President Barack Obama joined Zach Galifianakis on his comedy web series “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” to make a plug for the Affordable Care Act.
According to The New York Times, Obama’s main goal in going on the show was to encourage young adults to sign up for health insurance.
“We have to find ways to break through,” said Dan Pfeiffer, the president’s senior adviser and chief communications strategist, in an interview with The New York Times. “This is essentially an extension of the code we have been trying to crack for seven years now.”
Only time will tell if the president’s new strategy will work. There is concern over whether this method of communication is appropriate for the president of the United States to engage in, even if there is a chance it will be effective.
In an interview with The New York Times Mike McCurry, Bill Clinton’s press secretary, said, “We have to worry about the dignity of the presidency.” McCurry went on to say that because of the shift in popular culture, new strategies to reach citizens need to be explored.
The video gained mixed reviews from citizens and critics alike.
James Poniewozik, writer of Time’s Tuned In column, said, “It’s a specific, unusually edgy kind of comedy for any politician, much less a sitting President — a cringe-humor show whose whole idea is playing off staged discomfort with the guest.”
Poniewozik went on to say the segment works really well for the intended audience of young adults.
Commentators on various stories including The New York Times, The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, and Rolling Stone had this to say:
Check out the video for yourself here:
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