Just last week, a recent photo of David Ortiz and President Barack Obama started going viral. This was due to the nature of the photo which was basically a ‘selfie’ taken by Ortiz with the President in the photo. It showed everyone having a good time, laughing and smiling but things quickly soured when the White House voiced their displeasure of the incident.
Due to Samsung’s sponsorship of Ortiz, many felt that this was a marketing stunt and that the President was an unwitting participant in a marketing ploy by Samsung. Ortiz denied this and claimed that the photo was a spur-of-the-moment shot, but apparently that wasn’t enough as the White House has since spoke to Samsung regarding the legality of the matter at hand.
This was revealed by Obama’s senior advisor, Dan Pfeiffer, who made an appearance on Face the Nation where he was asked about the photo. According to Pfeiffer, the claims that the President did not know anything about Samsung’s connection/sponsorship of Ortiz. Pfeiffer revealed that the White House has since spoken with Samsung and that the outcome of that conversation will be between their lawyers.
Yikes, who would have thought a simple selfie could have gotten so out of hand! Whether it was really a marketing ploy or not, it doesn’t really put Samsung in a very good position. Could this be an end of Samsung-sponsored selfies? Pfeiffer certainly hopes so.