Costco, Equinox and Hims use Ozempic advertising to market weight loss services

Booming sales for weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1, which first became popular through the diabetes treatment Ozempic, have had ripple effects throughout the global economy. As more companies try to adapt to — and profit from — the Ozempic craze, they’re taking distinct but familiar approaches to marketing the drug.

Unrelenting demand for Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy has led to constant absences and even increased Denmark’s GDP last year.

Eli Lilly, which makes similar drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, is now the largest pharmaceutical company in the world and tenth overall with a market cap of about $841 billion.

Food managers have apparently also called the heads of Novo Nordisk AND Eli Lilly for advice on the increasing use of appetite suppressants.

Morgan Stanley analysts predict that the global market for these drugs will reach $105 billion by 2030. The investment bank also expects GLP-1 approval to reach about 31.5 million people in the United States, about 9% of the population. of the country, until 2035.

With so much money involved, it seems like everyone is trying to cash in on Ozempic related ads.

Ozempic bandwagon with many faces

Companies are using a variety of strategies to advertise GLP-1 and related services.

In January, Upscale gym chain Equinox began educating their high-level trainers on how to train clients on these medications in terms of exercise and nutrition in what they call “The GLP-1 protocol.”

On its website, Equinox stated that its GLP-1 guide covers “drug background, risk efficacy, relapse management, fat loss programming for exercise, and habit development.”

In April, Costco, the membership warehouse club known for it $1.50 hot dogs, began offering prescriptions to members to these drugs through its telehealth partner Sesame. His tag is “Lose weight today. The affordable way.“

Recently, the telehealth platform distorted by thousands of years Hims & Hers began selling official and composite versions of these medications. Its marketing is more focused on health with messages such as:Mind and body on the same team.”

Emma Laing, a clinical professor and director of dietetics at the University of Georgia, said that despite their differences, these selling points are reminiscent of how diets have been marketed in the past.

“Many of these marketing strategies are similar in that they appeal to the perceived value of thinness in the pursuit of health, happiness and quality of life,” Laing told Quartz.

Diet culture 2.0

Adrienne Bitar, author of “Diet and the Disease of Civilization” and a lecturer at Cornell University, said companies that offer weight loss services target their messages depending on the demographic they are serving.

For example, while looking at the website Hims & Hers, which is aimed at a younger audience, Bitar said she was reminded of one of the first diet books ever published – William Banting’s Letter on Obesity from 1964.

“It’s very compassionate. It’s like ‘Have you tried everything? Nothing works for you? Willpower is not the answer. We’re here to support you on your weight loss journey,” Bitar said. “I think that’s a demographic that’s more receptive to that kind of language.”

Bitar added that the way diets and weight loss programs are advertised often “reflect the larger concerns of the time.” For example, the detox diets that first appeared in the 1970s represented “a real concern with the environment, environmental degradation.”

Bitar is now seeing a shift in these programs emphasizing physical strength, wellness and mental health.

“It’s this kind of euphemism that being fit and muscular and strong means being empowered,” Bitar said.

The emergence of risks

Laing admits that the increase in GLP-1 reflects how weight loss is more complex than willpower and actually depends on “environmental, genetic and social influences.”

However, she is concerned that companies may be overlooking the short-term and long-term risks of these drugs. According to Laing, if patients receiving GLP-1 treatments limit their consumption of a variety of foods, they may be at a higher risk of malnutrition, compromised immune systems and loss of muscle mass.

There may also be mental health risks such as depression or disordered eating.

“At the forefront of marketing GLP-1-related services should be consultation with your primary health care provider to assess your medical history, potential for food and drug interactions, and careful management of any side effects,” Laing said. .

She also recommends that patients taking GLP-1 drugs should be referred to a registered dietitian who can serve as an additional layer of surveillance of users’ health.