This post has been updated.
President Barack Obama’s appearance with actor Zach Galifianakis on FunnyOrDie.com has made the website the top referrer to HealthCare.gov Tuesday, a White House official said.
Tara McGuinness, a senior communications adviser who focuses on Obamacare, tweeted the news.
http://t.co/FrO24hdvcA is the #1 source of referrals to http://t.co/0r93BavlrV right now.
— Tara McGuinness (@HealthCareTara) March 11, 2014
The plug was the point of the interview, for which Galifianakis knowingly chided Obama.
“Have you heard about HealthCare.gov?” Obama asked after Galifianakis inquired about his online browsing habits.
“Okay, here we go,” the actor lamented. “Let’s get this out of the way. What’d you come here to plug?”
“I think it’s fair to say I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t have something to plug,” Obama cracked before touting Obamacare and its website. At the end of the video, a link to HealthCare.gov flashes on the screen.
The video has been viewed nearly three million times, according to FunnyOrDie.com’s stats.
As the New York Times reported when the video debuted, Obama appeared on the comedy website’s interview series as part of the White House’s effort to encourage young adults to sign up for health insurance under the health care reform law.
UPDATE, 4:50 p.m. ET
An administration official said Tuesday afternoon that HealthCare.gov had received 19,000 direct referrals from the FunnyOrDie.com video.
