PhRMA's twin mascots mock insurers that own PBMs, pharmacies and your doctor

PhRMA had long run ads with a blue-suited, red-lollipop-holding man to personify the money-hungry PBM; as insurers merged with PBMs and bought pharmacies, it needed the villain set to grow.

The same actor plays two suited middlemen — a PBM in blue, an insurer in brown — who snatch a prescription and shush: 'When middlemen own it all, you pay the price.'

In a 15-second spot, a woman at a pharmacy counter meets two identical men in different colored suits — her insurance company and its PBM — who explain they 'own big chain pharmacies' too, ask 'Guess what else we're trying to buy?', answer 'your doctor's office,' and pocket cash with a shh.

No viewership numbers; the spot is the latest salvo in PhRMA's push for policymakers to 'rein in the middleman' and pass reforms on healthcare consolidation.

PhRMA, the US pharmaceutical industry's trade group, has long used a blue suit-wearing, red lollipop-holding man to smugly personify a money-hungry pharmacy benefit manager. In summer 2024 it added a brown suit-wearing twin — played by the same actor — to represent insurance companies conspiring with PBMs, in an ad explaining them as 'different suits, same company.'

The new 15-second spot takes the pair to a pharmacy counter. A woman picking up a prescription finds the pharmacist flanked by the two identical men, who explain that they 'own big chain pharmacies' as well. 'Guess what else we're trying to buy?' the blue-suited PBM asks, before his brown-suited companion excitedly answers 'your doctor's office' and snatches the prescription. 'When middlemen own it all, you pay the price,' the text reads, as Brown Suit shushes the camera and pockets part of a stash of cash.

The ad extends PhRMA's long push to get policymakers to 'rein in the middleman' and pass reforms. It arrived amid renewed scrutiny of healthcare consolidation, including a Stat News report that UnitedHealth had picked up ownership in more than 100 surgical centers in 2024, after the topic surfaced in a House committee hearing.

Vertical consolidation — one company owning insurer, PBM and pharmacy — made the single PBM mascot insufficient for the story.

Casting one actor as both twins makes 'different suits, same company' the joke and the argument at once.

Setting the scene at a pharmacy counter turns PBM economics into something any patient can picture.

The tagline doubles as the policy ask, keeping the campaign pointed at lawmakers rather than just consumers.

A recurring villain character keeps a policy fight alive: add one more twin and an abstract supply chain becomes visible at a pharmacy counter

The spot joined PhRMA's continuing 'rein in the middleman' campaign for PBM and consolidation reforms; no broadcast metrics were published in the material.