#MSMFAIL~2 Ferns-13 Million Viewers-40% Spike in Traffic at healthcare.gov

[Cha]

Eric Wolfson @ericwolfson
Follow
1 #MSMFail. || MT @AriMelber:
2 Ferns
13 million viewers
40% spike in traffic at http://healthcare.gov
1:03 PM - 12 Mar 2014
31 Retweets 9 favorites
Reply
Retweet
Favorite

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama

http://www.funnyordie.com/

Episode 18: President Barack Obama sits down with Zach Galifianakis for his most memorable interview yet.


TOD

[msanthrope]

1. It was funny...and the swipe at Bush at the end was perfect. nt

[Cha]

2. Yes! But, "so undignified.."

like when Joe Wilson yelled "you lie" to the President at the SOTU.. oh wait.. I don't remember the msm obsessing over that!

[msanthrope]

4. Bush drunk off his ass at the Beijing Olympics was "undignified." Joe Wilson behaving

like a Snopes at the SOTU was "undignified." Sarah Palin delivering a speech at a turkey slaughterhouse is "undignified."

This was funny, and he looked cool doing it.

[Cha]

3. Kick!

[africanadian]

6. +Rec

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024655553

[malaise]

5. K & R

Sweet

[Fred Sanders]

7. Why the mass media freak out? Because of the fact they matter so little

To young people.

http://theobamadiary.com/2014/03/12/why-between-two-ferns-is-no-laughing-matter/

Obama’s appearance on “Between Two Ferns” was brilliant. He reached an audience which does not watch the 6.30 pm news summaries. It’s an audience which doesn’t sit down and watch CNN for any amount of time, unless Anthony Bourdain is on. It’s the audience which most needs the benefits of Obamacare: young, starting out in life, and needing the security of access to health care.

And this is what scares the mainstream media. For decades it churned out replacements for the audience which died out. What it faces in this coming generation is a group which has no use for its product. As wonderful as Rev. Al Sharpton is on MSNBC, my 20-something nephew and niece are not watching him. They don’t even own televisions. And yet they’re as informed as their middle-aged uncle, because we all get our news from sources other than television.

The cultural and information industries which seemed so secure, so dominant, are slowly withering away by the onslaught of technology and a changing view of the world. They’re looking at a digital world which is already here, and have not a clue on how to deal with it. So they laud the old certainties of the past (the tough Texan joking about war and death), while seeking to cut down the president who has embraced and embodies the new world.

[Cha]

8. So true, FS.. from your link.. and thank you!

"Obama’s appearance on “Between Two Ferns” was brilliant. He reached an audience which does not watch the 6.30 pm news summaries. It’s an audience which doesn’t sit down and watch CNN for any amount of time, unless Anthony Bourdain is on. It’s the audience which most needs the benefits of Obamacare: young, starting out in life, and needing the security of access to health care."

o'reilly: "Using Comedy to Promote Obamacare.. Abe Lincoln would not have done it " rofl


Jesse Walker @notjessewalker
Follow
Wait. Is this real? 3:35 PM - 11 Mar 2014
57 Retweets 30 favorites
Reply
Retweet
Favorite

[kelliekat44]

29. No, they matter a lot to their RW base. We are all FOX"News" now. nt

[Cha]

9. FunnyorDie

[Cha]

10. ...

[marions ghost]

11. I'm kinda amazed

that the President of the US has to go on the Comedy Channel to make a pitch for Obamacare--but glad he did it.

How did we get here? Very strange place, the US these days.

[Cha]

12. It was a brilliant way to reach way to reach to more young people which is

a vital component of Obamacare/AHC.

[a kennedy]

14. Bingo....that WAS the reason.....

need young people to sign up to get this baby off the ground. Brilliant move, and even better that it seems to have done the trick.

[marions ghost]

21. Brilliant but weird

that he has to do that. So commercial. "This message from your govt" = just another sales pitch.
Of course he carried it off well and it's working...he needed to do something to wake up the younger generation to hurry and sign up. Not arguing with that.

I'm just depressed that the country operates on sales pitches. Really sick of all the political rhetoric too. Can't even look up anything on the net without a million ads in your face now. It's just the crass commercialism of everything including health insurance--that gets me down. Feel like I'm fighting through a big ball of e-clutter everywhere.

Idiocracy or Progress? Not Sure.

[Cha]

22. I don't see it that way at all. It's progress. imv.

[marions ghost]

25. Explain how it's Progress.

I'm listening.

(And please comprehend --that I am not negative toward the prez for doing this--I am talking about living in a country where this is even necessary).

[Puzzledtraveller]

18. Hey, I do Medicaid all day

and applications for HBE, and all ACA programs. Eventhough we have been busy I believe we will fall well below the desired enrollment numbers.

[marions ghost]

23. Sorry to hear that...

--People seem not to understand why I say "brilliant but weird." Of course Obama did a good thing. He didn't have a better way to get the message out fast. Because I agree with it doesn't mean I think it's the way that government should work--but this is Murika where you must bombard your customers (the public) to sell your program, and fight tooth and nail for programs that are a given in a less divided, less corporate-controlled country.

I wish we had a government that was working for all of us so that presidents didn't have to do comedy routines. In other words, if the government was really working for the people we wouldn't have to resort to angles and end runs and Hail Marys just to get something so basic as health care working.

It's just the general patheticness of it all.

[surrealAmerican]

26. I get it, and I agree with you.

We are living in a sea of advertising, and have been for a very long time. Now that people (or perhaps we're only "consumers" now) only see that which they seek out, this is almost the only viable approach to informing the public - and that's sad.

[marions ghost]

28. Your user name tells me you

get what I'm saying. Thanks for corroboration. Some days I feel like I'm the only one I know with this malaise--feeling that we're all just pawns in some vast marketing strategy, instead of citizens of a political entity called a nation. Reduced to our consumer value--like pictograph figures in a "target audience"--waiting for Injection of Product. Achieving preferred consumer status. It's really stupid that basic health care coverage has to be sold this way--even by the government's own program. Corporatocracy is a very surreal place to be. Some people may think this off-topic. But IMO it's a part of the bigger picture.

[Cha]

13. FOD

[heaven05]

15. brilliant move

by the President.

[Cha]

16. Agree heaven~

[Cha]

17. KIck!

[NCTraveler]

19. Too funny.

All of the talk about the website and this generates a 405 spike. Kind of says something about the original marketing plan. Also says something about the power of a President vs that of a comedian with respect to marketing. Too funny. I laughed so hard at the video.

[Cha]

20. Glad you liked it, NCT..Some back story from the producer Mike Farah..

How Funny or Die Got President Obama on Zach Galifianakis’ ‘Between Two Ferns’

"On Feb. 24, Zach Galifianakis and the crew of his Funny or Die interview series set up their spartan black backdrop in the White House Diplomatic Room and then waited for their guest.

As executive producer Mike Farah recalled on Tuesday, when President Obama rounded a corner, clapped and yelled out “Two Ferns,” they knew they were ready to go with a guest who got it.

“He just got right in to it,” Farah said."

snips//

The White House had a clear purpose in doing the 6 1/2 minute segment: To reach young viewers and urge them to sign up for health insurance, with a March 31 deadline looming. But in an ironic age where a traditional PSA can easily get lost in the clutter of online video, an increasing challenge is how to reach an audience that often consumes content via social media.

Last summer, Farah was among the industry figures to attend a meeting with White House advisers where the topic was how Hollywood could help get the message out about healthcare reform. At the top of his list, Farah said, was the idea of having Obama guest on “Between Two Ferns,” the irreverent online video series that has featured such stars as Bradley Cooper, Jon Hamm and Justin Bieber answering inane questions from its host."

It's all good..
http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/president-obama-on-zach-galifianakis-between-two-ferns-watch-1201129329/

[NCTraveler]

24. Thank you. I laughed so hard.

I think that doing things like this is great for our party and to get the word out. Going viral seems to work. I have been pretty harsh on Obama with respect to the ACA but I also think I have been fair. This right here was probably thought of as a pretty big risk by Obama and his team. It shows he is willing to go beyond what a politician is normally be willing to do in order to get the word out. I have a great amount of respect for that.

[rgbecker]

27. Am I the only guy that thinks this guy Zach is a jerk.

If he can convince people that is humor, more power to him...but JEEEZZZZ. Not even a glimmer of friendliness.

Obama was a good sport to put up with that...but I don't think we'll be seeing Zach at the whitehouse again.

Is that show actually on someone's TV somewhere?

[marions ghost]

30. LOL

C'mon.

[functioning_cog]

43. So apparently you don't get Galifiniakis. Here's what I

Recommend: hop on YouTube and look up Funny or Die Between Two Ferns. Watch a few. Like Will Ferrell, Bruce Willis, and Steve Carrell for starters.

Then watch
YouTube videos of Live At
The Purple Onion. He
Can be ridiculously hilarious and the mutual tension mutual insults is his schtick on Between Two Ferns.

[Gothmog]

31. This is great news

Social media is a great way to reach young people. The fact that O'Reilly is upset makes me smile

[Cha]

32. It is great and it's PROGRESS because there's a "40% Spike in

Healthcare.gov after the 2 Ferns interview with the President and "13 Million Viewers".. that's not stagnant. And, right.. Social Media is the way to go. The President knows how to reach young people and it ain't through wolf blitizer or any of the other manipulative dinosaurs.

thanks Goth

[sheshe2]

34. We do what we need to do.

You get the word out any and every way you can!

Obamacare!

thanks Cha!

[Cha]

36. Yeah, Social Media-Technological PROGRESS, she..

no shame.

Backatcha~

You're Welcome and Thank you, sheshe

[sheshe2]

37. ...

[Cha]

33. KICK!

[sheshe2]

35. Kick!

[Cha]

38. Super KICK!! "Obamacare is a Trainwreck Alright"..

Bonus~


amk4obama @amk4obama
Follow
#ObamaCare is a train wreck alright.

For the @gop.
2:48 AM - 13 Mar 2014
73 Retweets 40 favorites
Reply
Retweet
Favorite

Oliver Griswold @originalgriz
Follow
Don’t *defend* Obamacare. Weaponize it. Demand to know what Republican candidates would do in place of ACA protections. They got nuttin.'
9:00 AM - 12 Mar 2014
92 Retweets 45 favorites
Reply
Retweet
Favorite

TOD

she~

[sheshe2]

39. "Obamacare. Weaponize it."

Oh yes. They got nothing!

[Auntie Bush]

40. Never heard of Between two Ferns before.

So the gig was good publicity for both of them. Was a good thing!

[Cha]

41. Yes, Auntie Bush.. the 2 Ferns Gig was a success for

the show and getting the message of Obamacare out to the young folks.

I hadn't heard of it either.

[Cha]

42. KICK!

[Cha]

44. Kick!