It’s been revealed that the White House hired a social marketing firm to distribute mass emails and unsolicited spam to sell President Obama’s health care plan. Millions of Americans received emails and read blogs, without realising they were reading well crafted marketing messages manipulating them to support the Government’s agendas, programs and legislations.

A private company GovDelivery were hired last January to handle social marketing emails to sell the administration’s campaigns on a range of issue, including the healthcare reform.

Hundreds of emails were sent via GovDelivery from senior adviser David Axelrod asking supporters to help rebut criticism of Obama’s health care plan circulating the internet. But this was only acknowledged as a marketing campaign when unsolicited emails from the administration about the reform were sent to people. The Government says this was the fault of third party groups placing recipients’ names on the distribution lists.

It is unknown how much taxpayer money the White House provides GovDelivery for its services.