not debatable, bacon causes cancer,” Barnard claimed, according to the U.K. Guardian.
“Here’s the problem: A guy brings his child to a ballgame. The child is six years old, and there’s a mascot, a person in a bacon costume, and they’re selling, I am not making this up — bacon-wrapped bacon, steak-cut bacon, bacon-loaded cheese fries, bacon chips,” Barnard said.
“The child learns to associate this food with fun, with America’s favorite sport, with his family, and that child grows up with a taste for food that causes intestinal cancer in exactly the same way that cigs cause intestinal cancer.
“You would never call this team the Macon Cigarettes or Team Asbestos because people know that [they] cause cancer.”
I bring my child to a Charlotte Hornets game. He gets comfortable around insects that sting. He has children. One of his children is allergic to hornet stings. Suddenly, she dies in his arms of an anaphylactic reaction. See? Name the team the Charlotte Ladybugs instead.
You wouldn’t name a team the Charlotte Fentanyl Needles, right? That’s what I thought — and that’s exactly what this is.
You may be beginning to see the stupidity of this logic — as does the president of the Macon Bacon, Brandon Raphael.
“The Macon Bacon do not view ourselves as a glorification of an unhealthy lifestyle; rather, we pride ourselves on being a fun-natured organization focused on bringing families and communities together of middle Georgia and beyond,” Raphael said in a statement.
“We take great pride in the Macon Bacon naming rights (which our fans named), as we get to witness the smiles and laughter from our fan base — who have supported our branding since our inception — that stems from the brand’s lighthearted and playful nature. We are a family-friendly organization, and we are extremely grateful for our fans.”
Raphael also insisted: “The Macon Bacon will be sizzling forever and will not consider a name change. Ever.”
Long live the Macon Bacon — and the ballpark’s menu, which includes “Bacon-Wrapped Bacon, Steak-Cut Bacon, Bacon Cheeseburger, Bacon Dog, Bacon-Loaded Cheese Fries, Bacon-Loaded Mac N’ Cheese and Bacon Chips.” The only suggestion I could add would be, oh, maybe a little more bacon?
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