In what is unarguably the most divisive plug of the year, the Affordable Care Act’s biggest advocate, the Leader of Free World Barrack Obama, sat “Between Two Ferns” opposite bearded comedian Zach Galifianakis in a last minute appeal to draw nearer to the elusive seven million enrollees the White House hopes to achieve by the end of March.
President Obama cracking wise on “Between Two Ferns” with Zach Galifianakis.
The stunt’s innocuous enough. The 6 1/2 minute “Funny or Die” clip is a fun way to hammer home the ACA is, at long last, a working product. In between sarcastic jabs, Healthcare.gov only becomes the focal point of the segment half way through. But, I think the buildup pays off–and so do millions more. By the time this post goes live, the video has already drawn 14 million viewers.
At a time when Obama’s popularity is on the downturn, even among the demographic who reveres him most, the Invincible 20-somethings, this is a piece of absolutely crucial integrated marketing which effects are well, somewhat murky.
But, even the rabble-rousers chanting “Get Your Government Out of My Funny” couldn’t stem the flow of a 40% traffic increase post-“Ferns” to Healthcare.gov. Meanwhile, we wait with bated breath to see if these numbers convert in any significant way.
Let’s assume for a moment you aren’t tuned in (and why would you be?) to the political junkification of the air-radio waves. As it stands now, the Department of Health and Human Services reports somewhere around 54,000 referral visits since the video was posted March 11th, a figure that must stick in the HHS’s craw.
Impressive, sure, but the interwebs is a dense jungle and many of these millions are likely well outside the target audience—or the country for that matter.
What’s for sure, Internet, is that the ACA could do with some positive press. Surely time will tell whether Obama ought to credit his appearance on Galifianakis’ couch for ACA’s success. Me, I think it’s a fair attempt, but with a collective of fence straddlers, does it do in turning comedy into political points?
Are you one of the many ACA hold outs? If so, what’s keeping you?
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The Obama administration needs to go on the offensive when it comes to ACA. The biggest problem is not the program itself, it is the lack of understanding among the republic. Since there is no clear alternative, they need to be hammering it publicly the highlights of the program, instead of the confusion lack of clear information in regards to the program.