Weight Loss Hype for the Super Bowl – Caution Forgotten

A telehealth business has a slick, defiant commercial for their compounded weight loss medication ready to run during the Super Bowl tomorrow. More than a few doctors are definitely not amused. They are not the only ones. Two senators have written to the acting head of the FDA to say that caution and fair balance are lacking in this ad. Republican Senator Roger Marshall and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin wrote:

“Nowhere in this promotion is there any side effect disclosure, risk, or safety information as would be typically required in a pharmaceutical advertisement.”

They have a point. The fact that these medicines have undergone no review for safety and effectiveness is buried in unreadable, almost microscopic type. It disappears before anyone could ever get out a magnifying glass to read it.

But it’s likely that the company behind these ads doesn’t really care. The whole point here is to provoke the reaction they are getting. Notoriety and attention is likely the goal of this company.

Welcome to the attention economy. This is where attention is our most endangered resource. Politicians and businesses exploit it mercilessly.

Promoting Stigma

Perhaps the most damaging feature of this advertising is its use of stigmatizing imagery. Obesity Society President Marc-Andre Cornier points to “images of large headless abdomens which does create a visceral negative response by the viewer.”

We can hear a cynical advertising person thinking, “yeah, but it sure does grab attention.”

Glaring Hypocrisy

Once we get past caution thrown to the wind and the promotion of stigma, the advertising leaves us with one more lingering problem. Glaring hypocrisy. The defiant tone of the ad decries a sick system that exploits people who are vulnerable to obesity. It complains about “a $160 billion industry that feeds on our failure.” But this weight loss advertising for the Super Bowl is all about getting a piece of the action it pretends to criticize.

Not since Virginia Slims ads told women “you’ve come a long way baby” have we seen such glaring hypocrisy.

Look away. This is a train wreck.

Click here for more about this controversy and here if you can’t help yourself from watching this stupid commercial.

American Football, photograph by AleXXw, licensed under CC BY-SA AT 3.0

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February 8, 2025