Don’t fall for the easy “reason” folks, this is all about controlling how he is perceived, Obama and his clan are trying to surpress the image and the message.

“Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama’s popularity makes him a marketer’s dream. Now, the honeymoon may be over for those trying to profit from his appeal.

White House lawyers want to control the use of the president’s image, recognizing the worldwide fascination about Obama’s election, First Amendment free-speech rights and easy access to videos and photos on the Web.

“Our lawyers are working on developing a policy that will protect the presidential image while being careful not to squelch the overwhelming enthusiasm that the public has for the president,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Obama’s calls for change and his “Yes We Can” campaign mantra are being evoked to sell assembly-required furniture in Ikea’s “Embrace Change” marketing campaign, bargain airfares during Southwest Airlines Inc.’s “Yes You Can” sale and “Yes Pecan” ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. shops.

“I can’t remember this ever happening to an active politician before, as a spokesperson or as an image for a brand,” said Brad Adgate, director of research for Horizon Media Inc., a New York-based advertising agency. “He’s in the highest profile of any person in the world right now.”

Riding the wave of Obama’s popularity may become a concern when advertisers use his likeness without permission to imply that Obama is endorsing a product or cause. The White House through the years has objected to commercial use of presidential faces, such as footage of President George H.W. Bush in a Cold War-themed 1989 television ad for cold medication. “

The issues they want us to believe is “commercial use”, but it’s really any use not specifically approved of by THE ONE. Note there was no such effort by these lawyers or any one of the left to do the same for the previous President George Bush.

Such as this book sold on Amazon by Slates Jacob Weisberg.

Or of many other previous Presidents. In fact Mr. Adgate assertion that marketing of Obama is unprecedented shows he’s too young to remember Dwight D. Eisenhower’s extreme popularity as well as that of FDR, both of which were featured in unacknowledged product endorsements.

Of course CNN is making a buck and at the same time showing their bias with this t-shirt, “Obama raises hand, lifts a nation”

But again this isn’t about commercialism, it’s about trying to control the way that Obama is perceived by the public and around the world. As Obama’s popularity begins to wane – as he takes the economy into the toilet – the effort will get that more intense.

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