Chestnut's decision comes after disputes between Nathan's and former champion Takeru Kobayashi in 2010.
Impossible Foods supports Chestnut's choice to experiment with their vegan hot dogs.
Joey Chestnut, 16-time champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, will not participate due to sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods.
MLE organization enforces rule that champions cannot represent rival brands.
Joey Chestnut, the 16-time champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, will not participate in this year's event due to a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a plant-based food company that produces vegan hot dogs. The Major League Eating (MLE) organization, which oversees the competition, has stated that Chestnut must renounce deals with rival brands if he wishes to return. This rule is not new and has been in place for two decades.
Chestnut's decision to represent a rival brand comes after Nathan's Famous and its parent company, Smithfield Foods, expressed their disappointment over the situation. The MLE also emphasized that Chestnut was not banned for life from competing but must sever ties with brands that compete against Nathan's.
This is not the first time Nathan's has had issues with its champions. In 2010, Takeru Kobayashi, a former reigning champion, did not compete due to disputes over an exclusive contract.
Impossible Foods responded to the news by expressing their support for Chestnut and his choice to experiment with new hot dogs. However, neither Joey Chestnut nor Nathan's Famous or Smithfield Foods have commented on the matter.
Joey Chestnut signed a deal to represent a rival brand that sells vegan hot dogs
MLE is devastated that Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand instead of competing for their championship belt
Accuracy
Joey Chestnut is out of the 2024 Nathan’s hot dog eating contest
Joey Chestnut will not compete in the 2024 Nathan’s hot dog eating contest due to a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods.
It is a long-standing rule not to represent a rival brand at the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.
Deception
(30%)
The article contains selective reporting as it only mentions the deal Joey Chestnut made with Impossible Foods and his exclusion from the Nathan's hot dog eating contest without mentioning any potential reasons why Nathan's might have wanted to exclude him. The article also uses emotional manipulation by describing how 'hard to swallow' the news is and implying that fans will be disappointed that Chestnut is not participating in the contest.
Joey Chestnut, shown at last year’s contest, has won the Nathan’s event 16 times, including every year since 2016.
The hot dog news from Coney Island is hard to swallow.
Fallacies
(95%)
The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy when it states 'MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths in recent months to accommodate Joey and his management team, agreeing to the appearance fee and allowing Joey to compete in a rival, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.' This statement implies that MLE and Nathan's have some sort of authority or expertise on the matter of accommodating competitors, but it does not provide any evidence or reasoning for why this is the case. Additionally, there are several instances of inflammatory rhetoric used throughout the article, such as 'hard to swallow,' 'beef barf,' and 'food fight.' These phrases are intended to evoke strong emotions in the reader and may influence their perception of the situation without providing any substantive information.
]MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths in recent months to accommodate Joey and his management team, agreeing to the appearance fee and allowing Joey to compete in a rival, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.[
The two sides could still come to a resolution before July 4, but it depends on Joey. [Imagine if Michael Jordan said to Nike, ‘I love being the face of Nike but I want to do commercials for Adidas too.’]
We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Neither Chestnut nor his agents would immediately comment.
