Drugmaker shames stars’ obsession with Ozempic

Eli Lilly ads target misuse of drugs

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is finally weighing in on Hollywood’s obsession with Ozempic.

In a commercial spot released Thursday, the company criticizes people who prescribe or take weight loss drugs without an obesity diagnosis. The ad hits the airwaves days before the 96th Academy Awards, an epic Hollywood gathering where people tend to be laserfocused on celebrities and their bodies.

Eli Lilly is the company behind tirzepatide, sold under the brand name Zepbound, which was approved in November to treat people with obesity. Most people recognize the competing drug semaglutide by its brand name, Ozempic, which is made for patients with diabetes and manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The company also sells the medication at a higher dose, under the name Wegovy, to treat obesity.

James Zervios, vice president and chief of staff for the Obesity Action Coalition, applauded the drugmaker for speaking up about misuse of the drug, but he said the spot doesn’t address the glaring challenge average Americans with obesity face in accessing the expensive drugs.

Eli Lilly also released a second ad, in black and white, on Thursday that touched on the stigma of weight as part of a campaign to connect with patients, company CEO Dave Ricks said.

“We understand the people who need these medicines, and this is why we made them,” he said to USA TODAY. “Let’s get serious about what these medicines are for.”

To Ricks, this ad was advocating for patients who need the drug.

But others saw the commercial as a reappropriation of language used by fat activists and the body liberation movement to market a weight loss drug.

“It feels sneaky to me. It feels insidious,” said Tigress Osborn, executive director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. “I need more than one commercial to make me start trusting that Eli Lilly is genuinely interested in what’s best for me.”

‘Medicine never meant for them’

Eli Lilly’s new ad opens with a shot of a glittery gold dress and a man rolling out the red carpet.

“Some people have been using medicine never meant for them for the smaller dress or tux, for a big night,” a voiceover says. “But that’s not the point.”

The company’s message is clear: This new class of weight loss drugs is meant for patients diagnosed with obesity, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says affects about 42% of adults in the U.S.

The commercial doesn’t address that question, but patient advocates say there’s a much more glaring problem Lilly and other drug manufacturers aren’t addressing: Most Americans can’t afford the medication, priced at more than $1,000 for a month’s supply and covered by only a quarter of insurance companies. The drugs are also not covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

At that price point, many say, only the wealthy can afford them. Ricks’ solution is to push for coverage, but Zervios from the Obesity Action Coalition says pharmaceutical companies should make the medications more affordable.

“That’s an ask that we will continue to have until we get the price of these medications down,” he said. The coalition partners with and receives funding from both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

High demand has led to drug shortages, making weight loss medications like tirzepatide and semaglutide hard to find for the average patient. Ricks said in February that there was no quick solution to supply problems, but he expects they will ease over time.

“We understand the people who need these medicines, and this is why we made them. Let’s get serious about what these medicines are for.”

Dave Ricks Eli Lilly CEO

‘Motivation matters’

Though Ricks says the new ads are meant to address and reduce weight stigma, Osborn says they exacerbate it by using messaging that promotes body positivity for a drug that ultimately “shrinks” bodies with excess weight.

For decades, she said, organizations like NAAFA have spread awareness about the weight bias in medical offices and that’s deterred patients from seeking care, leading to worse health outcomes.

But now, “one of the main places of shaming” is using that rhetoric to push pharmaceutical and surgical interventions.

“That black and white commercial could have come from NAAFA right up to the point where you sell the drugs to people,” Osborn said.

The American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease in 2013, but many body positivity activists and organizations like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance argue excess weight by itself doesn’t cause health problems.

Eli Lilly is not the first drug company to play on messaging about body positivity, Osborn said; it’s actually playing catch-up. Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk created a digital series called “It’s Bigger Than Me” in which paid spokespeople share personal experiences with weight loss.

Osborn said, “I’d like to see anybody who sees (the Eli Lilly) commercial to go, ‘What is the motivation of this commercial?’ Because the motivation matters.”