Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claimed Monday that President Obama’s appearance on “Between Two Ferns” with film comedian Zach Galifianakis produced what she called a “Galifianakis bump” in ObamaCare interest and sign-ups:
“Well, we definitely saw the Galifianakis bump,” she said on HuffPost Live when asked if Obama’s appearance helped send people to the health exchange website.
“The website traffic surged once the ‘Between Two Ferns’ interview went on. But more importantly, what we’re trying to do is reach people in the language that they most understand. Certainly Zach reaches a certain audience,” she said. “As a mother of two 30-something sons, I know that they’re more likely to get their information on ‘Funny or Die’ than they are on network TV.”
The president received some criticism for his “Between Two Ferns” appearance, but Obama and his team have always been willing to take a few hits in order to use popular culture as a way to drive their message, whether that message is ObamaCare or two successful presidential campaigns.
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