Samsung was on the winning end of the stick when Boston Red Sox player David "Papi" Ortiz took a selfie with President Barack Obama with his Red Sox Jersey reading "Obama," the Associated Press reported.
Photographers caught Ortiz snapping the selfie with the president at a White House event, according to the AP. Ortiz was using a Samsung phone and tweeted the picture to his followers Tuesday.
Samsung did not comment on their relationship with Ortiz, the baseball player told the Boston Globe Wednesday that he signed a deal with Samsung a few months ago and the company gives him "phones and other stuff," according to the AP.
The Obama selfie "wasn't anything on purpose," Ortiz told the Globe, the AP reported. "I would say I went along just like everyone else taking pictures and posted."
Samsung retweeted the photo as an ad and said in a tweet that the photo was taken with a Samsung phone. the AP reported.
The White House press secretary said Wednesday that Obama was not aware of the marketing stunt, according to the AP. Ortiz's agent did not respond to questions but the company does have a deal with Ortiz.
Samsung is currently the world's largest maker of smartphones and have received large amounts of attention after Ellen DeGeneres took a selfie with a Samsung on the red carpet, the AP reported.
In its latest fiscal year, Samsung spent roughly $4 billion on advertising, about four times as much as Apple, according to the AP. Although Samsung makes TVs, refrigerators and other products, analysts believe much of the marketing is for newer products such as phones.
Samsung splashed the Oscars ceremony with phones and encouraged student presenters to post photos taken with the gadgets, the AP reported.
