The White House has had “conversations” with Samsung after the company’s new social media insider, Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz, snapped a selfie with President Obama last week.
The photo, which Mr. Ortiz immediately posted on Twitter, is alleged to have been little more than a publicity stunt for Samsung, which hired the baseball slugger earlier this month.
“Maybe this will be the end of all selfies. In general, whenever someone tries to use the president’s likeness to promote a product, that’s a problem with the White House counsel,” Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We have had conversations with Samsung about this and expressed our concern.”
He would not elaborate on those conversations.
Mr. Ortiz visited the White House with his Red Sox teammates last Tuesday to be honored by the president for winning last year’s World Series.
In the days after, he denied the photo was a marketing gimmick for Samsung.
“I don’t understand where that stuff is coming from,” he told the Boston Globe last week. “It had nothing to do with no deals.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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