# Obama “Hope” poster

> Obey said it distributed over 300,000 posters of Fairey’s Obama portrait.

- Owner: Shepard Fairey / Obey Giant
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Politics & civic
- Seed date: 2008-01-25
- Milestone date: 2008-11-10
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 36 (Niche, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Scarcity drop, Visible in use, Controversy, Platform jump

## Summary

Fairey posted the portrait online and sold prints to finance street distribution. Supporters printed copies and makers produced parodies. Obey’s distribution report anchors the milestone; AP’s photo-rights dispute continued after the election.

## Timeline

- 2008-01-25 — Shepard Fairey / Obey Giant (Open web) — Fairey posted his Obama portrait with the word PROGRESS on Obey Giant.
- 2008-01-30 — Creativity / Jeff Beer (Press) — Creativity interviewed Fairey about using print sales to fund street posters.
- 2008-02-03 — Steve Rhodes (Open web) — Rhodes uploaded his photo of HOPE posters given out at an Obama rally in San Francisco.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/obama-hope-poster

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Obama “Hope” poster.” Case HIS-01573. Spread Score v1.3: 36/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01573