Weirdest Ads For and Against Obamacare

From an indie rocker crooning the merits of the Affordable Care Act to a fake trailer comparing it to Sharknado, it seems no appeal is too outrageous when it comes to swaying public opinion.

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We knew Obamacare would create big changes in the healthcare system. We didn’t know Obamacare … or should we say Brobamacare…would beget “brosurance.”

On Tuesday a Colorado group launched a “got insurance?” campaign trying to lure bros to sign up for the system. It’s an odd attempt to reach out to the high-value “bro” demographic—the young men who need to sign up for the system in order to make it work, because in the near term they will tend to pay in much more than they take out in benefits.

But in the anthology of our national conversation about Obamacare, Brobamacare isn’t the weirdest appeal. Not by a long shot. Here are our favorite appeals in favor of, and against, Obamacare:

Anti-Obamacare

YOLO: This ad created by the right-wing Crossroads GPS (a nonprofit linked to Karl Rove) mocks the Obama administration’s efforts to reach out to young people about the affordable care act. The ad asserts that democrats want young adults to drop their full-time jobs for part-time jobs and pay premiums on healthcare equal to those of millionaire celebrities. And it drops the term “YOLO,” so … it’s hip.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfP6LmJiSec&w=600&h=350]

APPLE: What’s even cooler than Obamacare? Apple, obviously. This (anti?) Affordable Care Act ad compares Obama’s efforts to make healthcare cool to Apple’s attempts to revamp the iPhone.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2NkvGVkk7s&w=600&h=350]

UNCLE SAM: This pair of unsettling anti-Obamacare ads from Generation Opportunity, a group backed by billionaire conservative donors Charles and David Koch, set social media abuzz last month. “Don’t let government play doctor. Opt out of Obamacare,” the ad reads as a creepy Uncle Sam holds a speculum in front of a woman in an exam chair and pops up behind a man not wearing pants.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7cRsfW0Jv8&w=600&h=350]

OBAMACARENADO: This Crossroads GPS fake trailer compares Obamacare to Sharknado, calling it the perfect storm. Obama’s head swerves around in a tornado while citizens are attacked by leaflets of paper. Enough said.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHSIz_rYLns&w=600&h=350]

Pro-Obamacare

CHANCE: This pro-Obamacare ad has become a classic of the genre, but step back a moment and you realize it’s a lot creepier than it first looks. A woman walks outside to look for a pet, a fierce raccoon leaps in slow-motion at her face, and some kind of chipper, orange-clad demon pixie plays rock paper scissors to determine if she’ll get her face clawed off. Weird indeed.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0YzmwrszPY&w=600&h=350]

THE FIXER: Got a scandal you need fixed, even if it’s a real fixer-upper? Not anymore. According to this ad, Obamacare is putting DC’s scandal managers out of business by solving everyone’s problems.

PORTLANDIA: Oregon enlisted one of its homegrown, indie-rock artists, Laura Gibson, to charm viewers with a catchy musical ad promoting its Obamacare marketplace. Equipped with a string quartet, idyllic scenery and of course, a rainbow and sunshine, the ad tells viewers, “Live long, in Oregon.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2UUcXCo9g&w=600&h=350]

HORRIBLY INJURED AMERICANS AGAINST OBAMACARE: (see title)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK2jmFIK9u8&w=600&h=350]