President Obama gave six companies a special thumbs up in his 2015 State of the Union address.
CVS, UPS, Instagram, Google, Tesla and eBay were all mentioned by name during the speech.
The president praised drugstore chain CVS and delivery service UPS for their programs to train and educate workers, especially those without college degrees. Obama is currently pushing a proposal to make two years of community college education free.
Tech companies Google, Tesla and eBay were heralded as businesses that “didn’t even exist 10 or 20 years ago” but are now providing good American jobs. The president used the first half of the address to highlight the economic turnaround the nation has gone through since he took office, including job growth.
But the biggest corporate buzz of the night went to Instagram. While highlighting America’s innovation, the president pointed to Captain Scott Kelly, who was in the audience and is about to embark on a year-long mission in space.
“Good luck, Captain — and make sure to Instagram it,” Obama instructed Kelly.
Brands are willing to pay a whopping $4.5 million for a 30-second ad in this year’s Super Bowl.
While the State of the Union only draws about 33 million viewers (compared to over 111 million for the Super Bowl), it’s still free publicity in front of a prime-time audience.
None of the six companies the president mentioned are among the top 10 businesses lobbying Congress, although Google does rank among the top 20, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
