Where's My Chia Obama?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCiTAJi1yRkI was shocked to learn moments ago that the Chia Obama was pulled from the shelves of Walgreens, and the above (very real) commercial pulled from the airwaves.Fortunately, the Chia Obama website is still up and taking orders as far as I can tell. Available in "Happy" and "Determined."

---

As wonderfully absurd as all this may seem, it's really worth jumping down the rabbit hole and listening to tonight's CBC Radio interview with Joe Pedott, the 76-year-old creator of the Chia Obama (and the many previous Chia products). He talks of the idea's inception, a run-in with Jesse Jackson, racist Afros, and even scared Caucasians. In the end, Mr. Pedott makes it clear, this is "not a ChiaPet, it's a Chia Obama... a symbol, rather than just a head."Here's the mp3 of the interview.