President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden during an East Room event to honor educators who receive awards for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and mentoring, January 6, 2010
A larger-than-life President Barack Obama became a presidential pitchman Wednesday on a Times Square billboard that used his photo without permission. Outerwear company Weatherproof used a recent news photo of the president in front of the Great Wall in Badaling, China, for the advertisement, with the tagline “A Leader In Style.” Weatherproof president Freddie Stollmack said he first saw the photo in a newspaper while Obama was on his trip to China in November. The coat looked familiar, so Stollmack got out a magnifying glass and found the brand’s logo.