Not only are couples ignoring the idea of asking guests to contribute to the Obama campaign rather than buy a wedding gift, it has actually angered many event planners and couples.

New York Post:

"The number of links and stories about the announcement is very low since the news went live on June 22," said Meredith Klee, a spokeswoman for the social-media tracking firm Topsy.

Her site's latest data show 1,137 posts on Twitter about the registry.

And only a few hundred links to the registry have been shared on Facebook - even though Obama has more than 27 million fans on the site, according to Topsy.

"It's a gift that we can all appreciate - and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl," said campaign staffer Laura Wilson while announcing the initiative.

The Obama campaign didn't return requests for comment.

But wedding industry pros called the ploy tasteless and divisive.

"This is absurd. Republican or Democrat, you shouldn't bring politics into a wedding," said Kristin Koch, a senior editor with weddingchannel.com. "We found that nearly everyone found this to be a bad idea."

Brides-to-be commenting on her site's message board called the initiative "gross!" and "tacky" - with one writing, "Hell no!"

"Politics and my personal celebrations should not be mixed," another bride wrote.

No doubt this idea was ridiculed on social media rather than passed around as a good idea. And judging from the comments by brides, however much money was raised was offset ten fold by bad publicity.

I wonder whose idea it was and if that person still has a job with the campaign?