The LA Times says the election has turned the incoming president into a one-man stimulus machine, with some $200 million in Barack Obama goods sold in the past two months alone.
For a guy accused during the campaign of being a socialist, he’s inspired plenty of capitalists.
Even the inauguration itself has turned into a huge marketing event. Check out what’s for sale tied to the big day:
| 2 - The Barack Obama Inauguration Hot Sauce. The East Coast is in the grips of a cold front, and the temperature for the inauguration is expected to be right around freezing -- roughly 10 degrees cooler than the average temperature for Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20. So why not heat things up with some inaugural hot sauce? |
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| 3 - Plenty of people consider Barack Obama to be a hero. So Marvel Comics teamed him up with one of their heroes: Spider-Man. |
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| 4 - Hennessy Cognac is selling 180,000 bottles in a special bottle marked with the date of the inauguration and the phrase “In Honor of the 44th President.” The company plans to make a donation to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for each $30 bottle sold. |
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| 5 - For those with more traditional tastes in souvenirs, the Smithsonian Store has created a framed print of Obama with an embossed gold seal and a quote from his victory speech. It features the date of the inauguration and the title “A New Birth of Freedom,” and a price of $35. |
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| 6 - Go back through history and you’ll find that some of the earliest Americans owned, used and even cherished pewter, including the presidents. Now, you can have your own pewter bowl, plate, box or champagne-cooler to celebrate the Obama inauguration. |
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| 7 - So you couldn’t get a ticket to the big event. You can probably buy someone’s invitation afterwards, frame it, and pretend you were there. But why settle for something so common? Some enterprising souls have turned the invitations into magnets, so you can put it on the fridge, right between your toddler’s finger-paint masterpiece and the reminder that you’re out of beer. You can find them on eBay for around $4. |
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| 8 - You probably won’t be playing a round of golf with the commander-in-chief anytime soon, but you can use this set to bring some presidential style to your game. $40 gets you a polo shirt with the inauguration logo, and a set of three logo-bearing golf balls. |
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| 9 - You simply can’t have a kitsch collection without some commemorative plates.This plate from the Home Shopping Network costs $20, or you can get a set of three for $60. |
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| 10 - Not ready to commit to a real plate? Try the paper version. Sure, it’s a joke -- but it’s half the price of the real thing, and each one is a little different, since they’re individually drawn by “The Artist” at the the time of order. The “stunning” keepsakes are $10 each. Just don’t leave it on the table. Someone might eat dinner off it. |
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