Walgreens Jettisons Chia Obama

Afro-sporting pottery planter 'didn't fit our corporate image'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 8, 2009 10:43 AM CDT
Walgreens Jettisons Chia Obama
This screenshot from Joseph Enterprises shows the infamous Chia Obama, currently shown as "available online only."

Walgreens has pulled Chia Obama from its shelves, saying the Afro-growing pottery novelty “didn’t fit our corporate image,” the Chicago Tribune reports. “We didn’t want to be subject to any misinterpretation over the product,” said a spokesman, who said he was misquoted yesterday as saying that customers had complained that the bust was racist. “The word I used was ‘offensive.’”

Joseph Enterprises, the company behind the Chia brand, was flabbergasted by the move. “It’s hope, courage, and pro-American,” protested president Joe Pedott. “If someone calls me a racist, I get livid. I’m a Republican and voted for Obama.” He also noted that sales shot up 50% in the one week Walgreens carried the bust. He says he’ll keep selling it online, and he’s talking to Walgreens’ “friendly competitors.” (More Barack Obama stories.)

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