Big Papi's presidential selfie was a big marketing gimmick

With the Red Sox visiting the White House Tuesday to celebrate their 2013 World Series title, Boston slugger David Ortiz snapped what seemed like an impromptu selfie with President Obama. It was a good selfie, an Internet-breaking selfie. It turns out, it was also a corporate-sponsored selfie.

Samsung inked Ortiz to an endorsement deal one day prior, and the company confirmed to The Boston Globe it helped Ortiz plan the picture beforehand.

"It was an honor to help him capture such an incredible and genuine moment of joy and excitement," the company said in a statement.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Yes, because nothing says "genuine" like a pre-planned, money-grabbing ad campaign masquerading as an extemporaneous photo op. For his part, President Obama apparently had no clue he was being used as an ad prop.