Humans are drawn like magnets to the quick fix when comes to their weight, anxiety, energy levels…business is booming in the US for unapproved drugs that don’t require a prescription and Eli Lilly is determined to call them out.
The company began its assault a year ago, publishing an open letter to clarify that its drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, “are indicated for the treatment of serious diseases”…
…and then ran a biting ad, Big Night, around the 2024 Academy Awards that criticised people who use weight-loss drugs for vanity:
The pharmaceutical brand (of approved drugs) has been on the attack again since Hims & Hers took its compounded weight loss drug to the huge stage of the Super Bowl. Now Eli Lilly is taking its message to the 2025 Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night that highlights quick fix drug taking.
The 30-second commercial, Healthy Skepticism, warns against the use of counterfeit or compounded drugs, that are not subject to FDA oversight the same way as branded prescription drugs.
The full campaign includes full-page print ads placed in national publications during Oscars week and the one following – Friday February 28’s issue of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on Oscars Sunday, March 2. Additional ads will run in Hollywood-adjacent outlets next week, including The Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter and People magazine.
