This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Silent Hunter: Where's the law about the President's image?
Scud East: Yeah. I've never heard of this. Anyone got a reference?
Chuckg: Minor edit to the 'Black Summer' entry — I'm thinking that cold-bloodedly murdering the President and his senior staff expires your superhero license a bit, so I inserted the word 'renegade'.
Ununnilium: What about shows that just use a wholly different President? I remember Eek The Cat parodying this, with him explaining "Oh, I'm one of those fake Presidents TV shows use so that they don't seem dated in reruns". Some shows will use a female President for extra flavor, and then there's the '60s animated series Super President...
Morgan Wick: Instant, thoughtless examples: 24, The West Wing, Commander in Chief. And don't forget The DCU making Lex Luthor president at one point.
Red Shoe: I think that's really the alternative to this trope: if, for whatever reason, it won't work to invent a fictional president/movie star/rock band, you use the Invisible President instead. Using a wholly different president would be a kind of Fictional Counterpart (depending; the President in The West Wing isn't a Fictional Counterpart, but the nameless generic pastiche American president who shows up in an episode of The Tomorrow People probably is).
Kizor: The opening of the sixth Harry Potter, where a character talks with the Prime Minister, is visibly strained by shying away from names and parties in order to not insert Tony Blair into the story. O'course, doing so would've opened several cans of Shai-Hulud. Should it go here or elsewhere?
Daibhid C: The character in The Green Death was actually an Invisible Prime Minister and a fake PM... almost. He was called "Jeremy", as a reference to the then leader of the Liberal Party, which is generally seen as unlikely to win a general election. (The modern US equivilent would probably be "President Nader".)
Mister Six: Isn't this just Anonymous Ringer?
Artful: Quite right.
I aded one about "The jeffersons" - I'm almost sure Carter did appear (well, an impersonator, but you know what I mean - int hat universe) at the end. However, I don't hve the time to search for episode title, etc. - someone else can double check.
trimeta: There was a bit of an uproar a few months ago when a clothing company used a press photo of President Obama wearing their jacket as the centerpiece of an ad; this was eventually pulled, as it went against the "using the President's likeness for direct commercial gain" thing. Would that qualify as a Notable Aversion to this trope?
