OMG LOL WTF? That may be your first thought when you head over to BuzzFeed and notice this odd post from the viral site's latest community member, the White House. Yes, with only days to go before the end-of-month deadline to obtain insurance or face a fine, the Obama administration is launching a full court press — with gifs — to encourage you to get covered in time.
The decision to advertise with humor on a popular website may seem puzzling, but it's actually a pretty smart idea. ObamaCare needs a big pool of young enrollees, and pitching the law this way almost guarantees it will get plenty of visibility among that demographic. As President Obama's recent appearance on Between Two Ferns showed, humor and viral marketing can be very effective tools to generate buzz and boost enrollments.
Now, critics will probably complain that Obama has once again degraded the office of the presidency, as they did when he went on Ferns. But really, a little sense of humor is refreshing in Washington. And this is, after all, a crucial marketing blitz. The White House would be foolish to not utilize the most engaging means possible to achieve its goals.