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OFA Picks Ad Starring Children: 'I'll Die ... Because We Couldn't Afford Health Care'
David Plouffe
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Last month Organizing for America solicited homemade health care ads from supporters, and today they released the winning video.
It stars several children with health care messages, including:
"Two years from now, I'll be diagnosed with Leukemia and I'll die, because we couldn't afford health care."and
"There are over 8 million uninsured children in America. ... We all deserve health care."
In an email asking for donations to put the ad on television, David Plouffe says the Organizing for America Health Reform Video Challenge shows "our supporters' creativity and passion is more than a match for the slick ads and partisan spin doctors on the other side."
He doesn't disclose the name of the winner Eric Hurt is responsible for the ad, which is of high production quality.
Plouffe said 3 million people watched the 1,000 ads submitted. (Celebrities were among the judges.)
"In the next few days, we'll be using this video as the basis for a new television ad that will air across the country -- and you can help, by ensuring we have the resources to make the biggest impact," he wrote. "With Congress wrapping up its last round of negotiations and closely gauging the public's mood in these crucial final weeks, now is the exact time to get this grassroots message out far and wide."
Watch the OFA promo and the winning ad:
OFA Chooses Winning Health Care Ad From Grassroots Submissions - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.
Late update: This post has been corrected.
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theone718
November 17, 2009 6:01 PM
I watched that ad and gave it the full score treatment. Definitely the best of the ilk shown.
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NuttyProf
November 17, 2009 6:15 PM
Well, I don't know what the bill does about health CARE, but those kids and their families will have to buy health INSURANCE. Unfortunately, they may still go bankrupt.
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ldp
November 17, 2009 6:22 PM
It's directed by Eric Hurt and produced by my good friend (and all around fabulous person), Erica Arvold.
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Cy Guy
November 17, 2009 7:25 PM in reply to ldp
Yeah, it says "by Eric Hurt" right when they announce the winner. I don't know why the TPM write-up says "He doesn't disclose the name of the winner,"
That said, wasn't the point of S-CHIP and the S-CHIP expansion to get pretty much every child covered by insurance? Are these programs not working? Is the 8 Million figure prior to the enactment of the S-CHIP expansion this Spring?
I'd rather the chosen ad dealt with convincing people that are already insured that the insurance they have is often not worth the paper it's printed on due to life-time caps and recisions which end up cutting off people from insurance who are already on it. Those are the folks that need to be calling and writing their Congressmen and Senators to convince them to support HCR.
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Silence
November 17, 2009 7:17 PM
How about this one.
Three months from now, my parents will lose their jobs and go to to jail because they chose food over health insurance.
I will spend the rest of my childhood in foster care. At 18, the govt will provide me with a monthly basket of rations ..potatoes and bread.
My future is darkness and despair.
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Cy Guy
November 17, 2009 7:36 PM in reply to Silence
I assume your comment is a snarky trolling reference to the right-wing talking point that the requirement to get insurance will be enforced through the tax code and ultimately could lead to jail time for failing to pay taxes.
Any family that is having trouble affording food will have their health insurance fully, or almost entirely subsidized. You can see the CBP estimate of subsidies here: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/health_care/hr3962_CBOLetter.pdf
Might some Americans go to jail, sure, if they want to protest HCR by not enrolling and not paying their fine, they could end up going to jail, just as many people have gone to jail for withholding tax payments that they feel support what they consider to be illegal or immoral wars. But it won't be people choosing between health insurance and feeding their families. It is actually those families, thousands of whom go bankrupt each year due to lack of adequate health insurance that most need Heath Care Reform.
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