From TikTok to the Oscars: How marketing obesity drugs is no longer just the purview of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk

Obe­si­ty drugs have a brand­ing prob­lem.

Thanks to Tik­Tok, Hol­ly­wood gos­sip and ea­ger med­ical spas and clin­i­cians, few peo­ple both­er to dis­tin­guish the names and in­di­ca­tions of Eli Lil­ly and No­vo Nordisk’s block­buster GLP-1s.

“When I look around at this room I can’t help but won­der, ‘Is Ozem­pic right for me?’” Os­cars host Jim­my Kim­mel joked at last year’s cer­e­mo­ny, us­ing the brand name of No­vo’s type 2 di­a­betes treat­ment in ref­er­ence to weight loss.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.