Obama's New Ad

"The first, most important, fact is having people see Steve in the position of President, which they have trouble seeing right now," Mr. Eisner [a Forbes ad man] said....

To that end, some commercials were shot in black and white and with Mr. Forbes against backdrops that resemble the Oval Office.

"We did a study of Presidential archival photography," Mr. Eisner said. "The way people are used to seeing a President is in that context -- black and white. We also put him in environments that look Presidential, offices that resemble the Oval Office. The gathered drapes and plastered ceilings, all the architecture is very similar to the Presidential office so they could envision him in the White House." [emphasis added]