Cheap ass.
(TheDC) — President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is asking artists to design promotional posters that convey a message: “support American jobs.” The brutal irony for artists, however, is that they will receive no payment for their work.
The campaign, which has $61 million on hand, will reward only the three artists whose work is selected for use. The compensation? A copy of their artwork, signed by the president.
The Graphic Artists Guild isn’t pleased with the ask. On Saturday, the guild issued an open letter to the campaign voicing outrage over what it called a “shameful” competition.
“American artists should be outraged that our President does not recognize that we are entitled to be paid for our work, as are all Americans,” the guild wrote.
The Obama campaign’s request for submissions says that it “is seeking poster submissions from artists across the country illustrating why we support President Obama’s plan to create jobs now, and why we’ll re-elect him to continue fighting for jobs for the next four years.”
According to the guild, the award for the selected artists has no actual value, unless the recipient sells it. The campaign estimates the signed artwork’s value would be approximately $195. The guild’s pricing guidelines suggest that the proper compensation for such artwork is approximately $4,000.