Move those trophies off your shelves and make room for “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia.”
These dolls from Ty, Inc., the makers of Beanie Babies, are just the latest addition to the millions of Obama items manufactured since Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president. Though one would like to believe that the dolls serve as symbols of warm wishes toward the Obama girls, the range of products that have used the Obama image for profit make me believe otherwise.
The obsession with Obama-gear that started with T-shirts, mugs and pins with images of our new president quickly escalated into Obama bobbleheads, plate designs, mantle pieces, comic books, condoms and ““ my personal favorite ““ the Obama Chia head.
Distributing this “memorabilia” is one way to capture the historic presidential victory and demonstrate support for Obama. But it’s one thing to honor the coming of the new president as a sign of hope, one thing to want to own a piece of history and quite another to cash in on him. While it’s understandable that Obama’s image has been used for profit to such an extent (estimated by the New York Times at over $200 million in November alone), it’s less acceptable when companies try to cash in on his daughters.
I’m not just talking about the craze caused by the J. Crew outfits the girls wore on inauguration day, which the Washington Post reported resulted in thousands of people trying to buy matching coats.
Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia take marketing to a new level. Unfortunately, the over-the-top names are not the dolls’ sole issues. These dolls warn of the potential for exploiting the girls’ images for profit even beyond their father’s. That the Obama girls are being used as commercial props as they step into the White House is an invasion of their privacy and shameless marketing.
And while the manufacturing company claims the dolls are not based on Obama’s daughters, I have a hard time believing they’re not in light of their outfits and brown eyes and skin. Oh, and their names kind of give it away too.
Moreover, while it’s easy to find humor in depictions of Hillary and McCain toilet plungers and a Chia pot head of Obama, the underlying messages of Obama on a condom and the girls as dolls espouse discomfort and come off as offensive. Whereas the only connection I can make between Obama and a condom is the idea of a hope-inspiring presidential victory and one’s own hope of scoring in the bedroom, the dolls come off as more than admiration of the girls.
Meg Tanaka, a third-year political science and psychology student, said the dolls exude idolization.
“It’s nice that the 2008 election touched people on a new level, whether it inspired them or made them more politically active,” she said. “But I hope people realize that (Sasha and Malia) are still really young and still kids.”
Furthermore, leaving politicians’ family members out of any unnecessary attention is a concept that should be followed and one Obama clearly voiced in his defense of keeping the pregnancy of Gov. Palin’s daughter out of campaigns. Even if the dolls were made with good intentions, attention doesn’t necessarily have to be critical to be bothersome and intrusive.
While it may be true that stepping into the spotlight comes with the territory of being the president’s children, it doesn’t mean that they have given up rights to their privacy. I can’t blame first lady Michelle Obama for wanting to protect her girls from a never-ending battle against public attention, doting, usage or whatever you want to call it. She may not be a “hockey mom” and refer to herself as a bulldog with lipstick (I’m still not exactly sure why anyone would). But she is a mother looking out for her daughters, which means maintaining some normalcy during their childhood.
I enjoy seeing the open expression of support for the new president. But, just as showing off your underwear has a time and place (like at our beloved Undie Run celebrations), revenue also has a place. So if need be, go ahead and sport that Obama underwear at the next Undie Run. But the Obama girls have at least four years of unwanted attention coming to them. The least we can do is give them a bit of a break.
If you’ve purchased any unusual political memorabilia, e-mail Tehrani at ntehrani@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.