It is a silly little trend really, where anyone with a Smartphone (and that’s a lot of us) has the capability to take pictures of themselves and post said Selfie on the World Wide Web, usually via Facebook or Twitter.
I have heard psychologists calling it a sad trend, and I have heard that some people take more than just (ahem) pictures of their face. I have heard of Selfies being taken by dogs, though I am uncertain how that happens. People all over the world take Selfies, and popular Selfie’s were recently seen coming from the Academy Awards, Actors in China, fighter pilots in flight and other venues.
It was only a matter of time until the Selfie found its way to the White House. If the president or his family members want to take Selfie’s then, by golly, they should go for it. If an athlete wants to take a Selfie, then that’s OK too.
What happens when an athlete takes a Selfie with the president at the White House? All things considered, and aside from the fact that I’m a little jealous, I guess that’s OK too.
However, late in March 2014, an unusual Selfie event occurred that crossed an ethical line.
Mr. President, Meet Samsung – and thanks for the plug!
So in late March, David Ortiz a.k.a. Big Papi and, I should add, the World Series MVP, got to personally meet Mr. Obama in the Oval office. Mr. Big Papi asked Mr. Obama if he could take a Selfie of the two of them together.
“Sure, why not?” the president must have thought. After all, it’s Mr. Big Papi, the MVP and he likes his president. Fair enough – and “click.”
Within hours the image was seen round the world, but an interesting thing happened. Mr. Ortiz wasn’t the one who took credit. Within minutes after the Selfie was snapped, Samsung posted the image on its Twitter-feed. It seems that the president was set up. At first Samsung denied it, but as it turned out, Samsung and Ortiz had signed a contract.
They called Ortiz one of the company’s “social media insiders.” Mr. Ortiz was paid to do what he did – there was little in the way of spontaneity.
Undoubtedly, there were many “high fives” in the Samsung marketing department that evening. On one hand, you’ve got to give them the nod and on the other hand, they were as unethical as they could possibly be.
The White House, predictably, is thinking of banning Selfies with the president. But that’s not at all the point.
The real question is if the president is for sale and if so, who should reap the profits from that sale?
Stay neutral please
No matter your political persuasion, you have to admit that Samsung had no compunction about turning the President of the United States into a Samsung shill and that the president had no idea they were going to do it. Had Samsung asked the White House if they could do what they did, I have no doubt they would have been shown the door. Therein is the problem.
Let me put it another way.
Had the president given permission to the Smartphone company, would Samsung in turn, have minded if the president’s tailor had placed an advertisement on Mr. Obama’s suit? How about Mr. Obama’s shoe maker? His belt maker? The people who made his shirt? His barber? The dry cleaner that did his drapes? His dentist? The company that cleans the Oval office and Bo’s groomer (that’s his dog, folks)? Of course they would have minded.
For most of us, there is a certain amount of respect that goes along with the Oval office. We may or may not endorse the president’s politics, but we understand that there are certain lines of common sense decency that should not be crossed.
In the end, this had nothing at all to do with Selfies and everything to do with respect. The disrespect was done in the name of greed, and ethically bothers me a great deal.
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