A Smattering of State Health Care Exchange Ads

Our hour on the coming Oct. 1 premiere of state health care exchanges includes a brief aural sampling of advertisements from around the country. These ads ranged from the sweet to the silly, but they all are trying to do essentially the same thing — convince uninsured people everywhere to sign up for the new state-moderated health care plans. You can listen back to the hour for the practical side of things, or you can just watch our selected favorite health care ads, sampled below.

Washington, "No More Surprises"

This ad is more creepy than charming, but the Washington State health care campaign tries a clever play on words by including a girl playing "Chance" in all of their ads. It ties the campaign together, and gently pushes people toward signing up without actually threatening them.

The Paul Bunyan-themed ads out of the Land of 10,000 Lakes are admittedly pretty corny. But they do a good job of drawing you in and making you feel like you really ought to buy health care, if only to avoid being a Paul (Bunyan, that is).

The Colorado exchange's baseball-themed ad efforts have already been highlighted by NPR's All Things Considered. But it's worth seeing the ad to see much how the baseball theme pervades the Colorado effort (even in a state that's only had a major league team for 20 years).

This ad is the kind of charming little worm that enters your ear and makes a home for itself inside. There's no contest, but if there was, this Laura Gibson tune from the Pacific Northwest would win.

For more ads, check out this recent All Things Considered feature on the varied health care exchange ad campaigns across the country.