NYU Langone Health aired a commercial showcasing its doctors during the Super Bowl. A North Carolina congressman wondered if it was a waste of money.
The 30-second television advertisement showed star doctors from a top-notch Manhattan hospital clumsily playing football. From the sidelines, a former standout player for the Giants suggested they should stick to medicine.
The ad promoting NYU Langone Health probably did not rank among this year’s most memorable Super Bowl commercials. But it sure bothered one viewer: a North Carolina congressman.
The lawmaker promptly sent NYU Langone’s chief executive a stern letter, noting that the hospital benefits from federal funds.
“I write today with questions about your stewardship of this money, including our serious concern about your decision to purchase a 30-second advertisement — estimated to cost $8 million — during Super Bowl LIX,” the congressman, Representative Greg Murphy, a Republican, wrote on Feb. 11.
The letter contained a list of pointed questions about NYU Langone’s finances. It is the sort of missive that congressional offices routinely write to gather information for lawmaking or hearings.
NYU Langone is hardly the only New York hospital to spend money on a national advertising campaign, although a Super Bowl ad is unusual. Those commercials speak to the intense competition among the country’s elite medical centers. The congressman’s reaction illustrates that with the promise of being in the spotlight comes peril.
