President Obama’s somewhat testy but endlessly hilarious Between Two Ferns clip with Zach Galifianakis is storming the Internet on Tuesday, racking up more than 3 million views in just a few hours. Even more, it appears that the president’s gambit — looking a little silly — was worth it to reach a core demographic of the Affordable Care Act in order to ensure the long-term health of the law. The bet paid off. According to Tara McGuinness, who is part of the White House communications crew, FunnyOrDie, the site where the clip is hosted, is the “#1 source of referrals to http://HealthCare.gov right now.” They wanted hits, and they got them. Of course, hits to the now-fixed health care website are not the same things as signed-up youths with fresh health care in their pocket. But to get more youngins onto the health care exchanges, you need to start somewhere.
Read the full story at TechCrunch and watch the Between Two Ferns clip here.