Harry and Louise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"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.[1]
The couple made a brief return 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.[2]
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.
[edit] References
- ^ Birnbaum, Jeffrey H.. "Returning to the Genre He Started", K Street Confidential (column), The Washington Post, November 29, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
- ^ Larson, Mark. "Revived 'Harry and Louise' ads spark a lawsuit", Sacramento Business Journal, May 10, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
