Michael Phelps and his iPod

For the past week or so you can find the Magan family gathered in the family room watching the Olympics from 7:30 to 11:30 every night. I pride myself on detecting pop culture buzzes, and the excitement kids and t'weens have for the Olympics is on a high-band wavelength I cannot pick up.

Anyway, their enthusiasm for not just the mega stars like Michael Phelps, but for the unsung heroes like the loveable shotput guy who was reunited with his birth-mother is contagious. My kids and I have become a marketers dream, we want to try many of the products just to feel like we are part of the Olympics. Pathetic, I know.

But with all the Olympic product endorsements and official this' and thats,you rarely see athletes actually using the products in competition. I don't see Shaun Johnson slamming a Big Mac before the vault. That's because such an action would be detrimental, obviously. In my opinion, the best product endorsement of the games is one that looks as if it was totally UNPAID.

Apple is getting millions in ad value every time any athlete is pictured with the signature white earbuds trailing down their neck. You know the scene: Michael Phelps competitive glare and steely resolve on display as he plays the tape in his mind over and over. Listening to music is getting him in the zone. Whether it's lil Wayne's "I'm Me" or something about surviving by Eminem (pick one) I think the secret song Michael Phelps listens to in order to get pumped up is an oldie but a goodie "Mr Tamborine Man" on WIlliam Shatner's live album from the 60s. Who knew?