Do a search for "president" on allposters.com and you likely find a snotload of posters of every president. Presidential posters have always been out there, even at Walmart. You just never noticed them before. I read an article just before the election that said that Obamamania merchandise has even surpassed that of Michael Jordan at his height, when his merchandise accounted for fully half of all the NBA's merchandise.
There's an Obama
Yes We Can Opener. Perfect.
They've got t-shirts, posters, Obama cookies, Obama noodles. Books, bags, buttons and bumper stickers. Obama clocks, watches and wall calendars. Mugs, rugs, and sock puppets. You can even get a Pet Barak that looks like a Pet Rock. It's got Hope on it. Obama ties, rings, bracelets, caps and gowns, even an Obama dog collar. There's a talking Barak Bobblehead doll, and an Obama action figure. Pose him in six different presidential positions. Marvel Comics put put the Obama-Spiderman comic book, and Topps produced a set of Obama trading cards. So did Upper Deck. Batter up Barak.
The ultimate Obama gift for the one you love may be the
ObamaCondom. For when you don't know when to pull out, or stay in for the long haul, the Obamacondom is perfect for these hard times.
My favorite still is the
Hillary Clinton Nutcracker and Corkscrew Bill. Stainless steel thighs to crack even the toughest nuts. And if you have a little Pinot envy and get thirsty, you can get the Corkscrew Bill. Who better to pop your cork than Bill?
There's a
George Bush Toilet Brush. They've got one for
Hillary, too.
During the campaigns they had everything out there, including a t-shirt with Sarah Palin's picture on it that says VPILF.
Sarah Palin VPILF T-Shirts & Stickers
Oh, they still have the
"LIMITED EDITION" Palin Condoms, too. When abortion is not an option. Hockey mom approved. The official condom of all four members of the Alaska State Legislature. (Use only as directed.)
As to the legal issues, a celebrity has a "right of publicity" where a name and/or likeness can be trademarked and protected. With an elected official, it gets a little murky, at best. For one, there's no clear-cut person or entity to handle licensing of a president, and if there were, can you imagine the legal issues that would present? Everything from conflict of interest to free speech issues could come up.
Now, t-shirts and posted with Obama and MLK on them, the MLK estate keeps a close eye on that stuff on when and how it's used. You wanna use MLK's likeness, you gotta pay the royalty.
Al Kamen, a columnist for The Washington Post, had a coulmn a couple of weeks ago that said Obama's incoming White House Counsel, Greg Craig, stated they would begin to rein in vendors after the election. I dunno how well that's gonna work. Is the White House going to be in the merchandise licensing business? The Free Speech squelching business?
The only thing I know for sure is that you can't use the Presidential Seal on anything. That's a criminal offense.
LOL, I told him to becareful , osambas people might not take that lightly...but we shoot in a old sand pit on private property, so he figured it would be ok....