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Hoping that one day you might get the opportunity to take a selfie with the Commander-in-Chief? Sorry to say it, but your dreams might soon be dashed, and if that happens, it looks like we can probably blame it on Samsung. It isn’t exactly a secret that Samsung has been getting high-profile folks to use its devices as a means of low-key advertising – remember when Ellen’s selfie at the Oscars turned out to be a bit of marketing for the Galaxy Note 3? – but the white house is a little concerned that Samsung may have taken things too far with another wildly popular selfie.
Specifically we’re referring to the picture David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox snapped with President Obama when the team visited the White House last week. The picture was taken with (you guessed it) a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and was soon retweeted by Samsung. Though Samsung and Ortiz have both denied planning the selfie to help advertise the device, the fact that Samsung retweeted the picture left White House officials feeling a little too uncomfortable.
It isn’t so much that the White House doesn’t want the President to be featured in selfies, but rather, it isn’t fond of the President’s likeness being used to promote a product. Samsung does indeed have a marketing agreement with David Ortiz, and even if the picture wasn’t planned in advance, that deal is enough to get the White House wondering if it should just put an end to all Presidential selfies.
Not that it means anything to normal folks like us, since our chances of actually being close enough to the President to snap a selfie are pretty slim. That’s just the thing though, isn’t it? If the only people who can get that close to the President are high-profile folks with a vast following, then it opens up a prime opportunity to do a little discreet marketing. We can’t say we necessarily blame the White House for considering a hard-line against Presidential selfies, but we want to know what you think – head down to the comments section and share your opinion on this story!