McCollum Ad Spoofing Rick Scott Goes Viral

Florida gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum’s campaign has launched a hilarious new Web TV ad video attacking his Republican primary opponent Rick Scott — and it’s drawing heavy traffic on YouTube as it goes viral.

The video imposes Scott’s face over the face of singer Rick Astley as Astley sings his 1980s hit “Never Gonna Give You Up,” reminding viewers of the healthcare fraud Scott’s company was involved in dating back to the 1980s.

The video begins with words on the screen: “From 1987 to 1997 . . . the United States was ‘Rick-rolled’ in the largest act of taxpayer theft in history. Rick Scott’s company defrauded Medicare, and he walked away with $310 million of your tax dollars. And now he wants to be your next governor.”

The YouTube video, which has drawn nearly 15,000 views, then launches into Astley singing his song with Scott’s face superimposed.

“Rick-rolled,” according to the Urban Dictionary, originally meant to be tricked into clicking a link that takes someone on the Web to Astley’s video, and has come to refer to any sort of deception or trick.

Scott's activities at Columbia/HCA, the hospital chain he founded, were more than a "trick." Scott resigned as the CEO of the company after the FBI began a criminal probe of its billing practices. Columbia/HCA was later charged with bilking taxpayers in the largest Medicare fraud in history, and was slammed with a record $1.7 billion fine.

Scott was never personally charged and today says he knew nothing about the widespread fraud taking place at his company.

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