Tornto Star Thursday April 19, 2012
Daniel DaleUrban Affairs Reporter
She was herself eating KFC: “I got a four-piece chicken, gravy and french fries, and I enjoyed every bit of it.” She was also feeding KFC to her 2-year-old.
So why did she film Mayor Rob Ford on Tuesday evening as he approached the same KFC she had just exited, laugh uproariously, and email the video to the Star?
“I know teaching my child to eat french fries at KFC — that’s not fine. But you know what? I didn’t commit to a weight loss challenge. He did,” said the woman, a 29-year-old child-care worker named Cordella, who declined to give her last name.
“The reason why I did it was: I’m a voter. You’re promoting something within the city, you stand behind what you’re promoting. Show some dedication. If you’re not committed to the diet that you committed to — nobody forced you to go on a diet and tell everybody — how can you be committed to the taxpayers of Toronto and making changes in Toronto?
“Rob Ford needs every bit of encouragement. And maybe this will be a bit of encouragement.”
The video, and the Star’s decision to publish it online Wednesday, generated an emotional response, most of it negative. On Twitter, residents and pundits of all political persuasions expressed sympathy for Ford and displeasure with the newspaper.
“Last week I had a bad day and got Wendy’s for lunch. From the drive thru. Glad no one pointed and laughed at me,” wrote Matt Elliott, a city hall blogger for Torstar Corp.-owned Metro who is generally critical of Ford.
In an interview, dietitian Mary Bamford said, “Rob was probably running from meeting to meeting, skipped a meal by accident, was hungry, that smelled good to him, and there he was. Maybe he picked off the skin and just ate the meat on the inside. Did anyone film that? The poor guy. The problem is, random people with video cameras don’t have the whole picture. Like anything in politics — we always have just one little glimpse.”
Councillor Doug Ford, the other participant in the “Cut the Waist Challenge,” said the video and article were unfair — and that Rob Ford might have been buying the food for his children.
“He’s down 20 pounds, or 18, and then the big bully, you guys, come on and start kicking sand in his face at the beach,” he said.
But he also said Cordella’s laughter was unsurprising: “The guy’s on a diet, he’s going to KFC.” And he poked fun at his younger brother even as he defended him.
“The guy’s trying his hardest — well, maybe not his hardest, but he’s trying,” he said. The mayor, he said, would keep making progress toward his goal of a 50-pound reduction by mid-June.
“Even if Rob hits 30 pounds, that’s huge. He’s (down) what, 18 pounds? He’ll make it. If I’ve got to get a piece of duct tape and stick it across his mouth, and put a little hole in there for a straw…”
The video flap highlighted the unusual scrutiny the Fords’ eating habits have faced from eagle-eyed passersby since they began holding weekly public weigh-ins at City Hall in January. Doug Ford said someone once called a television station to report that he had taken two candies from a candy dish at a Bay St. office.
The weight loss campaign, and even Rob Ford’s highly publicized struggles, appear to have succeeded in humanizing him to some voters who are otherwise opposed to him. Fairly or unfairly, it also carries reputational risk. In a column headlined “Silly weight challenge pounds mayor’s image,” Sun columnist Peter Worthington, a Ford supporter, said the mayor’s difficulty shedding pounds after pledging to do so makes him “look weak.”
Upon launching the campaign in January, Doug Ford said he and his brother had chosen to make their quest public in part because public pressure would help them reach their goals. “When you tell 3 million people that you’re gonna lose weight, you sure better lose weight,” he said, laughing.
Rob Ford lost 22 pounds in about a month, but he has faltered in recent weeks, gaining four pounds from his February low of 308 pounds and cancelling two weigh-ins without explanation at the last minute. He wants to weigh 280 pounds by mid-June.
Worthington, whose publication also posted the video Wednesday, along with other news outlets, said Rob Ford should drop the campaign. Doug Ford said both of them will see it to its end.
Cordella, meanwhile, offered some unsolicited advice to the mayor for the next time he is craving fast food.
“Send somebody else to pick it up for you. Send somebody else. Being in the public eye, you should already know that somebody’s gonna catch you,” she said
The jig is up Rob. Cut the "Cut The Waist Campaign" afterall it really was just a futile public relations 'reality show' to try to humanize the inhuman(that's you btw).
I mean it is very apparent what you are.
PS > Even a small BUT genuine recogniton of the Gay Pride festivities would pay dividends for yourself and your image. It would demonstrate some humanity which you have sorely lacked to display.
Daniel DaleUrban Affairs Reporter
She was herself eating KFC: “I got a four-piece chicken, gravy and french fries, and I enjoyed every bit of it.” She was also feeding KFC to her 2-year-old.
So why did she film Mayor Rob Ford on Tuesday evening as he approached the same KFC she had just exited, laugh uproariously, and email the video to the Star?
“I know teaching my child to eat french fries at KFC — that’s not fine. But you know what? I didn’t commit to a weight loss challenge. He did,” said the woman, a 29-year-old child-care worker named Cordella, who declined to give her last name.
“The reason why I did it was: I’m a voter. You’re promoting something within the city, you stand behind what you’re promoting. Show some dedication. If you’re not committed to the diet that you committed to — nobody forced you to go on a diet and tell everybody — how can you be committed to the taxpayers of Toronto and making changes in Toronto?
“Rob Ford needs every bit of encouragement. And maybe this will be a bit of encouragement.”
The video, and the Star’s decision to publish it online Wednesday, generated an emotional response, most of it negative. On Twitter, residents and pundits of all political persuasions expressed sympathy for Ford and displeasure with the newspaper.
“Last week I had a bad day and got Wendy’s for lunch. From the drive thru. Glad no one pointed and laughed at me,” wrote Matt Elliott, a city hall blogger for Torstar Corp.-owned Metro who is generally critical of Ford.
In an interview, dietitian Mary Bamford said, “Rob was probably running from meeting to meeting, skipped a meal by accident, was hungry, that smelled good to him, and there he was. Maybe he picked off the skin and just ate the meat on the inside. Did anyone film that? The poor guy. The problem is, random people with video cameras don’t have the whole picture. Like anything in politics — we always have just one little glimpse.”
Councillor Doug Ford, the other participant in the “Cut the Waist Challenge,” said the video and article were unfair — and that Rob Ford might have been buying the food for his children.
“He’s down 20 pounds, or 18, and then the big bully, you guys, come on and start kicking sand in his face at the beach,” he said.
But he also said Cordella’s laughter was unsurprising: “The guy’s on a diet, he’s going to KFC.” And he poked fun at his younger brother even as he defended him.
“The guy’s trying his hardest — well, maybe not his hardest, but he’s trying,” he said. The mayor, he said, would keep making progress toward his goal of a 50-pound reduction by mid-June.
“Even if Rob hits 30 pounds, that’s huge. He’s (down) what, 18 pounds? He’ll make it. If I’ve got to get a piece of duct tape and stick it across his mouth, and put a little hole in there for a straw…”
The video flap highlighted the unusual scrutiny the Fords’ eating habits have faced from eagle-eyed passersby since they began holding weekly public weigh-ins at City Hall in January. Doug Ford said someone once called a television station to report that he had taken two candies from a candy dish at a Bay St. office.
The weight loss campaign, and even Rob Ford’s highly publicized struggles, appear to have succeeded in humanizing him to some voters who are otherwise opposed to him. Fairly or unfairly, it also carries reputational risk. In a column headlined “Silly weight challenge pounds mayor’s image,” Sun columnist Peter Worthington, a Ford supporter, said the mayor’s difficulty shedding pounds after pledging to do so makes him “look weak.”
Upon launching the campaign in January, Doug Ford said he and his brother had chosen to make their quest public in part because public pressure would help them reach their goals. “When you tell 3 million people that you’re gonna lose weight, you sure better lose weight,” he said, laughing.
Rob Ford lost 22 pounds in about a month, but he has faltered in recent weeks, gaining four pounds from his February low of 308 pounds and cancelling two weigh-ins without explanation at the last minute. He wants to weigh 280 pounds by mid-June.
Worthington, whose publication also posted the video Wednesday, along with other news outlets, said Rob Ford should drop the campaign. Doug Ford said both of them will see it to its end.
Cordella, meanwhile, offered some unsolicited advice to the mayor for the next time he is craving fast food.
“Send somebody else to pick it up for you. Send somebody else. Being in the public eye, you should already know that somebody’s gonna catch you,” she said
The jig is up Rob. Cut the "Cut The Waist Campaign" afterall it really was just a futile public relations 'reality show' to try to humanize the inhuman(that's you btw).
I mean it is very apparent what you are.
PS > Even a small BUT genuine recogniton of the Gay Pride festivities would pay dividends for yourself and your image. It would demonstrate some humanity which you have sorely lacked to display.
