White House Uses Moms of Alicia Keys, Jonah Hill for Health Care Pitch
Three days after Barack Obama appeared on Zach Galifianakis’s Between Two Ferns to rib the host and promote the March 31st deadline for enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, the White House continues their integration of policy and entertainment with a new video featuring the mothers of Jonah Hill, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine and Jennifer Lopez.
6 Stories of Obamacare Already Making a Difference
The video, entitled #YourMomCares, shows the respective mothers discussing the childhood personalities of their celebrity children before imploring viewers to sign up for Obama’s health care plan.
“Jonah was a prankster,” said Jonah Hill’s mom Sharon Feldstein. “Jonah flooded the elementary school. Jonah would lie on top of my dashboard and literally knock it off. Trust me: us moms put up with a lot. But one thing we should never have to put up with is our kid not having health care. Seriously, do you want your mothers to have a nervous breakdown? You need health insurance. It’s imperative. Taking care of yourself so your mothers can sleep and have a nice life after all they’ve done for you is not too much to ask.”
First Lady Michelle Obama makes a special appearance at the end of the video. “We nag you because we love you,” says Obama, echoing nearly every mother in the country.
Keys, for one, has been an active proponent of Obama. In 2012, she joined Pearl Jam, Jay Z, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder, among others, to support Obama’s re-election campaign. (Keys headlined a rally for women voters in Philadelphia.) Last summer, it was reported that Obama turned to Keys, Bon Jovi, Oprah Winfrey, Amy Poehler, Jennifer Hudson and Michael Cera to help spread the word to younger, uninsured Americans about his new plan.
Obama’s appearance on Between Two Ferns predictably polarized supporters and detractors of the president, but its effect on Healthcare.gov was tangible. On Tuesday, White House Senior Communications Advisor Tara McGuinness tweeted that the site’s traffic was up 40 percent since the Galifianakis skit aired.