When it resumed advertisements of Wegovy on U.S. TVs earlier this year, Novo Nordisk focused largely on the more emotional effects of the weight loss drug, concluding its first new ad in months with, “It’s not just about the weight you lose, it’s about everything you gain.”
Now, however, the Big Pharma has put the spotlight back on Wegovy’s physical effects. A new campaign that launched Monday features several actor-portrayed patients touting their weight loss and other physical results of a Wegovy regimen, backed up by data from clinical trials.
The 90-second commercial places those patients across several settings: at a salon, in a record store, in an outdoor painting class and at home. As a triumphant-sounding song plays in the background—with lyrics like, “Look out, ‘cause here I come, and I’m marching on to the beat I drum”—they share their Wegovy results.
One man says that he lost 35 pounds and that others have lost even more, as a graphic on screen notes that clinical results show an average weight loss of 15%, while about a third of patients experience a 20% weight loss. The woman at the painting class, meanwhile, proclaims that she’s “keeping the weight off,” though fine print at the bottom of the ad discloses that “people who stopped taking Wegovy generally regained weight.”
Elsewhere, a man who’s working on a car in his driveway looks up to share that he’s “reducing [his] risk,” as more text appears on screen to describe how the drug can help lower the risk of major cardiovascular events, including death, heart attack and stroke, in patients with known heart disease.
As a voice-over reads out the standard safety warning and list of side effects, each of the patients drops what they’re doing to join a mass of people parading through the streets. They take turns reiterating their reported benefits—losing weight, keeping it off and lowering CV risk—before the camera zooms out to a bird’s-eye view showing that the marching group is now arranged to spell out “we,” as they shout, “That’s the power of we.”
According to a Novo announcement unveiling the campaign, the “Power of Wegovy” initiative has a dual-pronged aim: to both inform potential patients about Wegovy’s clinical data and to highlight the “collective empowerment” that may come from seeking help for weight management.
“Diverse representation in health care campaigns can play a significant role in patients feeling seen, heard and understood, especially in a stigmatized space like obesity, which we’ve been engaged in for more than two decades,” Tejal Vishalpura, Novo’s senior vice president of commercial strategy and marketing, said in the announcement.
“The Power of Wegovy is committed to representing a cross section of unique perspectives at this cultural inflection point in society, especially when the connection between obesity, cardiovascular risk, and the importance of patient-centered care is so much a part of the public discourse,” Vishalpura added.
Novo only returned its Wegovy promos to U.S. airwaves in January after hitting the brakes in May 2023 in an attempt to slow down demand. The pause came as skyrocketing demand massively outstripped the supply of the drug, leading shortages that still persist to some level.
As Novo noted in Monday’s announcement, the company continues to significantly ramp up its manufacturing capabilities and is “working hard to ensure access is aligned” with the drug’s approved indications; Wegovy’s label was recently updated with a first-of-its-kind FDA nod for use in reducing the risk of CV events in adults with cardiovascular disease who have obesity or are overweight.
“It’s important to recognize that overall demand will continue to exceed supply which means that some patients may still have difficulty filling Wegovy prescriptions,” the company said. “We will continue to closely monitor market dynamics and prescribing trends.”
Meanwhile, seemingly to stave off complaints about the drug’s cost, Novo is urging patients in its announcement and in the campaign materials themselves to “check your cost and coverage” on the Wegovy website before speaking to a doctor about a possible prescription. Without insurance, a monthly supply of the medication clocks in at more than $1,300, but, according to its maker, “More than 80% of people with commercial insurance coverage using the Wegovy savings offer pay $25 or less per month.”