Politics

‘Brosurance’ makes way for ‘hosurance’ in Colorado’s Obamacare ads

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Greg Campbell Contributor
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The “bros” made famous in a Colorado advertising campaign doing keg stands for Obamacare are proving in a new spot that they’re not just party animals, but babe magnets too.

The latest offering from the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI), which spawned the “brosurance” campaign to encourage young people to sign up for health insurance through Colorado’s state-run health insurance exchange, features a young woman who’s excited that she’s about to bed a bro.

“OMG, he’s hot!” reads the ad copy. “Let’s hope he’s as easy to get as this birth control.”

The ad features pre-coital “Susie and Nate,” with Susie flashing a thumbs-up and a stash of birth control pills. It’s already been dubbed #hosurance on Twitter.

“My health insurance covers the pill,” she says, “which means all I have to worry about is getting him between the covers.”

Well, not quite, as a disclaimer at the bottom of the ad reminds all the bros and babes it’s aimed at.

“The pill doesn’t protect you from STDs, condoms and common sense do that,” reads the comma-spliced fine print.

The ad is one of several new offerings released in the last two days as part of the organization’s “Got Insurance?” campaign. Many depict young men and women as heavy drinkers who are in to casual sex. Two ads feature a cardboard Ryan Gosling and riff off the “Hey Girl” meme.

“Hey girl,” one reads, “You’re excited about easy access to birth control and I’m excited about getting to know you.”

Another features five women about to slurp shots of alcohol off a ski.

“Shotskis keep us happy,” the ad reads. “Flu shots keep us healthy. Saving money on flu shots leaves us more money for fun shots.”

Yet another features a guy in his shorts crouched on top of a keg, preparing to drink straight from the tap.

“Not sure how I ended up here perched on top of this keg,” he’s saying. “I could totally fall, but that’s OK. My budget will stay balanced even if I don’t because I got insurance.”

The brosurance ads have garnered not only national headlines and mixed reactions, but a cameo appearance at the House Energy and Commerce Committee when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled about the error-plagued Obamacare rollout.

During the hearing, Colorado Republican Rep. Cory Gardner displayed a blown-up poster of an ad showing three dudes doing a keg stand and pounding beer.

“Do you agree with this kind of ad for Obamacare?” he asked. “It’s a college student doing a keg stand.”

But college students and other young people who are relatively healthy are critical to the success of the Affordable Care Act, according to a spokesman for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

“They’re important to stabilize the insurance prices throughout the nation and Colorado,” said Adam Fox, CCHI’s director of strategic engagement, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The ads were designed to be edgy in order to hit the target market, “young adults and women, primarily,” he said.

“I don’t think that we’re encouraging any particular behavior, but I think we’re acknowledging the reality that a lot of different behaviors happen whether we like it or not,” he said.

“I think there are always going to be people who try to take your message and twist it for their purposes, as long as what you’re putting out there is connecting with the audience you’re targeting, it’s successful,” he said.

The “Got Insurance?” campaign is expected to continue until at least Dec. 15. Fox said future ads might not be as edgy.

“I don’t think that edgy is a bad thing if it is reaching the people that you’re targeting,” he said.

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