Kellogg'sKellogg likes its flakes frosted, not baked.
A couple days after Michael Phelps apologized for being photographed with a marijuana pipe, the cereal maker says it has dropped the 14-time Olympic gold medalist as a spokesman.
"We originally built the relationship with Michael, as well as the other Olympic athletes, to support our association with the U.S. Olympic team," a rep for the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company said Thursday, and the swimmer's recent behavior is "not consistent with the image of Kellogg."
Their contract with Phelps is set to expire at the end of this month. At press time, the 23-year-old also has a sponsorship deal with Subway, which has declined to comment on its golden boy's slip-up.
Also Thursday, USA Swimming, the sport's governing body in the U.S., suspended Phelps from competition for three months to teach the lad a lesson.
"This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero," the federation said in a statement.
"Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust."
"It's times like these where you really do get true support, and I've really been able to find out who my friends and family are," Phelps told E! News before the dual announcements were made. "That was some bad judgment, bad mistakes, and I'm all over it."
Phelps, who showed up on boxes of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes after winning a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics last summer, publicly apologized Tuesday for not just saying no to drugs after the British tabloid News of the World published a pic of him appearing to smoke pot at a party last fall.
"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said in a statement. "I'm 23 years old, and, despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."
He then made the smart move of averting attention to whether he'll compete in the 2012 Olympic Games or not.
(Originally published Feb. 5, 2009, at 4:22 p.m. PT)