Harry and Louise

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"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. The commercial was created by public relations consultants Ben Goddard and Rick Claussen of Goddard Claussen.[1]

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. [2]

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 rights to the characters were held by Goddard Claussen, and it aired during a showing of The West Wing on NBC.[3]

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. [4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. (November 29, 2004). "Returning to the Genre He Started". K Street Confidential (column) (The Washington Post). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18417-2004Nov28.html. Retrieved on 2006-07-26. 
  2. ^ Bunis, Dena (January 20, 2000). "The Harry and Louise Show". Salon.com. http://archive.salon.com/health/log/2000/01/20/harry_and_louise/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-21. 
  3. ^ Larson, Mark (May 10, 2002). "Revived 'Harry and Louise' ads spark a lawsuit". Sacramento Business Journal. http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2002/05/13/newscolumn1.html. Retrieved on 2006-07-26. 
  4. ^ American Hospital Association (August 15, 2008). "'Harry and Louise' Icons Return To Promote Health Care Reform In New Ad". Reuters Money. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS191533+15-Aug-2008+PRN20080815. Retrieved on 2008-08-18. 

[edit] External links


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