NATIVE ADVERTISING-Obama Red Sox 'Selfie' Samsung Ad - Business Insider

Reuters

Samsung's marketers managed to infiltrate the White House yesterday. 

The Boston Globe confirmed the cellphone company "helped" Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz before he took a "selfie" with President Barack Obama when the baseball team visited the White House Tuesday. Ortiz inked an endorsement deal with Samsung prior to his trip to Washington and the company subsequently promoted the tweet featuring his picture with the President. Samsung also sent responses to Twitter users who asked about the picture saying,"This photo was taken with a #GalaxyNote3."

"We were thrilled to see the special, historic moment David Ortiz captured with his Galaxy Note 3 during his White House visit," Samsung told the Globe, adding, "When we heard about the visit to the White House, we worked with David and the team on how to share images with fans. We didn’t know if or what he would be able to capture using his Note 3 device."

Last month, Samsung sponsored the Oscars and gave the ceremony's host, Ellen DeGeneres, a Galaxy phone to use for a celebrity selfie that shattered records on Twitter. Samsung compared Ortiz's selfie to DeGeneres' Oscars shot. 

"It was an honor to help him capture such an incredible and genuine moment of joy and excitement," Samsung said of Ortiz's picture with the president. "Similar to the selfie Ellen was able to capture during the Oscars, this was an opportunity for David to share the incredible moment with his fans."

As of this writing, Ortiz's selfie with Obama has been retweeted nearly 40,000 times. See his tweet below.