Barack "Billy Mays" Obama

This week, America watched in wonder as a new television pitchman was born. But he doesn’t want your money. He just wants to jumpstart our country’s economy. And he’s doing it like a marketing pro.

One of the activities we did in this unit was study advertising and how companies portray their products through television, billboards or magazines. We also talked about how salesmen draw consumers into buying their product, whether it’s giving the item a humanistic, compassionate feel in a magazine image, or repeating the toll free phone number on a commercial six times. Good marketing is key to a company’s success, and in this recession it is even more vital when consumers are spending less.

Recently, a new salesman has emerged on the advertising circuit. But he’s not selling ShamWows or deluxe butter knives. This man doesn’t even want you to spend a penny. He wants you to save thousands of dollars a year. But it’s not the Geiko gecko.

President Barack Obama is an infomercial salesman.

Well, not exactly. But according to a New York Times article, it sure seemed like it the way Obama repeated five different times a new web address that can help people refinance their home. Because of the housing industry crisis, interest rates on homes are almost at an all-time low. Millions of Americans are taking advantage of this by refinancing their homes, which lowers their interest rate. With rates so low, homeowners can save up to $3,000 a year. President Obama is making sure all Americans know about this golden opportunity.

On Thursday, Obama went on the air to spread the word about home refinancing. Besides using repetition, a common sales tactic, Obama also brought in people from the D.C. area to talk about how much money they saved by lowering their interest rates. Obama wanted to show that refinancing is a great way to save money, and he pushed to connect with homeowners by showing real people who endorsed his pitch. Obama spent hours promoting something that could begin to turn the economy in the right direction. And he could definitely compete for salesman of the week.

There is something to be said for Barack’s unique endorsement. He is the first President to ever use an “infomercial approach” to help the American people. It may be because our nation is in the worst financial crisis since the Depression, when FDR introduced new techniques like his “Fireside Chats” to connect with Americans. Perhaps Obama is beginning a new age of innovation that our country has needed for a long time.