The Weatherproof clothing company got permission from a photographer to use a photo of the President wearing one of their coats at the Great Wall of China — but they didn’t ask the White House. If they had, they’d have been told where to stick their Times Square billboard.

From Fox News:

“The White House has a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president’s name and likeness for commercial purposes,” White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a written statement Wednesday.

The policy in question predates Mr. Obama’s administration. Another official told Fox News that the ad is misleading because it suggests that the President approved it.

The company has agreed to remove the ad, but not before first declaring that they wouldn’t, presumably to drum up press. It seems to have worked.

White House Pressures Clothing Company Into Removing Obama Billboard [Fox News via Gothamist]

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