By Design?

A Tommy Hilfiger magazine ad campaign that includes a picture of a model sitting on a desk in a fake Oval Office will be changed to remove any reference to the White House, although it was impossible to pull the ads from September and October issues. In a letter to the designer, the White House legal office asked that the ads be changed because of a long-standing policy that the White House not be used for advertising purposes. The request was not prompted by the controversy surrounding President Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White Hosue spokeswoman said Monday. Ruth Pachman, a Hilfiger company spokeswoman, said the campaign was not intended to be a political statement. “It was designed to capture the positive spirit of American democracy,” she said. “It was meant to be a tribute.”