October 23, 2013

Listen to Scarlett Johansson Try to Sell You on Obamacare

Screenshot: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwrzMkPSeWc">The New York Times</a>/YouTube

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Last Friday, Planned Parenthood announced that they had enlisted three actresses to help them inform Americans about details of the Affordable Care Act. Scarlett Johansson, Aisha Tyler, and Gabrielle Union (all active in progressive politics) each recorded special phone messages to remind callers about Obamacare eligibility.

“We’re grateful that Scarlett Johansson, Aisha Tyler, and Gabrielle Union are lending their voices to help make sure that Planned Parenthood patients learn about the law and how it will benefit them,” Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said in a press release.

The recordings—which are being used as hold messages—can be heard when people call certain Planned Parenthood health centers, and they will be played by more in the near future. (Planned Parenthood operates roughly 750 health centers around the country.) The messages are part of the reproductive health organization’s larger national campaign to help women get enrolled. Planned Parenthood provided Mother Jones with audio files of the three phone messages.

Johansson:

Union:

Tyler:

Each actress asks, “Did you know you may be able to enroll in new, more affordable health insurance plans?” and directs listeners to this website for more information.

In recent months, the Obama administration has also been active in celebrity outreach to help pitch the health care law, particularly to young Americans. In July, a cluster of Hollywood celebrities gathered at the White House for a chat on how they could help spread the word. In attendance—along with producers and writers—were big-name entertainers including Amy Poehler, Jennifer Hudson, Michael Cera, and Kal Penn. (Penn served stints as associate director for the Office of Public Engagement in the Obama administration and delivered this speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where Johansson also spoke.)

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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