New Ad: ‘Harry And Louise’ Now Back Health Reform

Harry and Louise, the fictional couple in an advertisement which helped sink health reform in the 1990s, are back in a new pro-reform ad, The New York Times reports.

"Now, the same actors are back in a new campaign, this time to support a government overhaul of the medical system promoted by a Democratic president, Barack Obama. The ad's sponsors - a trade group representing drug makers (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) and Families USA, a nonprofit group advocating affordable medical care - reflect the strange bedfellows lining up behind the latest reform effort.

"'A little more cooperation, a little less politics,' Louise says to Harry in the new spot, scheduled to appear on cable and network stations this weekend, 'and we can get the job done this time.'"

"The early-middle-aged Harry and Louise in the 1990s ads were concerned about their own welfare and their own pocketbooks. They were white middle-class me-generation professionals scripted to raise red flags about the fear of losing private health insurance. Now, the mellowed AARP-eligible Harry and Louise of this campaign seem more charitable and outward-directed. They even invoke the plight of the uninsured" (Singer, 7/16).

CQ Politics: "Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said the new Harry and Louise ad will run for three weeks on national cable networks such as CNN and MSNBC. Harry (an actor whose real name is Harry Johnson) and Louise (played by actress Louise Caire Clark) were among the participants at a rally Thursday celebrating the passage of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee health overhaul bill."

"In the new ad Harry and Louise are back at the kitchen table, though in a somewhat more upscale kitchen, this time talking about the need for affordable health insurance coverage that people can keep even if they lose their jobs. It being 2009, Harry and Louise are also on Facebook and Twitter as well" (Norman, 7/16).