Gray hat marketing gone amuck?
Posted on Jan 8, 2010 by Molly Huff
By now I’m sure most of you have seen or at least heard tell of the billboard in Times Square featuring President Obama in a Weatherproof jacket. There is much controversy about said billboard because the clothing company acquired the photo through the Associated Press’ photo purchasing service but did NOT clear it with The White House. Weatherproof says that by putting President Obama on the billboard, they are not claiming that he endorses the product; just merely happy that “…after 100 years we have a stylish president.”
This has caused much discussion in our office because there is a definite line between gray hat marketing and innocent promotion of a product. Needless to say, The Big Picture does not think this stunt falls in the latter category, but that’s not to say it wasn’t savvy. Who is the most recognizable person in the United States? President Barack Obama. Does putting a larger-than-life size photo of the President in a coat made by your company imply endorsement? Of course it does. Was it by accident that the billboard chosen to showcase this implied endorsement just happens to be in Times Square which hosts up to 500,000 people per day? No way.
Will Weatherproof gain brand awareness and sell some jackets because of this? Yep.
An ethical line has certainly been crossed, but is there really a victim here? It’s an interesting question, and I’m not sure that the answer is black or white.
Tagged: president obama, weatherproof clothing company, times square billboard, gray hat marketing
