Samsung called out for ‘tricking’ Obama into selfie

The tech brand asked Red Sox star David Ortiz, who has an endorsement deal with the phone maker, to take a photo with the president at the White House.

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What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/y5Ww74sEID

— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 1, 2014

Ortiz took the photo during the Red Sox’ visit to the White House on Tuesday. The day before, the Sports Business Journal reported that Ortiz had signed a deal with Samsung to be a “social media insider.” Apparently, part of the deal was snapping a photo with the president. Ortiz has insisted that the shot was a spontaneous moment, but Samsung has been tweeting to people who replied to the original selfie post with promotional tweets of its own:

@Mike_Conrad This was taken with the #GalaxyNote3, Mike.

— Samsung Mobile US (@SamsungMobileUS) April 1, 2014

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