White House Objects to ‘Big Papi’ Samsung Selfie with Obama
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Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The selfie “Big Papi” took with President Obama on Tuesday ricocheted around social media. It also raised questions about the propriety of profiting off the president.
After the picture was tweeted, Samsung confirmed it had a deal with Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz to take photos at the White House, tweet them and promote the company’s Galaxy mobile phone.
The White House said Thursday the president was not aware of the arrangement ahead of time.
“As the rule the White House objects to attempts to use the president’s likeness for commercial purposes,” said press secretary Jay Carney. “We object in this case.”
Carney would not say whether the White House counsel’s office has contacted Samsung or Ortiz to lodge a protest or request the photo be taken down.
What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/y5Ww74sEID
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 1, 2014
The picture was taken during an event intended to honor the team as 2013 World Series champions.
Ortiz was overheard after the snapshot saying, “Yeah baby, cha-ching.” On Wednesday, he denied that the photo with Obama was requested by Samsung, according to the Boston Globe.
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