Don't be fooled if one these days you see Barack Obama in a TV ad selling medicine.

An Indonesian photographer appears to have hit the jackpot after his brother noticed the striking similarities between him and the soon-to-be U.S. president.

Ilham Anas, a local photographer, has become a celebrity in Obama's former hometown of Jakarta. Obama's American mother, Ann Dunham, married Muslim Indonesian Lolo Soetoro following the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father.

When Obama won, my colleagues played a practical joke on me – they made me wear a suit, a tie, and took pictures of me posing as Obama, Anas told Reuters.

The pictures spread very quickly on the Internet. It was phenomenal. Then TV stations and an advertising agency got in touch with me.

A Filipino pharmaceutical company has cast Anas in a commercial showing him dressed as Obama visiting the Philippines. He has already received marketing offers from Indonesian and South Korean companies.

I will take all the opportunities that come my way, as long as they don't violate ethical codes and my personal values, the 34-year-old said.

When asked what he would ask the real Obama if he got the chance to meet him, he said I would ask him to take a firm stance in dealing with the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

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