UPI – United Press International
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California consumer group is using pirates to spread its message of the need for universal healthcare to young people.
The “Pirates of the Health Care-ibbean” Internet-based animated music video, available at iTunes and other sites for download, employs cartoon imagery and a song called “Go Ahead & Die” by the Austin Lounge Lizards (aka the world’s oldest boy band) to encourage support for a universal healthcare plan in California.
“Our goal is to focus on young people who don’t necessarily think about healthcare but are paying into the system nonetheless,” Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights told UPI.
The launch of the video was timed to coincide with the release of insurance-company earnings that are tantamount to piracy, he said.
The group hopes a successful universal healthcare system in California could be a model for a national plan.
The video is part of the group’s ongoing “Pod Power” healthcare series, which seeks to build support for universal healthcare reform. Other videos in the series are available at www.consumerwatchdog.org/podcasting .
A direct link to the video is available at www.Cal-Medicare.org
