>> Chelsea Leonard
The Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz lucked up with taking what may be the last presidential selfie with Obama.
Ortiz snapped the shot while he visited the White House with the 2013 World Series winners.
Unknown to the president, Ortiz has an endorsement deal with Samsung, the company that sponsors the phone he used to capture the moment forever, according to msnbc.com.
“Ortiz’s Tweet with the image was retweeted more than 42,000 times, including a retweet to Samsung’s 5.2 million followers,” said Time.com.
Allegations of a publicity scam on Samsung’s part are denied by Ortiz, who claimed the incident was a genuine mistake.
“When we heard about the visit to the White House, we worked with David and the team on how to share images with fans.” Samsung told the Boston Globe, according to msnbc.com. “We didn’t know if or what he would be able to capture using his Note 3 device.”
But the White House isn’t having it.
“In general, whenever someone tries to use the president’s likeness to promote a product, that’s a problem,” said Obama advisor, Dan Pfeiffer. The White House isn’t actually putting a ban of any type of selfie with Obama, but Obama has been advised to be more careful about who he decides to get chummy with in the future.
It is hard put a finger on who is most at fault here. Personally, I think Obama should know better. He deserves to shoulder part of the blame. It is not like Ortiz was asking Joe of Joe’s Taco Stand to take a selfie. Everything Obama does and will do shapes the future of the United States and becomes our history.
That being said, he is human. He should be allowed to interact with people and socialize as he sees fit. But it can never be forgotten that he has another level of responsibility that comes with his job title.
It matters who he spends his time with and who he allows to take a photo with him.
But if I only had one finger to point, it would be pointed at Samsung. Samsung’s behavior in this ordeal makes me question the values embedded in the company.
There is a negative stereotype of Americans, that says we’re always trying to come out on top, even if it means exploiting an innocence in the process. Samsung did just that, using something that was meant to hold a memory and manipulating it for commercial gain.
The company saw a marketing opportunity, and they grabbed it, regardless of how it would affect Ortiz, Obama or the budding friendship the two could have shared.
This is a classic scenario of a big company devising a swindling plan of how to make more money pushing everyone over in the process. TAS
