Something about that commercial with Martha pimping Medicare Advantage on MSNBC/CNN

[Uncle Joe]

makes me not want to live anymore.

[Raine]

1. I hate those commercials so much!!! 😡🤬 nt

[senseandsensibility]

2. I find the grouchy old woman medicare ads

sexist. As if old women are any more grouchy than men. Give me a break. In my experience, the men are grouchier and more clueless. (DUers excepted, of course).

[RainWalker]

3. There's another one with "Karen"

Admittedly I laughed lol

[Bayard]

4. Makes my teeth hurt

The most obnoxious thing going right now.

[hlthe2b]

5. When I was about 5 yo, I snuck up on my Mother to "scare her" & received a reflexive, unintentional slap

across my face--a hard one. Well, I'm experiencing that same reflexive urge when I see that ad. I know she's an actress and likely nothing like the commercial portrays, but damn she is so damned irritating.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. I saw it for the first time yesterday.

Words can’t describe how sexist and insulting it is to older women.

[Silent Type]

7. The ads are horrible. I see Joe Namath and think that if I'm going to look like that, I ain't signing up with that plan.

[Ocelot II]

8. How could any ad agency not figure out how insulting that ad is

to older people, women especially? It's not even slightly funny and it makes me want to throw things at the TV.

[Uncle Joe]

13. I agree Ocelot it's deliberate, but that's begs the question,

what's their motivation?

The only thing I can thing of, this is just part of corporate propaganda to frame, shape and devalue the perception of the elderly making it politically easier for the corporate supremacists/oligarchs in our society to continue tightening the screws by cutting Medicare and Social Security.

[Midnight Writer]

26. The motivation is 1) to be memorable and 2) to get people talking about it.

It is a marketing technique that is very effective on many people.

Even if the content of an ad repulses viewers, it puts the product at the front of the viewer's mind and pushes sales.

Take Sham-Wows, for example.

But the most striking example of the effectiveness of this technique is Donald Trump.

[Uncle Joe]

27. I've heard that before, but I believe it's just a fig leaf for what they want to do anyway

If people didn't talk about it, that would be "silence in the face of evil," just taking this from a sociological point of view.

I believe *rump was an oligarch; that tired of dominating government via legal/illegal bribery/extortion behind the scenes and chose to come out front and center because he and his followers became afraid of democracy.

Now how long would it take any half way objective journalist, reporter or pundit exposed to *rump for more than 15-30 minutes to know that he was about as stable as Mussolini on a roller coaster and a potential danger to national security?

[Srkdqltr]

9. The constant barrage of these adds is intolerable.

I get several calls a day. I told hubby I will pull the plug on the phone and just plug it back when we want to call out.

[Srkdqltr]

10. That and the phone calls.

I get several calls a day. I told hubby I will pull the plug on the phone and just plug it back when we want to call out.

[Raven]

11. Imagine being a woman of that age. :eyes:

[spooky3]

12. Ageism thrives. Nt

[BigmanPigman]

14. When I first say it ai thought it was a parody

and was meant to be funny. When I realized it wasn't I got thoroughly disgusted. It is such an insult it does look like one of those old fake SNL commercials.

I wrote to that female deodorant company Lume about their non-stop "under boob, butt cracks, thigh folds, etc" commercials and told them that I was sick and tired of hearing about stinky butt cheeks and underboobs while I am eating dinner and watching the news. I think they must have gotten a ton of negative feedback since I noticed they toned down their ads a bit.

[Raine]

25. I sent them feedback too. I told them they couldn't pay me

to use their product when they insult me with their crude vulgar commercial.

[BigmanPigman]

28. I saw their awful commercial is now on You Tube

and 99.9% of the comments describe how gross and offensive it is. Worst ad campaign ever! The comments were somewhat amusing, though.

[ariadne0614]

15. When you consider the $$$ spent on ads instead of healthcare,

. . .it gets even more maddening. How can Original Medicare compete with the MA propaganda? My blood boils to know the scam is using taxpayer dollars to kill OM.

[Uncle Joe]

16. I've come to the conclusion that this commercial wasn't designed

to sell Medicare Advantage.

This is about making it politically easier to cut Medicare in the future by demeaning the elderly.

[ariadne0614]

19. Interesting perspective.

If true, it still doesn’t explain the fortune being spent to lure people into other MA plans.

[Uncle Joe]

20. I agree, without a doubt, they're trying to privatize Medicare by selling the other programs.

Having said that I believe it's a two pronged attack, sell the other programs as you say but also to diminish the overall worth or value of the political demand for elderly care, thereby making it easier to eradicate the public aspects of Medicare.

[leftstreet]

21. +1

Spot on

[Marthe48]

17. Makes me want to change my name

and go into witness protection.

[Uncle Joe]

18. ....

[dweller]

22. Martha through the years

2023 she was a horrid older woman the whole commercial
Then they tried Martha Muppet
https://m.

And this year she actually sweetens up towards the end of the commercial … like a sweet little old lady happy with Medicare advantage





✌🏻

[LetMyPeopleVote]

23. I get a ton of calls from people pushing Medicare advantage plans

Some of these assholes claim to be with Medicare and show up on caller id as scams. You can tell that these are phone bank type calls. The fact that someone is hiring so many persons and phone banks to push these plans tells me a great deal. Several of my law partners and I use a consultant who is a member of my temple to review our Medicare coverage. I have told that these plans are bad deals.

[airplaneman]

29. You do realize the going payment to agents for a MA sign up is $750 per person.

And a renewal is almost $400. Even Walmart and Costco are pushing plans with their letter that cares if your getting the best plan possible.
-Airplane

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. I knew that there was some compensation for these solicitors.

I just did not know how much. The fact that people are paying people to solicit these plans tells me all that I need to know

[TSExile]

24. That commercial is an insult...

...to both women and the elderly. I'd like to see them make an ad like this with a cranky old guy and see how well it goes over.

It's not just MSNBC and CNN that run that sorry ad - I see it on local TV as well. Booooo...

[GoodRaisin]

30. Imagine someone being as stupid as Martha.

Like half the country.