The White House wants to put an end to the social media generation’s most popular ego-fueled frenzy after Boston Red Sox hitter David Ortiz snapped what White House officials have deemed a commercially-influenced selfie with President Obama for Samsung last week.
Ortiz’s selfie with the president could be the last in the White House if senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer has his way.
During an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Pfeiffer reiterated that Obama knew nothing about Ortiz’s connection with Samsung and the subsequent photo, and joked that, “perhaps maybe this will be the end of all selfies.”
Shortly before the Red Sox headed to the White House last week to commemorate their World Series victory, Samsung brought Ortiz on as the company’s MLB social media insider. After pulling the president into a photo taken on Ortiz’s Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and tweeting it, Samsung retweeted the picture, which has since picked up more than 40,000 additional retweets.
What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/y5Ww74sEID
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 1, 2014
The White House went on to publicly chastise the company for using the president’s likeness for promotional purposes, and administration lawyers are reportedly pursuing the issue according to a Washington Post report.