The 60-second spot, which is scheduled to air during the third quarter of the game, depicts people eating unhealthy foods, with Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” as the soundtrack.
A narrator says, “Welcome to weight loss in America—a $160 billion industry that feeds on our failure. There are medications that work—but they are priced for profits, not patients.” Hims & Hers goes on to point out that 74% of U.S. citizens are overweight and more than 500,000 die from causes related to obesity each year.
The ad does point out that compounded drug products are not evaluated by the FDA, which is relevant, as the regulator permits pharmacies to make compounded or altered versions of drugs that are in short supply, as long as they meet specific regulatory requirements, Quartz reported.
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, diabetes and weight-loss treatments from Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers began offering compounded semaglutide injections in May for $199 per month, compared with almost $1,000 for Ozempic and $1,349 for Wegovy.
“It’s clear that the ad has struck a chord, and people are paying attention,” a spokesperson from Hims & Hers told ADWEEK via email. “We’ve called out the system, and now the system is asking that our ad get taken down.”
According to Quartz, advocacy group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, another company that offers weight-loss medications, is a member of the PSM.
Those two companies are boosting production of their GLP-1 medications, which mimic gut hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite, Quartz reported. They’ve also filed petitions with the FDA to add those medications to its list of drugs deemed too complex to compound safely.
According to television data and analytics firm EDO, four of the top 10 pharmaceutical advertisers during regular-season National Football League games were touting diabetes and weight management drugs.


