Advertiser-in-Chief: Is Using the President's Image Smart or Stupid?

As Michal Ann Strahilevitz, professor of marketing at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, observes, "Plenty of bad taste and poor judgment here, but not without huge silver linings for the brand. This is a great publicity stunt and will indeed get them lots of publicity and attention. If they wanted to increase brand awareness, that is something this stunt will help them accomplish. It is so hard for ads to break through the clutter, but an ad with the president is a totally different story."

That said, if you're thinking of doing anything similar -- and surely someone is considering it -- it would behoove you to keep a few important things in mind.

The president won't be happy with you. President Obama has made it very clear that he isn't in favor of any company using his photo, or a photo of a family member, for licensing purposes. And, sure enough, what happened with Weatherproof was pretty predictable. The White House's counsel, Kendall Burman, had a conversation with the folks at Weatherproof, and three days after the billboard had been erected, it was announced the ad would be coming down -- in about a week. So do you really have the stomach to get a displeased call from the White House?

There may be consequences you can't imagine. Given that it is Times Square, and the ad space isn't allowed to be empty, Weatherproof has indicated it'll take that long to get a replacement ad in place. So presumably, they have to shoot an entire new ad, which is going to cost something, but given that they had the money for a billboard in Times Square, and with all the publicity, we're betting they don't mind any extra costs that come with this stunt. (Weatherproof did not respond to our requests for a comment.)

People who aren't fans of the president may now be turned off by your brand. As mentioned, politics is a thorny topic. You may turn off some customers who don't want to align themselves with a company that appears to be a big fan of the president -- it's always a risk, no matter who is occupying the White House, to make fun of the president in an ad campaign. Embrace or mock the leader of the free country and some large swath of the nation isn't going to be pleased.

Even if your ad portrays the president in a positive light, supporters may not be happy with you. That may sound crazy, but as Strahilevitz points out, "Yes, some folks will think, 'Hot -- I want that coat'... yet many of those fans will think it offensive to use their president for commercial gain in an ad he clearly never approved. So they may be angering the very market they are trying to appeal to."