These ads avoid the explicit "weight loss" pitches of the past, like the days of Jenny Craig. Many ads never even say the word "weight," it is simply implied. Instead, these brands frame GLP-1s as a route to better healthcare and medical well-being, positioning them as an easy step to "take charge of your health." While the message is polished, the subtext is the same: losing weight leads to confidence, health, and self-worth.
Close to one-in-six American adults is currently prescribed an antidepressant. A serotonin, or "chemical," imbalance hypothesis remains one of the key justifications for antidepressant use. But many are now rejecting the term chemical imbalance and embracing the the identity of having a mental health condition. They're also asking whether antidepressants resolve a chemical imbalance or risk creating one. I recently spoke to Joanna Moncrieff, author of Chemically Imbalanced, about avoiding neuro-reductionism and thinking about mental states in ways that aren't disempowering.
At the end of August, tennis star Serena Williams advertised a new weight-loss drug. The slogan, in Williams's voice, was: They say GLP-1a drug that mimics a hormone that regulates blood sugar, appetite, and slows digestionis a shortcut to weight loss, but it's not. It's science. Interestingly, Serena Williams's husband is an investor and member of the board of Ro, the healthcare company that offers it.
You see, until 1997, drug companies were required to include massive amounts of information about a drug's potential side effects and risks in any ads for it. The amount of information required could fit in, say, a full-page magazine ad - but it was far too much to squeeze into a 30- or 60-second TV spot. That meant pharmaceutical ads were, while not banned, almost unheard of on television.