Sometimes, the opposition bests your side and all you can do is put a forced smile on your face and give them a reluctant golf clap.
And in the case of this commercial for Get Covered Illinois, the Obamacare website run by the state, you’re allowed to laugh out loud too.
The ad features a fictitious health care plan: “The Luck Plan” — with the tag line “You’ll be OK…probably.”
It’s been out a couple of months but they just updated the copy and released a new version of the commercial.
The ads, which show young people cavorting around Chicago in cardboard splints and other homemade remedies, promote a fictitious “Luck Plan.” The 30-second spots aired on network television in Illinois this week, the first week of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act. The campaign targets millennials, whose participation in insurance is important to the health law’s success but who have been more reluctant than others to sign up.
The ads, developed by Downtown Partners Chicago, are based on recent research, said Jose Munoz, chief marketing officer for Get Covered Illinois, the state’s enrollment arm.
“To get people’s attention you have to do one of two things — you have to be extremely funny or extremely offensive,” Munoz said. “We went with funny.”
The campaign is part of a $12 million advertising budget to spread the “get covered” message through television, print, radio and social media outlets, along with ads on public transportation and billboards, state spokesman Mike Claffey said in an email. The $12 million, funded through a federal grant, also covers ads targeting African-Americans and Hispanics, two other groups that proved hard to reach last year.
State officials have said Illinois was successful reaching young adults last year, signing up 72,696 people under age 35. Young adults are important for the law because they generally use fewer health care services than older members, which helps keeps rates lower. Last year’s outreach to young adults included humorous commercials and a partnership with The Onion, a Chicago-based online satirical news source that produced creative content for the state. The partnership with The Onion will continue this year, Munoz said.
In keeping with the idea that the campaign targets millenials, they created a spoof website. They even list the various Luck Plans that are available:
Select your plan!
LUCK Plan
LUCK Plan Plus
LUCK Plan Plus Minus
LUCK Plan Divided
LUCK Plan Carry The One
Conservatives can take some heart by remembering that it will take a lot more than a couple of funny ads to get millenials to sign up for health insurance. But for sheer creativity, this particular ad campaign is a winner.
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