ObamaRama, The Beginning - Page 2

But wait! There’s more. Click on “take our online survey” and vote on what you’d like to see next in the Chia “Proud to be an American” series of Chia planters. Imagine Chia JFK, Chia Sitting Bull, Chia Mount Rushmore (sold as four separate Chia busts designed to be fitted together to make one giant Chia-mountain).

One can debate whether introducing this Chia Obma “Special Edition” is an honor, an offense or simply the one of the more bizarre entries into this little chia slice of “as seen on TV” pop culture. But it was evidently an idea that failed to grow on at least one segment of consumers. Originally sold at Walgreens Drug Stores, the product, introduced April 1, was removed from brick-and-mortar store shelves a week later when the company was bombarded with complaints that Chia Obama was not simply in bad taste but racially offensive. Of course, the product became immediately available on eBay and other places — at a much-inflated price.

Bad taste? Perhaps. But so are dozens of other equally-annoying “commemoratives.” Offensive? Maybe. Racist? Unlikely. Joseph Pedott, Chicago native and founder of the San Francisco-based Joseph Enterprises, who manufactures all Chia products (and lots of those other “seen on TV” offers like “The Clapper”), says the Obama Chia was meant to show pride in the 44th president.

One can only imagine the original pitch to introduce the Obama Chia. “Hey, here’s an idea. Obama’s dark-skinned like our clay and has hair that’s simply made for those nutritious chia seeds. Obama’s practically ‘made for chia.’ We’ll make a killing!” But, alas, only on the Internet. Chia Obama will not soon be “coming to a store near you.”

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: Obama at the Movies
Lisa McKay

In September of 2008, as Americans were gathering the data that would help them make an informed decision at the polls during November's presidential election, CBS News anchor Katie Couric cut right to the chase and asked Senators John McCain and Barack Obama some hard-hitting questions. Among those questions was one which I personally use to gauge the worthiness of any presidential candidate (or prospective friend): What is your favorite movie of all time?

Obama's response to this question was a safe one as far as choices go: "Oh, I think it would have to be The Godfather. One and Two. Three not so much. That saga — I love that movie."

As do lots of other people. Widely considered to be a masterpiece of modern America cinema, Francis Ford Coppola's sprawling epic has woven itself firmly into the fabric of American culture, becoming one of the most widely-quoted, well-loved films of all time, transcending and eclipsing its mediocre source material completely. Obama also gets it right when he picks the first two but "not so much" the third, although I think the third, in spite of its overwrought ending, is necessary because that's where we see the chickens come home to roost.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and publisher of Blogcritics.org, which, quite frankly, rules - as do his wife and four children.

Visit Eric Olsen's author page — Eric Olsen's Blog