Artist and owner of Obey company Shepard Fairey created a piece of art of Obama that became one of the most memorable images of his presidential campaign. This image was seen on posters, t-shirts, and stickers. With both street art and Obey being very young and hip, it says a lot about the way Obama is viewed. Many people see him as being the young, hip, and different symbolic figure of hope and change. In this interview Fairey explains his art as well as the lawsuit he is facing for using this image of Obama.
2. Money and Marketing
Presidential campaigns cost tens of millions of dollars and are used to market the candidate as positively as possible. When President Barack Obama was campaigning he was no different spending $52 million on "media, strategy consultants, image-building, market research, and telemarketing." Some of this money went to the GMMB firm which is very concerned with branding and commercial marketing. This should not come as a surprise. With all the media today anyone who is in the public eye must be concerned with their brand image, especially politicians. To many Obama branded himself as something new and different, using words like "hope" and "change" to describe his campaign. Obama was marketed as young, handsome, and hip, these things differentiated him from his competitors and most other politicians in the past.
3. Getting Social 
In case you were wondering Barack Obama currently has 19,512,679 people liking his Facebook page. The page features pictures of the president,videos of his speeches, and posts about different events; why is this important? Just like in the book Feed, where people want to be constantly connected to their brands and friends, Facebook has allowed President Obama to stay connected with the average person as well as further himself as a brand. In the near future I believe that all politicians will benefit from having a social media presence where they can clearly define who they are as a brand.
4. Forever Young
During a time when America's youth is being encouraged to get involved with politics and vote, it makes sense to target them when campaigning. Paul Street writes, "Brand Obama's pure media-created celebrity-hood has been a major factor in his ascendancy, particularly with regards to younger voters." In years past the younger demographic may have been seen as a lost cause when campaigning but with the "Obama" brand, youth was something something to capitalize on.
5. What a Sport!
Over the years Obama has made it clear that he is a big sports fan and loves his Chicago teams. Obama can be seen on Sports Center every March making his presidential college basketball bracket or throwing out the first pitch for the White Sox. Personally as a big sports fan myself I find this to be intriguing that a politician would not only be so interested in sports but vocal about his opinions. I'm sure I was not the only sports fan in the U.S. that was interested by reports of Obama hosting competitive basketball games at the white house; another expansion to the already personal Obama brand."Obama received by far the most favorable coverage of any presidential candidate in the first five months of the presidential primary campaign."(Street 62) Some people think that Obama shouldn't be as concerned with sports and more focused on our country and its economic problems. I do not agree, Obama allowing people into his personal life makes him different and appealing to the everyday person.
As Neil Postman said, "Although the constitution makes no mention of it, it would appear that fat people are now effectively excluded from high political office. Probably bald people as well." (Postman 23) Today appearance is everything, even in politics. Obama is seen as the young, good looking, black man who represents change. The public is more concerned with Obama's image rather than his policies and what he plans on doing. From his suits when he is giving speeches to his street clothes when he is seen by the paparazzi, Obama has an image to uphold because he is constantly being seen and judged by the American public. Some what of an epistemological shift.
7. Show me the Money!
As they say nothing in life is free, that statement is true and then some when it comes to politics and running a campaign. Obama has already started his fundraising for the 2012 election, in the last election Obama had a clear monetary advantage over John McCain who relied on public funding where as Obama did not use any. In the last election Obama raised $32.5 million, money isn't everything but it does not seem to hurt. It will be interesting to see what Obama's opponents do in the upcoming election to raise money.
8. Mr. Everywhere
I have never seen a Politician with the kind of celebrity status of President Obama, if you didn't know who he is it wouldn't take you long to find out. You can see his face just about everywhere much like a celebrity, if I didn't know he was the U.S president, I would think he was a "meg brag" celebrity. T-shirts, toys, comic books, icecream, magazines, and tv shows.
9. Look at me now!
"For countless Americans, seeing, not reading, became the basis for believing." (Postman 74) Who doesn't want to supports a guy who's campaign is filled with positive words like "hope" and the slogan "yes we can"? Obama's ads and campaign posters had such a positive feel that it almost didn't matter what he was saying because the image of his campaign was so positive. The Obama website is a direct reflection of this image that people are attracted to and with the state that the country was in when he was running it was easier for people to look at what he was showing them and feel good.
