Lilly buys Oscars airtime to say Mounjaro and Zepbound aren't for vanity
The spots are the clearest public statement yet that Lilly's tirzepatide drugs are for patients with a diagnosed condition, while off-label demand has driven shortages.
Eli Lilly bought airtime on Oscar night to make an argument to a mass audience: its weight-loss medicines are meant for people with a diagnosed condition, not for fitting into formal wear. Two short films from the company's Get Better campaign ran on March 10, the night of the 96th Academy Awards — one during E!'s red-carpet coverage, one inside the broadcast itself [1][2].
The 30-second spot, "Big Night," opened on the glamour that has surrounded these drugs. A voiceover says some people have used a medicine "never meant for them for a smaller dress or tux," calls vanity beside the point, and closes on the line "It matters who gets them." [1][2] The footage moves from a sequined gown and an empty auditorium to an ordinary woman riding the subway [2].
The 60-second film, "Shame," ran during the ceremony and follows a woman through a black-and-white world in which relatives and strangers judge her body [1]. The narrator describes shame that "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]. The voiceover ends: "Health is not about what weight we lose. It's about all the things the body can gain." A closing card reads, "Obesity is a matter of health. Shame has no place in it." [1]
"These new 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," Jennifer Oleksiw, Lilly's global chief customer officer, said in a statement [1].
The commercials came months after Lilly 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]. Both drugs contain tirzepatide. Mounjaro is cleared for type 2 diabetes; Zepbound won Food and Drug Administration approval for obesity in early November [1].
Sales have grown quickly. Lilly's latest quarterly report put Mounjaro revenue above $2.2 billion, compared with $279 million a year earlier, while Zepbound brought in almost $176 million in its first quarter on the market [1].
The spots landed during Obesity Care Week, and Lilly used them to point at supply problems it ties to demand outside approved uses: people who were prescribed the drugs, or who qualify for them, have run into shortages over the past year or so [1]. Rival Novo Nordisk has taken a different route to the same audience, releasing a documentary called "Thick Skin" on the Sundance channel in September and working with actress Queen Latifah on an initiative to reduce obesity stigma [1]. Novo's fourth-quarter sales of diabetes and obesity products rose 42 percent, with GLP-1 diabetes sales up 52 percent and obesity care sales up 154 percent, and its parent company paid $16.5 billion for contract manufacturer Catalent to add capacity [1]. A year before Lilly's ads, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked on the broadcast, "when I look around this room, I can't help but wonder, 'Is Ozempic right for me?'" [2]
Why it matters for patients
The two commercials put a drugmaker on record about who its products are for. Mounjaro's label covers type 2 diabetes and Zepbound's covers obesity [1], and cosmetic use falls outside both. Shortages tied to that off-label demand had already affected patients who need the drugs for a diagnosed condition [1].
Lilly also used the platform to say obesity should be treated as a health condition rather than an appearance problem, a framing that touches how patients are seen by family, employers, insurers and clinicians [1]. Whether the ads changed any of that has not been reported, and the company has not disclosed what it paid for the airtime or how many people saw the films. It is also not yet known whether the campaign shifted prescribing, demand or supply.
What happens next
No further phases of the Get Better campaign and no timeline for ending the GLP-1 shortages have been announced [1]. Novo's $16.5 billion purchase of Catalent is aimed at expanding manufacturing capacity, but no production or completion date is given [1].
Sources
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