How do you plan to spend the cold days of December? http://t.co/Rwf5AYc3bG #GetTalking pic.twitter.com/PBQ397yLf4
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 17, 2013
There. I've carried him forward. And Chris Christie is widely — he's wide, you know — widely disseminating the virus:
In New Jersey, we are spending the cold days of December volunteering. #GetOutOfYourPJs #SeasonOfService pic.twitter.com/yhtwDpy2cQ
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) December 18, 2013
You can mock Pajama Boy — "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie co-opted the lampooned 'Pajama Boy' image promoting Obamacare in order to send his own message about volunteering" — but to mock him is to carry the virus. It's what they thought you'd do. Don't assume Pajama Boy is worthy of nothing but contempt. If you are mean to Pajama Boy, it will bring out the love for him. I can sense it in my womanly sensors.
ADDED: What is the message in the original Pajama Boy tweet? Pajama Boy is home for the holidays, reintegrated into his parents' concept of him, as if he is still a little boy. He accepts that — the chocolate and the Christmas/holiday pajamas — because he loves his parents and he wants a good visit. But the subject of health insurance can be talked about in that milieu. For some reason, it won't be inappropriate, won't spoil the home-for-the-holidays spirit, it can fit. Pajama Boy is not a "douchebag." He's an average young guy, trying to do what's right, including visiting his parents and living up to their expectation,s and he needs a little prodding to talk about getting insurance, which is part of what a good little boy should do.
But maybe the message is not so much for the boy but for the parents. The parents may think that when their little guy comes home for the holidays, they just want to baby him. But they really should also make sure he's got his insurance. Don't completely pretend he's still a child. He's your kid and you need to make sure he's safe and sound. Jammies and warm milk are comforting, but he needs more protection than that. Do what you can to protect your little sweetheart now, before he once again leaves the bosom of the family and exposes himself to the danger of the world beyond the home. He may not quite yet realize what the risks are, and helping the "young invincibles" get insured is a parental responsibility just like the clothing and feeding you did when he was young. He doesn't really need those jimjams and cocoa. He needs insurance. Help this dear boy one last time, Mama.
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115 comments:
Pajama boy is kinda' Big Bang Theory meets Douche Bag in a onesie. Wait'll the ACA outreach link below to the Gay community goes viral which should be right about....now. BOOM! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azoWedQH8zQ
Or, you could see the good in both.
This post is a rerun -- don't mock the Obama phone lady er.. the Obama pajama boy..
So they(and you) expect all the mockery will drive the 'pajama boys' to go buy Obamacare.
Does that line of reasoning hold for Dr. Ezekiel Emmanual as well?
Yeah, I was going to add something about the old 3 a.m. ad.
If only something interesting was written on Pajama Boy's pajamas.
"Womanly sensors"?? 0_0
I guess the "get drunk get laid got insurance?" ads weren't working. AAOOOGAH! AAOOGAH! REVERSE COURSE! TACK TO CUTE!
(Yes, I know those ads were for Colorado's state exchange. But the Obama crew have all their ears to the wind. Panic will do that.)
I feel bad for that kid--picking up a bit of money as a stock photo model, but those are the risks--anyone with rights to your photo can use it!
I can think of some good captions for that photo:
"Drink all the hot chocolate you want. Someone else will pay for your high blood pressure meds."
"Better get used to wearing your PJs all day. Obamacare just caused your employer to lay off all the new hires."
"How ironic! Our age group voted in record numbers for this guy, and now he just doubled the cost of our premiums!"
"These trendy glasses will be great help while I spend hours staring at the computer screen trying to sign up for Obamacare."
There is quite a pussy-boy can I say gayish vibe that permeates the average Dem and librul public persona ...i.e. Ezra, Yglesias, EJ Dionne, David Brooks, now Pajama Boy and many others.
Let's not question what Obama's team is doing. He's winning the future, after all.
One thing about ads like these (and the ones for the Colorado exchange, with the drunken frat boys, etc.) is that while they're trying to appeal to a younger, healthier demographic to sign up for Obamacare (and pay those sweet, sweet premiums to support the system), they're also likely to increase opposition to the program among the general public. While a lot of people can get on board the idea of paying a bit more to help the less fortunate, these ads give the message that the beneficiaries of the ACA are young and relatively well off (and in the case of the keg-standers, reckless).
That's likely not their intention--they want Pajama Boy to buy in so that his higher premiums will subsidize others, rather than because it's such a great deal for him--but that is the impression it gives.
For a team that was so skillful in tearing down the GOP last year (with an assist from the GOP itself) it is remarkable how politically obtuse they have been this year.
The key is to mock Obama-pajama boy in a way that makes defending him seem dirty. My favorite mock up was the one that said:
"Mom, this diaper isn't going to change itself!"
The first time I saw that Obama tweet picture, someone sent it to me, and I was annoyed that someone would send me something so fake. Oops.
I feel bad for that guy. You do a little modeling, and Obama frames you as the family's unremitting political twit.
If I can get insurance on my own, why would I need to discuss it with my parents?
Yes, I was on my parents health insurance in college. Yes, I was in school. For a year I purchased the school's insurance when my dad decided to 'retire early' (quit his job), because he could. I can't make parents work.
Who says the left and the right don't see eye to eye on anything?
Pajama Boy proves both sides picture Obama's constituency the same way.
"It’s the kind of savage glee you only see in an an R rated version of Lord of the Flies directed by Quentin Tarantino–the sort of cruelty where the mob has thrown off restraint and lost its capacity to even feel regret for the frenzy of violence against the fat kid. The sort of savagery that no longer feels shame but a sort of orgasmic pleasure at the cries of the victim for pity and restraint. I feel genuine pity for whoever that guy is that they roped into this ad. He’s bidding fair to become the next poor Star Wars kid of internet memedom.
And, see, the point is: that’s not what you want when you are trying to win hearts and minds. So I gotta wonder who’s in charge at the White House these days that they haved declined from the cyber-savviness of their campaign days to such sheer boneheadedness that they could not foresee the Jar Jar Binks levels of ridicule this ad was obviously, painfully obviously, going to generate? "
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2013/12/what-happened-to-obama.html
Your interpretation of the message is bizarre to me.
Do you really expect your grown children to infantilize themselves for you when they come home to visit? Don't you prefer seeing them as confident adults?
Then again, I'm not, and have never been an Obama supporter.
My assumption was that the pajama kid was going to Hector his parents about health insurance.Typical know it all twenty something.
Do you really expect your grown children to infantilize themselves for you when they come home to visit? Don't you prefer seeing them as confident adults?
Exactly. And, moreover, this is how the Obama administration sees young people.
The permanent campaign. It never ends. This big brother ism is just creepy.
Believe me, to the younger cohort that the ad is targeting, Pajama Boy absolutely screams "Douche!". This is not how they see themselves.
Obama's xmas message:
Those chestnuts roasting on an open fire? They're mine. Help me pull them out.
I expect my two kids -- when the time comes -- to figure out their own insurance. You have failed in bringing your kids up if they can't make life decisions without your guidance.
The ad was meant for the "young invulnerables" that apparently Obamacare isn't attracting enough of to forestall the inevitable death spiral that's coming.
I saw a lot of lefty angst about this ad yesterday, but most of it was in the form of lambasting the right for going anti-gay on this ad. I saw nothing on the right about that. The most common label was beta- male.
If you want to know what kind of ads are being made to appeal to the lesbian-gay community on behalf of Obamacare, look no further.
This isn't a parody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=azoWedQH8zQ
Ann says:..."If you are mean to Pajama Boy, it will bring out the love for him. I can sense it in my womanly sensors".....
I say I didn't raise boys so:
Run. Far. Away. Not. Marriage. Material.
As a parent of kids that age, this ad and its message infuriates me. It is the total opposite of all I have worked so hard to instill in my children. But then, all the messaging from this administration has that effect on me. So obviously I'm not their target audience. (PS All of my/husbands 4 20 something kids are covered ON THEIR OWN. I guess our messaging got through.
You don't have to be Duck Dynasty to know whether Pajama Boy has a "trap-door" in the bottom of his onesie.
My assumption was that the pajama kid was going to Hector his parents about health insurance.
That was my take.
Insufferable hipster comes home to co-opt Christmas for a domestic propaganda operation.
Because the Thanksgiving Talk wasn't enough.
Ann says:..."If you are mean to Pajama Boy, it will bring out the love for him. I can sense it in my womanly sensors".....
I say I didn't raise boys so:
Run. Far. Away. Not. Marriage. Material.
I don't have sons so maybe it's different, but when my adult daughter comes home I treat her as an adult. We chat about many things, such as how her insurance premiums have gone up along with her previously non existent deductible. We wonder how Obama ever got reelected. I'm lucky to have a young conservative daughter and that she converted her democratically inclined husband to the right way of thinking. We drink booze, not hot chocolate.
Someone tweeted the Obama pajama man boy pic yesterday with the quote, "Is this the free birth control they promised?"
: )
I could get past the cocoa and maybe even the onesie but how do you get past that smirk?
The only thing my womanly sensors are urging me to do is to tell him to wipe that look off his face or he's going to get grounded.
I don't have sons so maybe it's different, but when my adult daughter comes home I treat her as an adult. We chat about many things, such as how her insurance premiums have gone up along with her previously non existent deductible. We wonder how Obama ever got reelected. I'm lucky to have a young conservative daughter and that she converted her democratically inclined husband to the right way of thinking. We drink booze, not hot chocolate.
"Don't think of a a red elephant"
"He is not a 'douchebag'"
I was thinking 'bitch-boy', but thanks to your awesome argument, he is now a douchebag.
Good thing we have manly conservative men like Rich Lowry and Ben Shapiro around to explain manliness to us!
I think it has less to do with manly/unmanly and more to do with grown up/not grown up.
The parents may think that when their little guy comes home for the holidays, they just want to baby him. But they really should also make sure he's got his insurance.
So put him on the family insurance policy. That's the law now.
In a way the "Got clap? Got Insurance!" ads are more honest. It is the independent, destructive, my-parents-kicked-me-out kids who need to buy into the ACA, not the dutiful sixth-year college senior.
But, then again, I like drinking hot chocolate, so maybe I'm kin to Pajama Boy.
He's an average young guy, trying to do what's right, including visiting his parents and living up to their expectation,s
No. That's what is so loathsome about that picture. Every element about him, from his hair to his glasses, to his outfit, to his posture to his facial expression raises primal social warnings that could best be summed up as "transcendentally insincere". He doesn't earnestly want to save his parents health and money, he wants to have the status as the one who did so. New daddy government allows him to turn the tables on old daddy, and be the provider and dispenser of wisdom. The "Smug" episode of South Park has a basis in reality and it's That guy. In appearance, he's an archetypal progressive hipster douchebag. He might be a perfectly nice guy, but still end up credited when an encyclopedia uses that picture with the entry for the stereotype.
"Good thing we have manly conservative men like Rich Lowry and Ben Shapiro around to explain manliness to us!"
I have to give you points on this one--the punditocracy (on both Right and Left) isn't exactly a collection of manly men and tough guys. But then a truly tough guy would have no time for typing articles, as he'd be too busy throwing alligators off of motorcycles. Or something. I don't actually know what tough guys do and only get my info from American International biker films.
Consider this: everyone, by law, is required to buy car insurance. What if Congress decided, in order to fund mass transit, or bike-share programs, or the like, to institute a premium tax of 50% or even 100%? And then, when people responded by dropping their insurance, law or no law, they responded by complaining about people irresponsibly failing to do their duty and buy the insurance?
(Though, yes, Ann, your interpretation that this is directed at parents makes sense given young adults' role as the subsidizers -- but who are these ads actually being targeted to?)
That guy looks like Leonard from "The Big Bang Theory."
How come the guy's white?
"Consider this: everyone, by law, is required to buy car insurance."
-- I don't have car insurance.
My 20 year old California college student said this is the perfect casting for the overly-concerned liberal. The guy who would tell all the people back home about signing up for Obamacare, you guys.
Not necessary to disrupt holiday visit home by bringing up health insurance.
Pres. Obama can simply declare that children being carried on parents' health insurance through age 26 was a typographical error.
Should read "...through age 62..." and the law will be applied as such.
The parents may think that when their little guy comes home for the holidays, they just want to baby him.
That's not how you raise boys to become men. Those glasses look rather like what we called in the military BCGs (Birth Control Glasses). There's nothing hip about them.
The ACA is looking to lure more young men into signing up because it's such a bad deal for them. Young, healthy men consume less health care than any other demographic. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I'd go for nothing more than an annual physical in most years and I wasn't unusual. Forcing young men to pay higher premiums is just another wealth transfer from the young to the old and from men to women.
So GM needs manliness explained to him?
And he goes to Lowry to do that?
LOLOLOLOL
Amen, Amy (8:40)! My three daughters this age are repelled by this image and this ad campaign. They are all within the target demographic that ObamaCare needs. And the vast majority of their friends are having the same adverse reaction. But Althouse is onto something that the target of the ad campaign seems more likely to be middle-aged liberal females whom she has also identified as the New York Times' target audience. Unfortunately for ObamaCare, this is precisely the wrong demographic who needs to be enrolling in the exchanges.
You'd think that a law which has been the subject of unceasing and noisy public debate for over five years would be past the "any publicity is good publicity" stage by now.
"Two dozen people and a dog. All we need is two dozen people and a dog." -- Mickey Kaus
If "Julia" has a son.....
Now we know why he wants to be babied.
No father.
Fuck that. My son spent three Christmases deployed with the US Marines. Talk about insurance? How about let's talk about getting home in one piece, not nancying around in a one piece. Disgusting imagery for a degenerate nation.
He's in pajamas.. does that mean he's blogging?
You don't need to buy a car. They don't tax you for NOT having a car. You may need a car, but the government doesn't tell you where you live.
Yet.
Renee.
I read it as asking Pajama Boy to talk to his family about their need to sign up for insurance coverage. The text reads like a checklist for the boy. He's wearing his pajamas, he's drinking hot chocolate, now it's time for him to talk to his whole family about Obamacare. The administration actually encouraged this exact thing at Thanksgiving, with some hilarious results: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnpxMMJ4UnA
I'm not sure what to think of Althouse talking about 20 year old men as good little boys.
Do many parents want to see their son in that light?
I think this is more about how certain 20-something men see themselves. The kind of guy who would date Amanda Marcotte and join OFA.
Obviously the ad targets that sliver of the 20-something male population that has the wherewithal to pony up the shekels for insurance. The approach is extremely passive and relies on the warm and fuzzies to evoke some edenic, safe and secure childhood where mommy and daddy hover over Junior with delicious treats.
But what's the selling proposition here? It must be "talk to mommy and daddy, maybe they'll spring for the bucks to ensure your future safety." The infantalization of young men continues apace.
The bourgeois Left's mindset is apparent in the ad. The call to action is passive, TALK, not BUY, and reflects the knee-jerk mindset of the coddled "vanguard". I can respect the raised red fist but this puerile tripe is sickening.
The significance of Pajama Boy, Julia, etc. is that they show the contempt that the Obama people have for the young voters that elected them. Why encourage accomplishment or self-reliance? Better they should dress like infants and let the State run their lives.
Dear Garage,
Stop being so reflexive.
Enjoy the mockery of this utterly stupid advertisement, sans politics.
Me
Pajama Boy is not home for the holidays. Pajama Boy is upstairs for the holidays.
Pajama Boy is upstairs for the holidays.
LOL. I wonder if he still has all his LOTR posters up on the walls of his room in the basement.
@ Oso Negro:
My son spent three Christmases deployed with the US Marines. Talk about insurance? How about let's talk about getting home in one piece, not nancying around in a one piece.
My best wishes for your son. Please scroll down to the 8th picture for a perspective on that:
The Dozen Funniest Variations of Obama's Pajama Boy Propagandra
Via Insty:
The panelists of MSNBC’s Morning Joe had a good laugh Thursday at the expense of “Pajama Boy,” the bizarre Obamacare ad attempting to drive conversations toward Obamacare over the holidays.
Described as a “hipster-ish model” by co-host Mika Brzezinski, the appearance of the bespectacled, sideways-glancing, cocoa-drinking, onesie-wearing manchild drew guffaws from Joe Scarborough, and the rest could hardly get through their comments without laughing themselves.
When Brzezinski said it was an attempt to get young people to sign up, Scarborough replied, “That ain’t how you do it.”
The White House has seen the future of American masculinity, and it's wearing jammies.
Considering the Oval Office meeting that Obama and Michelle just had with "moms" to get them to help sell Obamacare, Althouse is probably right that this is where this ad is aimed. There's nobody like a Democrat to love the idea of an helpless, dependent, infantilized adult -- I mean, permanent Democratic voter.
However, if there really are moms out there who are drawn to the idea of having a grown-up baby in a onesie for a son, I'll eat my hat. Any mom with sense would kick that kid out of the house with permission to come home after he found some decent clothes and a job and wiped that superior hipster smirk off his face. The young adult "kids" I know would say the same -- and more power to them.
If young women wonder why they can't find a man.....
Reflect on this.
"The parents may think that when their little guy comes home for the holidays, they just want to baby him. But they really should also make sure he's got his insurance."
If their "little guy" is younger than 26, he's already covered by his parent's mandated insurance.
And if he's older than 26, he's still a little guy?
Jaysus wept.
Jaysus wept.
Well, if it's good enough for scuzzy, androgynous, activist hipsters like Pajamaboy, it's good enough for me.
Frankly, Mr. Obama, you had me at Julia, but then I realized Sandra Fluke was Julia come to life.
In fact, your Presidency has only deepened my ideological commitments and my activism. YOU can't keep giving out cheap phones and funneling money to union leaders unless WE, the collective of concerned, morally superior communitarians and collectivists keep supporting you.
Yes We Can!
Pajama Boy says, "Dad I can be on your insurance until I'm 26, maybe then I'll have a job and can pay for my own"
I can't wait for the St. Patrick's day insurance ads.
Just asked a 17 year old his opinion of the pic. "He looks lonely."
It seems we see what we want to see...and I see that I have no resentments about 20/30-somethings sitting around in pj's in his own shared apartment. Carry on.
This ad is extremely revealing about liberals. Its says "Talk about healthcare", not "Get insurance." What matters is intellectualizing the process, not actually doing anything.
This is where liberalism runs smack into reality--intentions don't matter when it comes to paying for this "obamination".
Resentments?
Where did that come from?
I prefer to imagine that Althouse wrote this in a tone of high sarcasm.
Help this dear boy one last time, Mama.
All I can say, Ann, is that the picture did not inspire any such feelings from Mrs. Cate, who has fairly sensitive womanly sensors (we have two sons, 26 and 23). Her response was "Eww... you gotta be kidding."
MM wrote:
"I wonder if he still has all his LOTR posters up on the walls of his room in the basement."
Just saw this, and here not an hour ago I sent a picture of pajama boy in a group email writing, "This guy wants you to know that Return of the King is totally awesome."
Why 'jamaboy always gonna be white? Black man doan get no 'surance?
"Help this dear boy one last time, Mama."
Smother him with a pillow, Mama. You'd be doing him a favor.
If Mama really wanted to help this young man, she would scour eBay and Craigslist for the vintage Boba Fett, fully posable action figure that he has been working to acquire to complete his collection for seventeen months. She's always trying to pressure him about the boring stuff she and dad are into, like health insurance and income and getting an apartment. The holidays are so stressful with overbearing family.
This picture was taken when Mama said, "Oh, I thought The Hobbit was a book. There's a movie?"
Mom: "Marx's dialectics explain everything?"
Dad: "interesting. I don't think your mother and I have read any Marx."
photo snap
Mom: "No, Honey, I wouldn't know where to buy raw milk. I got that at the grocery store."
photo snap
Dad: "I always thought it seemed helpful to able to change gears. What's the benefit of the fixed speed?"
photo snap
Mom: "We didn't pick ours to make a statement about you, sweetheart. You can wear whatever you want. The rest of us just felt we'd be more comfortable in tops and bottoms pajamas this year."
photo snap
I hasten to point out that there is nothing wrong with the actual guy's appearance. It's the outfit and the facial expression in this photograph that make the character.
And now we learn that Pajama Boy is "Ethan Krupp, a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus. The circle closes.
Mom, I did get a job, I helped develop the Oregon health care website but now I'm unemployed so can I go on your insurance? You lost it? due to Obamacare requirements? [photo snap]
Conservatives are getting trolled by pajamaboy
Pajama boy is unprepared to discern and respond to risk in his life. He is learning that Obamacare is less about health care than education. The education system in America is the most expensive in the world with only marginal returns. We need education reform and less dictation in order to properly evolve into mature, diverse individuals.
I can sense it in my womanly sensors.
So that's what they're for.
Pajama Boy is not a "douchebag."
Actually, I think they copied that photo from the Wikipedia entry for "douchebag."
Pajama Boy is a Badger, apparently graduated in 2012. Gave a student speech at winter graduation, which was on You Tube and has been taken private. New Trier grad from Wilmette. According to one web site, was valedictorian at New Trier and was headed to Harvard. Not clear if he ever went to Harvard. Has all the proper "progressive" beliefs. One source says he works at OFA but another puts him at some environmental organization in Madison. Basically he's a college activist type who has graduated from college. Claims to have some expertise in social media. Majored in Journalism, or so it seems.
This guy is a standard issue upper middle class lefty. Megan McCardle thinks it's a brilliant troll job to bring himself prominence and to get money for his causes. That could be true.
Ethan Krupp was editor of the Madison Misnomer. "On liberal college campuses it often seems like political correctness has become the new form of censorship — a better-intentioned, less explicit, but equally oppressive form of it. Luckily, when it comes to breaking cultural taboos, few media come better equipped to deal with it than satire. Former Badger Herald writer Ethan Krupp currently helms a fledgling satirical newspaper called “The Madison Misnomer” — a paper that respects no taboos and basically doesn’t respect humanity in general. ... 'The Madison Misnomer is the only unfiltered thought left in this incredibly politically correct city, and for that it should be embraced.'said Ethan to the Badger Herald in 2010.
The Misnomer website has a flash game called "Chop the tree." To the tune of "On Wisconsin" a ax hacks at a tree. HA, HA. After graduation in December 2012 Ethan worked for the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative.
Then Ethan worked for Fox Chicago. And now he works for OFA, crafting (in 2013) the sort of PC slop he satirized in college (in 2010). No word on whether he has insurance.
Good thing we have manly conservative men like Rich Lowry and Ben Shapiro around to explain manliness to us!
The Left hates manly men.
See Robertson, Phil. As manly a man as exists on Earth presently.
Ethan has claimed to have gone to Harvard and founded the Croquet Club and the a cappella choir. This is on the Cooperstown Dreams website. But I think this was just intended as joke, not as the start of an Obama-type autobiography. There's a cute little photo of Ethan as a baseball player so we know it is our own Ethan.
So who is going to write Ethan Krupp's Wikipedia page? I nominate Betamax
Genius, Freeman.
Currently a Madison Misnomer writer is said to be composed of these ingredients:
What a Misnomer Writer is Made Of
1 Hefty Dollop of Sleaze
4 Cups of Racist
1 Handful of Anti-Semitism
1 Squirt of Bret Bielema’s Semen
a Pinch of Irony
a Dusting of Satire
a Squeeze of Insensitivity
2 Boxes of Wine
1 Tsp. Nutmeg
Garnished with Poop Jokes
Directions:
Combine metaphorical ingredients.
Consume wine.
Add nutmeg to taste.
ha! As I said. The overly concerned liberal who would join OFA. That's what he looks like, and that's what he is.
Look, I will tell you what is hideous is that this "insurance salesman" pitch is emanating from a site representing the President of the United States.
When did the water start boiling, us frogs did not notice that our presidency has morphed into a seedy pimping of the worst kind of flim flam?
How did we not notice the incremental shift, day by day, so that we accept that our President degrades the office so crudely?
Reset, button. We need one now.
Hello? 75 percent of all men over the age of 16 want to beat the shit out of this loser. In an earlier age, he'd been cast as the wimpy- whinny mommy's boy who gets straightened out at Boot camp.
But as Althouse implies, he's really being pitched to Democrat women and "men". And they probably *heart* him.
Larry J is right about BCGs. Nobody I ever knew became a father while wearing them—or even putting them on the night stand. Women would not even leave the club with you if you wore them.
Of course, women would never be that superficial, would they?
I hate that it's now getting personal about the guy who modeled for the ad.
I think it would make more sense if the ad were aimed at the parents -- then the infantilizing details would at least make sense. But I think the details of the ad argue strongly against that interpretation.
Look at the ad again. The text of the ad talks about wearing pajamas -- he's wearing pajamas. It talks about drinking hot chocolate -- he's drinking hot chocolate. It seems pretty clear to me that the text is also implying that Pajama boy is the one talking about getting health insurance -- that he's somehow the voice of responsibility.
But more than the text, look at the image. Pajama boy isn't just a toddler, he's wearing an expensive watch. His eyebrows are arched, and he looks incredibly -- insufferably -- pleased with himself. This is the picture of someone who is very conscious of his own virtue. More than that -- look at the arched eyebrows! -- it's someone who is acknowledging someone else's consciousness of his virtue.
I think the intended message is "Go home and push Obamacare to your family over the holidays. You will earn a strange new respect as a serious thinker that you've never had before."
Unfortunately, it's a mixed message. The details that are supposed to establish "strange new respect" -- the pajamas, the hot chocolate, the arched eyebrows, the extremely whiskerless face -- instead paint Pajama boy as callow and silly. Instead of confident, he looks delusional -- he thinks he's gaining strange new respect, but he's actually coming off as an overly politicised sucker.
It's interesting that in almost every other picture of Pajama Boy that has surfaced, he looks far, far more grown up than in the Obamacare ad. For whatever reason, they went with a look that places the guy somewhere around the age of a college sophomore.
I agree about it getting to personal, but the whole concept of dragging your family into politics under color of the holidays is creepy, way creepy.
I hate that it's now getting personal about the guy who modeled for the ad.
Agreed.
I'm midwest cheap, too, I'd've agreed to model for an ad if they paid me.
That post by McMegan on conservatives getting 'trolled' by PJ dude is one of her weaker attempts to avoid snears and snubs at holiday parties. (Her hubby writes for Reason and blogs at FreedomWorks for gosh sakes. She really needs to grow thicker skin.)
At the risk of being accused of moving the goal posts, I think most people would identify a successful troll job as one that cause your opponents to invest in responding as if you were making substantive points. At the very least, it should push them off the topics they want to focus on.
Something that makes people point-n-laugh, forces your supporters to publish defenses, and keeps your opponents focused on a topic you'd rather not talk about is not very successful.
@ Freeman
As I told a friend yesterday about the whole thing, it's not like he's an innocent stock photo model like that poor Obamacare Website Girl was. Mr. Krupp is an OFA operative, one of the true believers who has drunk the Obama Kool-Aid. He deserves every bit of mockery he gets, and then some.
He's one of yours....http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/12/19/revealed-pajama-boy-is-an-ofa-employee-who-attended-uw-madison/
Utter bullshit.
I feel nothing but revulsion for that image and I'm an doting mother of four plus a preschool teacher. I do not lack for maternal instinct. But I cannot possibly interpose my son on that image and feel anything like affection or protectiveness.
I adored my children when they were babies, but I love them even more because I RESPECT them when I watch them nail a difficult piece on the piano, or throw three beautiful strikes in a row, or negotiate a babysitting job without my involvement.
You can't love another adult, even your own child, without respecting them.
Those glasses look rather like what we called in the military BCGs (Birth Control Glasses).
In his excellent book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz has his protagonist wear "pussy deflection devices." : )
Hey, the real Pajama Boy has a UW-Madison connection:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/12/19/pajama_boy_aka_ethan_krupp.html
It seems the feminization of American men continues. Instead of putting a strong, strapping worker on the ad, they choose this guy. Obviously they know who their demographic is.
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