In the wake of Congressman Jason Chaffetz’s controversial remarks regarding the cost of an iPhone relative to the cost of purchasing affordable health care, Conan O’Brien last night rolled out a mock Apple Healthcare ad showcasing how various Apple products could comically pull double duty as medical tools and instruments.
For those unfamiliar with the extent of Chaffetz’s remarks, the Utah Congressman this week said that low-income Americans might be able to afford better health care if they weren’t so intent on spending money on a brand new iPhone every year.
Chaffetz’s full remarks on the issue read as follows:
Well we’re getting rid of the individual mandate. We’re getting rid of those things that people said they don’t want. And you know what? Americans have choices. And they’ve got to make a choice. And so, maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest it in their own health care. They’ve got to make those decisions for themselves.
Predictably, Chaffetz’s remarks sparked a wave of criticism from Democrats and elicited an avalanche of fiery retorts from the Twitterverse.
With that as a backdrop, the writers over at CONAN figured that one doesn’t necessarily need to choose between adequate health care and premium Apple products. On the contrary, why not kill two birds with one stone and use the iPhone, the MacBook and other Apple products as makeshift medical devices?
Need to check out what’s happening with your eyes, ears and throat? No problem. Just use the iPhone’s built-in flashlight feature. Need to apply some stitches post-surgery? Don’t even trip. Just use the thick white cord from Apple’s EarPods.
The full sketch can be seen below.
The ad closes out with the following tagline: “Apple, the only healthcare you need. And soon, the only healthcare you’ll have.”
While it’s always fun to see late night hosts either skewer Apple or incorporate Apple products into their sketches, I personally think that this recent effort from Conan is pretty sub-par. The premise is solid, but the execution seemed lazy at best. If you feel otherwise, feel free to chime-in in the comment section below and set me straight.
