Weatherproof's Billboard Featuring President Obama
Jacket company Weatherproof has posted a billboard in Times Square over Red Lobster.. with a picture of President Obama in front of the great wall of china, with the line “A Leader In Style.” Though President Obama is a pretty big celebrity, the company made one mistake… they never got the permission to use this picture.
The company now calls the jacket he was wearing “The Obama Jacket.”
Company president Freddie Stollmack has been gloating over the president’s choice since he ordered a high-res version of the photo and examined the logo and zipper pull with a magnifying glass to determine that it was, in fact, Weatherproof.
A spokesman for Obama told the Times, “The White House has a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president’s name and likeness for commercial purposes.” A White House aide is expected to contact Weatherproof today to take the ad down.
Weatherproof’s President responded by saying,
“Is it a calculated risk? Not being an attorney — I’m being, really, a designer, merchandiser guy in the apparel business — I would leave that to the attorneys or whatever. We’re not saying President Obama endorses Weatherproof apparel.”
He added: “If we were to get a letter or a call from the White House saying they didn’t approve of it or they didn’t like it or whatever, or they see it as an ad, we’ll do whatever we have to do. We’re not looking to alienate the White House.”
Well no matter what, they got all the publicity they wanted by doing this.