Here's how you get young people to sign up for health insurance

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Chris WaltersBlog author Chris WaltersChris Walters writes for Policygenius, a digital insurance brokerage trying to make sense of insurance for consumers. He previously wrote for The Consumerist.

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It's not easy trying to market health insurance. No matter how cheerful the photo or how exciting the scenery, at some point you end up threatening the consumer just a little bit. You know: "Your honeymoon is everything you wanted it to be... But what if your thumb gets cut off?"

So there's no reason to make fun of (http://www.thewire.com/politics/2013/10/health-care-ad-campaign-wants-gnarly-bros-buy-brosurance/70801/ "Colorado's new Obamacare campaign targeted at "bros"" ) too much, especially now that it's being used as a clumsy political cudgel. You gotta try something. Especially when getting young people to sign up for health insurance is absolutely critical for the system to work. Otherwise, that pesky phenomenon known as adverse selection would make health insurance prohibitively expensive.

But "Got Milk?"--really? It's 2013 and you're trying to convince binge-drinking men in their early 20s to do something rational, so you quote the dairy industry?In Colorado's defense--and by way of introducing more effective slogans below--they're actually trying to reach more than just bros. (http://www.doyougotinsurance.com//index.php?id=2 "Full gallery of Colorado's "Got insurance?" ads" ) and they target lots of disparate demographics: older dudes, roller derby ladies, mamas, twerps, a sad divorced man, and "Young Michael Myers".So while "Got Milk?" is instantly recognized by most Americans, there are probably other popular ad slogans to appropriate that would help Colorado reach these specific targets more effectively. Take bros, for example: they probably drink Gatorade sometimes, so how about "Is it in you?" And then point out how much it costs to remove a keg tap from your shoulder.Here are some other suggestions:

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Author

Blog author Chris Walters

Chris Walters writes for Policygenius, a digital insurance brokerage trying to make sense of insurance for consumers. He previously wrote for The Consumerist.

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