White House raps Samsung for promoting Obama selfie
The White House has criticised Samsung for promoting a selfie of Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz with Barack Obama.Ortiz took the photo on his Samsung Note 3, tweeting “"What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie @BarackObama", while handing over a personalised Red Sox jersey to the US President, with the image since being shared over 40,000 times.
What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/y5Ww74sEID
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 1, 2014However, after the Sports Business Journal reported that Otriz had signed a deal with Samsung, a White House spokesperson said: “"Without getting into counsel's discussions, I can tell you that as a rule, the White House objects to attempts to use the president's likeness for commercial purposes, and we certainly object in this case".Samsung denies that it was pre-meditated and says it was ‘honoured’ to help Ortiz “capture such an incredible and genuine moment of joy and excitement”.Samsung sponsored selfies at the Oscars, with the famous Ellen DeGeneras tweet racking up over two million retweets.