"The West Wing Reunion."

Funny or Die Immortal: "Walk and Talk: The West Wing Re-Union." 

Rigler Creative brought in comedy platform Funny or Die to collaborate on a unique viral video as a public service announcement for Every Body Walk! and client Kaiser Permanente.

While collaborating with Funny or Die on a script, Rigler Creative actively cast the video with the help of original cast-member Melissa Fitzgerald. Martin Sheen, Alison Janney, Josh Malina, Dulé Hill and Melissa Fitzgerald reprised their roles for an ambitious PSA for the comedy platform. Pre-production work included securing the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library for the shoot location, including a pivotal Oval Office scene.

Production and Editing

Almost 12 months in the making, the efficient one-day production was nimble enough to tweak the script and story on-set, while simultaneously filming footage and interviews for multiple behind the scenes videos, and whetting the appetite of social media with on-set images from the stars.

During editing, Rigler Creative reached out to media outlets and prepared for the May 2012 launch.

Every Body Walk! also created its branded page on the Funny or Die site, which would drive a new audience back to the campaign’s hub – www.everybodywalk.org and a companion “Walk & Win” sweepstakes.

Media Awareness and Social Media Buzz

The video was an instant success on Funny or Die! Twitter exploded with the news. The hashtag #WestWingReunion became a trending topic and hundreds of media outlets, including The Huffington Post, CNN and ABC News, shared their excitement about the story. The media weaved in messaging about Every Body Walk! into their coverage, which further spread the reach of the campaign.

Within a week the video was featured on multiple TV news programs and hundreds of online sites, generating hundreds of thousands of impressions for the Every Body Walk! campaign.

The Stats

The collaboration increased metrics—video views, page views and social media impressions–across the board in double digits. The “Walk & Talk” video and corresponding making-of and behind the scenes videos have been seen over 1 million times since launch and exposed the Every Body Walk! message to an ever expanding audience.