NEW YORK — President-elect Barack Obama decided not to sign corporate sponsors to help pay the projected $40 million cost of the official events around the Jan. 20 swearing in.
So many marketers are working other avenues to get their brands before the millions of people who will attend the festivities or watch on TV.

Among them are such well-known names as Pepsi, Ikea, T.G.I. Friday’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. From the airwaves to the streets of Washington, D.C., big-name marketers are trying to find ways to ride Inauguration Day enthusiasm.

Which raises the question of when “He’s The Real Thing” is going to morph into ”Plop, plop, fizz, fizz.”

MSNBC and other news outlets are looking to capitalize on the heightened interest in the inauguration of Barack Obama, as watch parties are being planned in cities across the nation.

AP vid: Obama’s Kenya grandma, the one he didn’t throw under the bus, comes to DC. Hey, where’s Aunti Zeituni?

Uh oh. Bono’s on the playlist. Watch your wallet while reaching for your Inaugural sickbag. Irish wailer may be one of the world’s richest men, but he wants you to pony up for third-world debt. He’s pretty much a harmless pol groupie, though.

Rip-off! CSM calls it Obama-palooza. Not hurl-blogging it, but helpfully suggests the potential for trainwrecks and internationally broadcast eff-bombs. I don’t think by “trainwreck” CSM is looking forward to Obama’s Inaugural Express going off the rails, by the way.