Harry and Louise

"Harry and Louise" was the name of a television commercial funded by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), a health insurance industry lobbying group, in opposition to President Bill Clinton's proposed health care plan in 1993. The ad depicted a white middle-class couple, portrayed by actors Harry Johnson and Louise Caire Clark, despairing over the allegedly bureaucratic nature of the plan and urged viewers to contact their representatives in Congress. It was widely credited as being a major factor in the plan's ultimate defeat, and is often cited as a landmark moment in the use of public relations techniques for lobbying. The commercial was created by public relations consultants Ben Goddard and Rick Claussen of Goddard Claussen. [cite news
last = Birnbaum
first = Jeffrey H.
coauthors =
title = Returning to the Genre He Started
work = K Street Confidential (column)
pages =
language =
publisher = The Washington Post
date = November 29, 2004
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18417-2004Nov28.html
accessdate = 2006-07-26 ]

The couple made a brief return in 2000 in a TV commercial sponsored by HIAA promoting its "InsureUSA" campaign advocating the need to provide health coverage to uninsured Americans. [cite news
last = Bunis
first = Dena
coauthors =
title = The Harry and Louise Show
publisher = "Salon.com"
date = January 20, 2000
url = http://archive.salon.com/health/log/2000/01/20/harry_and_louise/index.html
accessdate = 2008-08-21]

Later, they returned in an unrelated 2002 ad, produced by Goddard Claussen Porter Novelli (Goddard Claussen was purchased by Porter Novelli in 1999), advocating human cloning for therapeutic purposes on behalf of CuresNow. The second ad was the subject of a lawsuit by the HIAA who claimed that they owned the characters; however, a court ruled that the characters were owned by Goddard Claussen, and it aired during a showing of "The West Wing" on NBC. [ cite news
last = Larson
first = Mark
coauthors =
title = Revived 'Harry and Louise' ads spark a lawsuit
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Sacramento Business Journal
date = May 10, 2002
url = http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2002/05/13/newscolumn1.html
accessdate = 2006-07-26 ]

This ad was one of several prominent political attack ads parodied in the 78th Academy Awards (March 2006). An older couple sitting at the kitchen table bemoans the "foreign-sounding names" of the best actress nominees, then praises Reese Witherspoon for having an all-American name.

Harry and Louise appear again in an ad that premiered on August 25, 2008, during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, urging that health care reform be made a top priority. The ad aired again during the Republican National Convention. The 2008 ad was sponsored by several organizations that have, in the past, advocated diverse views on health care, including The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent Business. [ cite news
last = American Hospital Association
first =
coauthors =
title = 'Harry and Louise' Icons Return To Promote Health Care Reform In New Ad
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Reuters Money
date = August 15, 2008
url = http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS191533+15-Aug-2008+PRN20080815
accessdate = 2008-08-18 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt31nhleeCg Video of the Harry and Louise ads on YouTube]
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Coalition_for_Health_Insurance_Choices Source Watch coverage of the campaign]
* [http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Harry_and_Louise:_An_Example_of_Modern_Propaganda A related Harry and Louise article on Wikinfo]
* [http://www.harryandlouisereturn.com/ Harry and Louise return] .