Kaiser Permanente prepares for the Olympics

Kaiser Permanente plans to run its Community Bike commercial during the opening ceremony of the Olympics tomorrow. If you can't wait till then, you can see a sneak preview at the Champion Media site, where you can also check out other commercials that are part of KP's Thrive campaign. The idea is to promote good health, prevention, and the importance of taking responsibility for one's own health. In case you don't get the symbolism of the ads, you can watch KP's SVP of Brand Strategy, Communications and PR explain it.I kind of like these "feel good" ads, which seem designed to soften up the image of managed care organizations such as Kaiser.

• The bike ad strikes me as a contemporary version of the I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke ad. (A key difference from Beijing: clean air and no face masks.)
• When I Grow Up talks about how KP women get mammograms and therefore get to grow old and act goofy.
• Heartbeat has the coolest graphics in the series, and who can really oppose KP's plan to share its knowledge about heart health?
• Share the Breath is probably my least favorite, but maybe you'll relate to it if you're from Hawaii