'Creepy Uncle Sam' doubles down on Snapchat! Is he scaring Millennials from Obamacare?
"Creepy Uncle Sam" is doubling down! He鈥檚 got new ads out, and he鈥檚 using the image-sharing site Snapchat in his campaign to scare young Americans away from Obamacare.
Will he and his creator, the conservative political nonprofit Generation Opportunity, successfully convince Millennials they shouldn鈥檛 sign up for insurance via President Obama鈥檚 signature Affordable Care Act? The final answer to that won鈥檛 be clear until March 31 of next year, the deadline for 2014 enrollment, if then.
But Creepy Uncle Sam鈥檚 weird vibe does appear to have irritated Mr. Obama himself. At a White House Youth Summit devoted to the ACA last week, the president said 鈥渂elieve it or not, there are actually organizations that are out there working to convince young people not to get insurance.鈥�
鈥淣ow think about that. That鈥檚 a really bizarre way to spend your money,鈥� said Obama, presumably referring to the wealthy donors who fund those organizations.
In case you鈥檝e never heard of him, Creepy Uncle Sam is a large-head costumed actor similar in appearance to a college sports mascot. But the frozen expression on his enormous face is ... creepy. There鈥檚 no other word for it. As we鈥檝e previously said, he looks like a freaky, patriotic garden gnome.
And Generation Opportunity has employed him in ads creepy enough to be controversial on their own. In one, a young woman is set to have a gynecological exam, when Creepy arises from between her legs snapping a speculum. 鈥淒on鈥檛 leg government play doctor,鈥� reads the video鈥檚 tagline. 鈥淥pt out of Obamacare.鈥�
In October, Creepy starred in his own mini-Halloween movie, which ended with him making some kind of triumphant guttural roar over a stash of candy extorted from frightened Millennials.
On Dec. 5, Generation Opportunity dropped a new Creepy ad, titled It features a panning shot of a hospital while a female voiceover talks about why Millennials are opting out of Obamacare, interrupted by periodic buzzing.
At a crucial point the voice says her generation is not doing the ACA because, 鈥淲e have not lost our [expletive] minds.鈥� Her swearing is bleeped out by the buzzing sound, which turns out to be caused by Creepy Uncle Sam playing 鈥� and losing at 鈥� the old board game 鈥淥peration.鈥�
Another noted that Creepy will be on Snapchat, where users can share pictures and videos that self-delete after 10 seconds. But it鈥檚 not clear how extensive an audience he鈥檒l reach on the site, which is popular with a young demographic, given that users have to request images from particular sources. Millennials that will sign up at creepyuncle.sam may already lean towards Generation Opportunity鈥檚 position.
Right now Millennials don鈥檛 appear convinced they can gain from Obamacare coverage, given its botched rollout. A much-covered last week found that solid majorities of the Millennial generation disapprove of the president鈥檚 health reform package, whether it鈥檚 described as the 鈥淎ffordable Care Act鈥� or 鈥淥bamacare.鈥� Fewer than 3 of every 10 Millennial poll respondents said they will definitely or probably sign up for coverage through an ACA exchange marketplace.
鈥淭hose are not numbers that suggest a population that鈥檚 poised to fall in line, do its civic duty, and fell warm and fuzzy in the process,鈥� writes right-leaning New York Times .
The question will be whether that attitude persists. As a new Gallup survey has found, when it comes to Obamacare, younger Americans know the least. Thirty-seven percent say they are 鈥渘ot familiar at all鈥� with the law鈥檚 specifics.
And it鈥檚 possible that Millennials just won鈥檛 really know what they鈥檙e going to do on health care until confronted by the hard deadline of next March, after which they鈥檒l have to pay the IRS a fine if they don鈥檛 have health coverage.
Many may remain on their parents鈥� plans, notes political scientist Jonathan Bernstein on his Others don鈥檛 realize that state-based exchanges and HealthCare.gov are related to the ACA at all.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the poll tells us anything about what young people are going to do when they get to that point of seeking insurance,鈥� writes Mr. Bernstein.
