Lilly runs "Big Night" and "Shame" on Oscar night

Eli Lilly used the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024, to tell viewers that its GLP-1 medicines are not meant for cosmetic weight loss. The company announced two short films, "Big Night" and "Shame," with "Shame" running during the Oscars broadcast and "Big Night" airing on E!'s "Live from the E! Red Carpet" ^[1].

The 30-second "Big Night" spot is blunt about its target. "Some people have been using medicine never meant for them, for the smaller dress or tux, for a big night, for vanity. But that's not the point. People whose health is affected by obesity are the reason we work on these medications. It matters who gets them," the ad says ^[2]. The visuals move from a sequined dress and a red carpet to an everyday woman riding the subway, and it closes on a title card reading, "It matters who gets them" ^[1][2].

The 60-second "Shame" ad follows a woman through a black-and-white world as she absorbs dismissive looks from family and strangers. The narrator says shame "showed up when I was young and stayed like a shadow, living in glances of people I loved, and ones I didn't even know" ^[2]. It ends with the line, "Health is not about what weight we lose. It's about all the things the body can gain," and a card stating, "Obesity is a matter of health. Shame has no place in it" ^[1][2].

The business backdrop

Lilly's two GLP-1 products are Mounjaro, approved for type 2 diabetes, and Zepbound, approved for obesity. Both contain tirzepatide ^[2]. In Lilly's most recent quarterly report at the time, Mounjaro revenue topped $2.2 billion, up from $279 million a year earlier, while Zepbound, cleared by the FDA in early November 2023, generated nearly $176 million in its first quarter on the market ^[1].

Demand has outstripped supply. Like Novo Nordisk's semaglutide products Ozempic and Wegovy, Lilly's drugs drew heavy off-label interest for weight loss, and patients who were prescribed them faced shortages over roughly the prior year ^[1]. Lilly timed the ads to Obesity Care Week and framed them around both the scarcity problem and the stigma attached to taking the drugs ^[1].

The ads were not Lilly's first move on this theme. At the start of 2024, the company published an open letter saying Mounjaro and Zepbound "are indicated for the treatment of serious diseases" and "are not approved for—and should not be used for—cosmetic weight loss" ^[2]. Jennifer Oleksiw, Lilly's global chief customer officer, said the films "showcase our point of view around obesity—emphasizing our commitment to patients by highlighting the seriousness of this disease and the appropriate use of anti-obesity medicines" ^[1].

Novo Nordisk has run its own stigma campaigns, including the "Thick Skin" documentary that aired on the Sundance channel in September and an Inclusive Obesity Care Initiative with agency FleishmanHillard and actress Queen Latifah ^[1]. Novo reported fourth-quarter diabetes and obesity care sales up 42%, with GLP-1 diabetes sales up 52% and obesity care sales up 154% ^[1]. Its parent company bought contract manufacturer Catalent for $16.5 billion to expand manufacturing ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

For people who take or are considering these drugs, the ads are a signal about supply and about how the manufacturer frames who the medicines are for. Lilly explicitly linked shortages to what it called rampant misuse, and argued that prescribing for appearance competes with prescribing for a diagnosed health condition ^[1].

The second message is about stigma. Both ads argue that obesity is a health condition rather than a personal failing, and that shame has no place in its treatment ^[1][2]. That framing can matter in conversations with clinicians, employers and insurers, though the sources do not report any change in coverage, pricing or availability tied to the campaign.

It is worth noting what these ads are not. They are brand-adjacent corporate messaging under Lilly's "Get Better" campaign, which Oleksiw said is meant to show "who we are — a medicine company that turns science into healing" ^[1]. They do not carry new clinical data, and the sources do not say whether the campaign changed prescribing patterns or shortage levels.

Context

The Oscars connection is not accidental. A year earlier, host Jimmy Kimmel joked from the stage, "When I look around this room, I can't help but wonder, 'Is Ozempic right for me?'" ^[2]. Lilly's 2024 spots answered that cultural moment directly, with a drugmaker telling a celebrity audience that its products were not made for them ^[2].