Mount Carmel’s annual Walkathon was set, and the 2026 walk was going to be a good one. Students had been collecting donations throughout the third trimester in hopes of achieving their incentive goals, such as beach parties and early dismissal on Fridays.
Many MC students received incentives from the Walkathon in a different way, though. Paid promotions by several large companies brought a new change to MC’s highly anticipated event and put money in the pockets of many young students.
Corporations found that students, especially from Mount Carmel, are easily influenced. That’s why all it took to convince students to sponsor their brands was just a little money. Prominent companies like Nike and Adidas had students walking around in their shoes. Other companies took a different approach, such as Coca-Cola, which took over the water fountains and refilled them with the flavorful drink. Students had all kinds of choices as to what they could promote.
“They promised me free money for school lunch,” junior Wyatt Knight explained. “How can I say no to that?” After completing the walk, he claimed that "having to film TikTok dances along the way was not ideal.”
Not everyone was on board with this money-making business, though. Several teachers attempted to ban all the ads and promotions. Before the walk, many speeches were given to the student body encouraging students to not participate in the promotions, which worked as well as trying to get MC students to attend sports games.
English teacher and soccer coach Mr. Manuel Medina was tasked with collecting all the promotional gear.
“The job was supposed to be straightforward and easy,” he said, though didn’t realize how abundant this promotional gear was. “By the end of the walk, I had over 30 hats and 50 T-Shirts for a plethora of brands.”
Mr. Medina had become a walking ad, and students began to notice.
"He looked like a walking billboard,” said junior Marty Fiske.
Almost every area of the walk was taken over by promotions. Even the cheers for students were replaced by slogans for companies. When students walked by, all that could be heard was, “I’M LOVING IT!” Another popular choice was buying squares in the sand for companies to put their logos. By pure student support, over 90% of these were ChatGPT logos.
Attempts to limit the promotions involved within Walkathon continue. Still, they look dim with next year being labeled as “The 1st Annual Nike-Chipotle All-American Walkathon.”