"Pajama Boy" is a pejorative term for a photograph posted online in 2013 by the American political organization

Organizing for Action Organizing for Action (OFA) was a nonprofit organization and community organizing project that advocated for the agenda of former U.S. President Barack Obama. The organization was officially non-partisan, but its agenda and policies were stron ...

(OFA) of one of its employees, Ethan Krupp, in support of the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

, otherwise known as "Obamacare".

Background

The photo was posted on December 17, 2013 by the organization, which advocated for the legislative agenda of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, from President Obama's own

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account. It was part of a general campaign to get younger Americans to sign up for the

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

program. The photo showed Krupp wearing thick-rimmed glasses and black-and-red plaid onesie

pajamas Pajamas (American English, US) or pyjamas (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as night ...

, and cradling a mug. The accompanying text read: "Wear pajamas. Drink

hot chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

. Talk about getting

. #GetTalking." The tweet linked to the OFA site, which encouraged individuals to discuss Obamacare during the

holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...

with those family members who are uninsured, and encourage them to sign up. The tweet and pajama-clad man featured in it were quickly dubbed "Pajama Boy", and mocked and ridiculed across

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, largely by

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. Pajama Boy soon developed into an

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

in which the Pajama Boy image was digitally inserted into other photos, or the text of the tweet was revised or new text added to mock the campaign. The week after the photo's debut, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' reporter

Chris Cillizza Christopher Michael Cillizza (; born February 20, 1976) is an American political commentator, who worked for the television news channel CNN from 2017-2022. Prior to joining CNN, he wrote for ''The Fix'', the daily political blog of ''The Washing ...

opined in his "Worst Week in Washington" column that "Pajama Boy was the latest swing and miss in efforts by Obama allies".

Criticism

The day after the original tweet, December 18, New Jersey Republican Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

lampooned and criticized Pajama Boy with his own tweet, which featured a photo of him volunteering in an

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

with the accompanying text: "Get out of your pajamas. Put on an apron. Get volunteering. #SeasonOfService." Libertarian commentator

Nick Gillespie Nicholas John Gillespie (; born August 7, 1963) is an American libertarian journalist who was editor-in-chief of ''Reason'' magazine from 2000 to 2008 and editor-in-chief of Reason.com and Reason TV from 2008 to 2017. Gillespie originally joined ...

, writing in the ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'' magazine blog, wrote that "for many — arguably most — Americans, this guy is hipster douchitude on a cracker." In ''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

'', libertarian pundit

Megan McArdle Megan McArdle (born January 29, 1973) is an American journalist, columnist, and blogger based in Washington, D.C. She writes for ''The Washington Post'', mostly about economics, finance, and government policy. She began her writing career with a ...

said conservatives got " trolled" by Pajama Boy: "The purpose of Pajama Boy is not to get people to buy health insurance, but to get a rise out of conservatives — and thereby to engage the solidaristic, money-raising, meme-spreading power of OFA’s liberal base." Analyzing the perceived issues with the campaign, however,

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

wrote that "Organizing for America has a tendency to try to promote Obamacare on Twitter with images that, one imagines, they think will be potentially viral. But what tends to happen instead is that OFA’s tweets are ignored by basically everyone — except for conservative tweeters."

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Link to Original Tweet from @BarackObama Account
nbsp;— includes image of Pajama Boy
Archive of OFA Page Linked to Tweet
Political Internet memes Affordable Care Act Photographs of the United States 2013 in American politics 2014 in American politics