United Healthcare Tickles the Funny Bone
By Mark Lang
The labyrinthine world of health insurance can be a scary place. HMOs are difficult to navigate, and too often they rely on gatekeepers, or non-medical personnel, to make important patient decisions.
"It's a nonsensical industry," says Derek Pletch, group creative director at GSD&M in Austin, Texas. "When you need to use a gatekeeper to get a specialist ... it's just a lack of common sense."
Pletch says United Healthcare is one of the first health-insurance vendors to dispose of the middleman, allowing patients to choose their own specialists without prior authorization. "We wanted to position the company as the practical, innovative leader in the field," he says, "the company that brings common sense to healthcare."
A new three-spot campaign turns good sense into an art form, hitting the viewer's funny bone along the way.
In "Bridesmaids," six women line up for the ritual throwing of the bouquet at an outdoor wedding. When the bride finally flings the flowers, they sail over the heads of the waiting women. Pursuing the bouquet with admirable vigor, three of the women fall off a cliff, roll down a ravine and splash into the ocean below.
In "Lions," filmmakers shoot a wildlife documentary. To get the big cats to react, a man wears a giant lion's head and walks toward the reclining beasts. From a safe location, the director (think Marlon Perkins) says, "Just as I expected, the lions are getting alarmed. Whatever happens, hold your ground. Now, initiate agitation phase." The mask-wearing sidekick (think Jim Fowler) picks up the pace, flaps his arms and roars loudly.
In "Hornet's Nest," a man plots to remove his insect problem by simply snipping a branch off a tree. But his best-laid plans fail to materialize. In each spot, the VO says: "People don't always use common sense. Fortunately, there's a healthcare company that does." The campaign sells the insurance provider's fewer co-pays, no doctor referrals and a 24-hour nurse line. Tag: "United Healthcare. It just makes sense."
"Much of the advertising in the [health insurance] category is not believable," Pletch says. "It's all about �we provide the best care' or �we love you,' but in general nothing gets discussed. There's no substance behind it. [Being] serious really just thuds."
Humor can bomb too, of course. But there are ways to ensure success. "Extra little moments," Pletch calls them.
"It's tough to rely on one [humorous] moment. There's too much pressure to make the joke perfect," he says. "So we try to create as many layers of humor as possible, and we're always conscious of peaking at the end."
For example: When the women fall off the cliff in "Bridesmaids," one hits a cactus on the way down and all three splash-land near an unsuspecting fisherman. The peak moment in "Lions" is easily missed. Right after the sidekick starts waving his arms and right before the spot fades to graphics, a male lion begins to charge the film crew. After the fall in "Hornet's Nest" one guy knocks over a grill and the other gets trapped in a garbage can. And if you listen closely, their screams can be heard throughout the graphics and tagline sequence.
Look for more wit and wisdom in future TV work.
Humor makes United Healthcare's common-sense message more believable, Pletch says. "Everyone does foolish things," he concludes. "Who can't relate?"
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