Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit group based in Portland, Oregon, blasted Churchill Downs for picking Yum Brands as 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," complained Ruskin.
"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," Ruskin continued. "When people eat a lot of what Yum advertises, they get so fat they can’t run anywhere.”
You gotta hand it to Ruskin. He has a rather clever, creative way of conveying the irony of this situation and his condemation of the junk food choice for the derby.
Commercial Alert‘s goal 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."