White House expresses distaste for Obama wine

I'm sure it would be a smokey, woody vintage with a hint of lemon...**

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The White House is not taking kindly to a report of a special wine created to commemorate President Obama's historic status as the country's first African-American commander-in-chief.

French winemaker Angela Bousquet-Keita has reportedly created an Obama cuvee - or vintage wine - to celebrate Obama's election, according to a report by Spiegel Online.

But the White House is responding with sour grapes to the news.

"The White House has a longstanding policy of disapproving uses of the President's name and likeness for commercial purposes," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said in an e-mail to CNN.

**I just made that crap up, I have no idea how to judge wine..

Tender, Juicy Obama Fingers Hit the Shelves

That is the exact headline from Der Speigel. Oy.

A German frozen food company hopes to raise sales with a new product: Obama fingers. The tender, fried chicken bits come with a tasty curry sauce. The company says it was unaware of the possible racist overtones of the product.

(snip)

Many sales executives have drawn the same conclusion: What better poster child for hope than US President Barack Obama? There are Obama dolls, Obama T-shirts, Obama soap-on-a-rope. There is even Obama thong underwear on offer.

Not wanting to miss the boat, a German food company has now gotten into the act. Sprehe, a company that has all manner of frozen delicacies on offer, has come up with a new product it calls "Obama Fingers." Far from being real digits, though, the "fingers" in question are "tender, juicy pieces of chicken breast, coated and fried," as the product packaging claims.

Obama Wants to Control Commercial Use of His Image

I was going to do a separate post about this, but Taegan beat me. I hadn't been to my round the corner Kroger since about a week before the inauguration, and it literally looks like an Obama merchandising truck EXPLODED in it. Hats, t-shirts, buttons, books, videos, posters, water bottles... any damn thing you can think of, they put Obama's face on it.

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

Said a spokesman: "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."

First lady objects to Sasha, Malia dolls

Good for her. They could at least fess up to trying to make money off the First Girls.

CHICAGO, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is taking a Westmont, Ill., company to task for marketing dolls with the same names as her children, Malia and Sasha.

Ty Inc., the company that created and distributes Beanie Babies, has been promoting two dolls with dark complexions and dark hair -- one named "Marvelous Malia" and the other named "Sweet Sasha" -- as part of its TyGirlz line. The items hit the market this month, prior to President Barack Obama's inauguration.

"We believe it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes," a spokeswoman for the first lady told Crain's chicagobusiness.com.

Beanie Babies maker sells Sasha, Malia dolls

Just the first of many to come I'd guess. Hopefully they won't make any Bratz style ones.....

CHICAGO – The company that made Beanie Babies a top toy craze is hoping for another winner with dolls named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia."

Now where have we heard those names before?

Ty Inc. has released the 12-inch plush dolls as part of the company's "TyGirlz Collection," introduced in 2007. The Sasha doll has pigtails and wears a white and pink dress with hearts. The Malia doll has a side ponytail and a long-sleeve shirt with capri pants.

The Oak Brook-based company chose the dolls' names because "they are beautiful names," not because of any resemblance to President Obama's daughters, said spokeswoman Tania Lundeen.

"There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls," Lundeen said. "It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."

Um, sure.

Obama Chia?

Dear sweet jeebus on a stick. More money hungry Obama crap ideas here. h/t Nellcote

NBA Team's Game Day Promo: Historic 'Wash Post' Obama Election Edition

Hmm, collectible Obama swag or fuzzy dice? Decisions, decisions.

CHICAGO A week before his inauguration, Barack Obama continues to show his ability to move newspapers. The latest example comes from the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team.

To lure fans to Friday's game against the New York Knicks, the Wizards are giving away to every fan in attendance a copy of The Washington Post's Nov. 5, 2008 Obama election victory newspaper.

The newspapers will be distributed at the end of the game, according to the team's Web promo. This will apparently be a two-fer for fans of the struggling Wizards, who have managed to win just five of their 19 games on their home court. The team's Web site also promises fuzzy dice from the Chipolte Mexican fast food chain.