White House disapproves of doctored Obama-Chavez kiss photo

The White House expressed its disapproval of a digitally altered picture of President Obama kissing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez produced by retail chain Benetton.

"The White House has a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president's name and likeness for commercial purposes," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said according to Reuters on Thursday.

On Wednesday Benetton released an advertising series of photo illustrations of world leaders kissing. One of those pictures featured Obama and Chavez. The photo is part of Benetton's "Unhate" campaign and also includes other world leaders such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy kissing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Benedict XVI embracing Egyptian imam Mohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb.

"We have decided, through this campaign, to give widespread visibility to an ideal notion of tolerance and invite the citizens of every country to reflect on how hatred arises particularly from fear of ‘the other’ and of what is unfamiliar to us," Alessandro Benetton, the company's founder, said in a press release Wednesday.

Benetton quickly pulled the Pope Benedict ad after the Vatican deemed it unacceptable and pledged legal action.

On Thursday, according to The Associated Press, the Vatican said the image is "offensive not only to the dignity of the pope and the Catholic Church, but also to the sensibilities of believers."

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