The guys hawking Barack Obama T-shirts and trinkets on the corners of downtown Washington have some new competition in the selling frenzy building up to the president-elect's inauguration Tuesday.Companies ranging from global giants like soda and snacks maker PepsiCo to a local grocery chain offering cakes with Obama's face in icing are jumping on the Obama commercial wave. Others, like the Swedish home store Ikea, are hoping consumers take Obama's mantra of "change" to heart so much that they go out and buy furniture to mark the change in the White House. It is relatively rare for corporations leery of alienating consumers with any whiff of politics to associate themselves with a political figure, according to marketing experts. But at a time when many Americans have snapped their wallets shut during a grinding recession, the groundswell of popularity that Obama has generated with his upbeat campaign themes, along with the symbolism he brings as the nation's first black president, are likely too good for many battered retailers to pass up.
For more visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28721304/
For more visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28721304/
