CA state govt to ask TV shows to pitch Obamacare in their plots.

[Harshaw]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/h...ad-way-on-health-law.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

The California Health Benefit Exchange has already hired 50 employees and is poised to hire 50 more. Construction of the Web portal through which some three million people are expected to buy insurance by 2019, and through which many others will likely enroll in Medicaid, is under way.


This fall, the board will seek bids from insurers to sell plans through the exchange, and it intends to have the portal up and running by next summer, several months before enrollment starts in October 2013.
Realizing that much of the battle will be in the public relations realm, the exchange has poured significant resources into a detailed marketing plan — developed not by state health bureaucrats but by the global marketing powerhouse Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, which has an initial $900,000 contract with the exchange. The Ogilvy plan includes ideas for reaching an uninsured population that speaks dozens of languages and is scattered through 11 media markets: advertising on coffee cup sleeves at community colleges to reach adult students, for example, and at professional soccer matches to reach young Hispanic men.

And Hollywood, an industry whose major players have been supportive of President Obama and his agenda, will be tapped. Plans are being discussed to pitch a reality television show about “the trials and tribulations of families living without medical coverage,” according to the Ogilvy plan. The exchange will also seek to have prime-time television shows, like “Modern Family,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and Univision telenovelas, weave the health care law into their plots.


“I’d like to see 10 of the major TV shows, or telenovelas, have people talking about ‘that health insurance thing,’ ” said Peter V. Lee, the exchange’s executive director. “There are good story lines here.”

 

[rocket88]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/h...ad-way-on-health-law.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Is this like Nancy Reagan's appearance on Diff'rent Strokes?

 

[Harshaw]

Is this like Nancy Reagan's appearance on Diff'rent Strokes?

Could be, though far more covert.

 

[4Horsemen]

CA state govt to ask TV shows to pitch Obamacare in their plots.


hahahaha....anything to get people to buy that crap.

 

[rocket88]

Could be, though far more covert.

I hope not. I'm hoping to see key Administration figures on "very special episodes." Like I watch sitcoms anyway....

 

[pbrauer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/h...ad-way-on-health-law.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Why not, it's law? Why not teach the benefits of the law on TV?

 

[tessaesque]

I'm sick of pop culture taking over politics. No more appearances on talk shows, Iron Chef, SNL. No more injecting policy messages into television.

Just stop. We've already done enough to jeopardize the legitimacy of the electoral process. Why do we need to make it even worse?

 

[tessaesque]

Why not, it's law? Why not teach the benefits of the law on TV?

Sure, on PBS, or CSPan...televising debates between professionals who have experience that give them an inherent understanding of the law...not through sugar coated, scripted, television dramas/comedies/pop culture entertainment platforms.

 

[Tigger]

Why not, it's law? Why not teach the benefits of the law on TV?

How about because there are no benefits to this law, for anyone with a Soul.

 

[Mycroft]

I feel sorry for California for spending so much money on this crap, but there's a good chance there won't be any law by October of next year.

 

[Paschendale]

It's a hot topic. In order to be current, TV shows ought to address changes in culture and law. It would have been rather silly for TV shows not to have acknowledged 9/11, or comment on the War on Terror, wouldn't it? Healthcare costs are an issue facing a lot of viewers. Perhaps it would resonate with them to see their problems echoed on their favorite TV shows. This is what South Park does every single week. The characters in TV shows set in the present really ought to be affected by the real happenings in the world around them.

I'd like to point out that the article does not require that a favorable presentation of the new law be shown. Most likely, it will be a simplified, but generally accurate presentation. That's what TV usually tries to do. And to be honest, it will probably be a more honest depiction than one would get from a mainstream news source. They have a financial incentive to take a side and promote a position, regardless of its accuracy. A sitcom, on the other hand, relies on capturing an element of truth for its viewers. Modern Family will probably have a better take on Obamacare than NBC news or Fox news would.

 

[Harshaw]

Why not, it's law? Why not teach the benefits of the law on TV?

:roll:

One need not wonder much what your reaction would be if it were a law you didn't agree with.

 

[Harshaw]

It's a hot topic. In order to be current, TV shows ought to address changes in culture and law. It would have been rather silly for TV shows not to have acknowledged 9/11, or comment on the War on Terror, wouldn't it? Healthcare costs are an issue facing a lot of viewers. Perhaps it would resonate with them to see their problems echoed on their favorite TV shows. This is what South Park does every single week. The characters in TV shows set in the present really ought to be affected by the real happenings in the world around them.

If they want to do it on their own, that's perfectly fine.

Do you know what it's usually called when "art" is created at the behest of the government to promote its policies?

^^^^^ Like this.

I'd like to point out that the article does not require that a favorable presentation of the new law be shown.

Right, I'm sure the agency which exists to promote the law, in a PR campaign designed expressly to promote the law, will suggest that they say whatever they want, regardless of whether it's favorable or not.

Most likely, it will be a simplified, but generally accurate presentation. That's what TV usually tries to do.

And again, if it decides to do it on its own, it's not an issue.

And to be honest, it will probably be a more honest depiction than one would get from a mainstream news source. They have a financial incentive to take a side and promote a position, regardless of its accuracy. A sitcom, on the other hand, relies on capturing an element of truth for its viewers. Modern Family will probably have a better take on Obamacare than NBC news or Fox news would.

I don't even know where to start with this. Why not just get all of our information from sitcoms, then? (Actually, some people appear to do exactly this.)

 

[What if...?]

If they want to do it on their own, that's perfectly fine.

Do you know what it's usually called when "art" is created at the behest of the government to promote its policies?

^^^^^ Like this.



Right, I'm sure the agency which exists to promote the law, in a PR campaign designed expressly to promote the law, will suggest that they say whatever they want, regardless of whether it's favorable or not.



And again, if it decides to do it on its own, it's not an issue.



I don't even know where to start with this. Why not just get all of our information from sitcoms, then? (Actually, some people appear to do exactly this.)

Just to be clear, did you rail against a generation of Drug War propaganda?

If the campaign is educational as to how to participate in the new program i dont have a problem with it.

If its merely cheerleading to garner support while clouding the downsides then i am against it.

I would like to see an end to all manipulative messaging.

It is the mechanism by which folks come to believe nonsense.

 

[Harshaw]

Just to be clear, did you rail against a generation of Drug War propaganda?

If you're referring to the Nancy Reagan stuff, "did" is an inoperative question, because I was just a kid at the time.

Would I now? Absolutely.

Hell, I hate the privately-funded propaganda crusades against tobacco, Orwellian in calling themselves "truth," and I think no one should smoke.

If the campaign is educational as to how to participate in the new program i dont have a problem with it.

Did you read the article? That's not what they're after.

If its merely cheerleading to garner support while clouding the downsides then i am against it.

I would like to see an end to all manipulative messaging.

It is the mechanism by which folks come to believe nonsense.

That is why I bring it up.

 

[What if...?]

If you're referring to the Nancy Reagan stuff, "did" is an inoperative question, because I was just a kid at the time.

Would I now? Absolutely.

Hell, I hate the privately-funded propaganda crusades against tobacco, Orwellian in calling themselves "truth," and I think no one should smoke.



Did you read the article? That's not what they're after.



That is why I bring it up.

It looks like the primary thrust is information about the exchange. How to enroll and whatnot.

I'd have to see what they intend to put in the tv shows. Could be innocuous or not, depending.

I'm an uninsureable asthmatic. So i like that part of the law. And i dont think for-profit is the correct model for healthcare. The only way to maximize profits is to charge more and provide less.

 

[Donahue]

I feel sorry for California for spending so much money on this crap, but there's a good chance there won't be any law by October of next year.

Don't feel sorry for California.

They're paying for most of this through a federal grant.

Feel sorry for the rest of us.

 

[Harshaw]

It looks like the primary thrust is information about the exchange. How to enroll and whatnot.

Maybe, but that certainly doesn't appear to be what they want to put into TV shows.

 

[Voltaire X]

It's legal. The US military helps out Hollywood with war movies, but only if they portray the US military in a positive way. The government has been involved with film/television producers for a while now.

 

[Rokkitsci]

Why not, it's law? Why not teach the benefits of the law on TV?

You must mean - "why not provide another mode of propaganda for the mindless Obots to absorb?"

Anything else defies logic.

 

[Deuce]

If they want to do it on their own, that's perfectly fine.

Do you know what it's usually called when "art" is created at the behest of the government to promote its policies?

^^^^^ Like this.



Right, I'm sure the agency which exists to promote the law, in a PR campaign designed expressly to promote the law, will suggest that they say whatever they want, regardless of whether it's favorable or not.



And again, if it decides to do it on its own, it's not an issue.



I don't even know where to start with this. Why not just get all of our information from sitcoms, then? (Actually, some people appear to do exactly this.)

Did you, by any chance, watch the Transformers movies?

 

[Harshaw]

Did you, by any chance, watch the Transformers movies?

I don't even care what fantasies of relevance you think that might have. Today is STILL not that day, Deuce.

 

[Deuce]

I don't even care what fantasies of relevance you think that might have. Today is STILL not that day, Deuce.

They were 3 hour military recruitment videos. Using a lot of actual military hardware. F-22s aren't cheap.