Not all of the eight initial ads feature men; as you'll see below, one spotlights a young, pregnant woman, while another features a Latino mom with a young child. But the majority are aimed at young adult males, including this one:
The responses to the campaign thus far have broken down along ideological lines, with the progressive Colorado Pols site offering a promotional post and the conservative Colorado Peak Politics ripping the concept as "Brosurance" aimed at "college frat boys in jorts." (CPP helpfully provides an Urban Dictionary definition of jorts: "Jean shorts. Worn mostly by children and douchebags....")More potentially challenging, though, is the fact that the campaign launch went live shortly after President Barack Obama held a press conference admitting to big problems with the main HealthCare.gov website and saying there were "no excuses" for its flaws.
When asked about what appears to be bad timing, Adam Fox, director of strategic engagement for CCHI, dodges the question several times before finally saying, "We don't see it that way. There's an opportunity both here in Colorado and nationwide for people to get access to health insurance, and even though the system isn't where it needs to be, I think it will be soon -- and people will still be able to get the health insurance they need.
"Colorado is in a very different situation than a lot of the country, because it decided to create its own marketplace," he continues, referencing Connect For Health Colorado. He concedes that Connect experienced some early glitches, but maintains that "it's been pretty much functional since day one, October 1. People have been getting through the system and shopping for good health insurance options."
Right now, the Got Insurance? campaign is focused on Colorado, but Fox acknowledges that "our intention was to make it usable outside of Colorado as well -- make it really connect to people in their daily lives and help them associate their daily activities with a potential need for health insurance. Because you never know when you're going to need health care."
Here's another example focusing on active dudes -- ones apparently auditioning for a remake of Old School:
"This is really a social media campaign," Fox says. "We have a website, but we'll be sharing and promoting the images on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram -- just any social media channel we can use to spread them around. We're really trying to target active social media users that tend to be young adults, women and also communities of color that have high rates of un-insurance in Colorado and nationwide."In the meantime, be careful out there, bros -- and the rest of you, too.
Continue to see more images from the Got Insurance? campaign. Continue to see more images from the Got Insurance? campaign.Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
More from our News archive circa October 1: "Photos: Colorado Obamacare exchange glitchy, but still better than many federal sites."
