I am about 3 seasons behind on House MD, so I am not too devasted by the news that Kal Penn’s character got killed off. However, as an interesting follow-up to my last post…even actors are putting away their head shots and saying goodbye to craft service (at least temporarily) in order to dedicate themselves to public affairs in our changing economy.
Following his character’s recent suicide, Kal Penn will now be serving as the associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. This is a confluence of two topics I find particularly interesting: (1) the growing popularity of public issues in society and (2) the growing savvy of public institutions in their marketing. Kal Penn is a brand. That is why there is no shortage of news articles about his recent career change punning on ”Harold and Kumar.” He is a pop-culture icon for a younger generation–and he will be able to reach out to an audience which may otherwise either have no interest in or feel unconnnected to Capitol Hill. People may think its ridiculous that an actor is in the White House, it may also be rather brilliant.
More info on Kal Penn’s departure? Check out this Washington Post article.