SNL airs "Ozempic for Ramadan"

"Saturday Night Live" aired a sketch on March 30, 2024, called "Ozempic for Ramadan," a fake commercial hosted by guest star Ramy Youssef that pitched a pork-free semaglutide injection marketed as "100% halal food" for Muslims observing the Ramadan fast.^[1][2] The parody used real Novo Nordisk branding on its fake packaging, and the tagline at the end read, "Yeah, it's just Ozempic."^[2]

In the sketch, Youssef plays a father who says fasting used to be hard until he found the product. "I used to rush to eat a whole meal before dawn. But now, I just grab my prayer beads and my Ozempic needle," he says, adding that injecting before sunrise makes it halal.^[1] Other cast members joined in: Ego Nwodim's character says the drug helps her skip lunch and get ahead at work, Kenan Thompson plays a halal cart vendor who no longer gets "hangry" smelling his own food, and Andrew Dismukes plays a convert to Islam who credits the product with helping him fast and get "a 27-inch waist."^[1][2]

A mock voiceover in the sketch lists side effects as "nausea, headaches, and going straight to Hell," while Youssef's character jokes that fasting the whole month with the drug's help might earn him "extra awards from God."^[1] The narrator also preempts criticism by saying anyone who calls the product "the exact same product rebranding for a burgeoning Muslim demographic" is being "Islamophobic," a line reporters flagged as the sketch's clearest wink at real-world marketing practices.^[1]

The sketch was not "SNL's" first joke about GLP-1 drugs. A year earlier, a mock Oscars broadcast bit claimed the awards show was sponsored by Ozempic, with a fake red-carpet reporter saying, "Ozempic: I guess everyone in Hollywood has diabetes!"^[2] That earlier joke referenced real off-label celebrity use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, a trend serious enough that Eli Lilly ran an actual ad during this year's awards season criticizing use of its GLP-1 drugs "for the smaller dress or tux, for a big night, for vanity," and urging that supply be preserved for patients with obesity or type 2 diabetes.^[2]

Why it matters for patients

The sketch is comedy, not medical information, and it does not describe how Ozempic (semaglutide) actually works or how Ramadan fasting rules apply to any medication.^[1][2] Sources here do not say whether real semaglutide products contain pork-derived ingredients or address any religious guidance on fasting and injectable medications; that is not covered in these sources. What the sketch does show is how deeply GLP-1 drugs have entered pop culture, following on from the Oscars joke a year earlier and a real pharma ad campaign about off-label use.^[2] For patients, the wider cultural noise around these drugs, jokes, ads, and celebrity chatter, can make it harder to separate humor from accurate information about an approved medication's use, side effects, or supply. Sources do not address supply constraints, shortages, or specific side effect rates for Ozempic; the sketch's "side effects" line is satire, not clinical information.^[1][2]

What happens next

The sources provided do not report any follow-up reaction from Novo Nordisk, religious organizations, or patient groups to the March 30, 2024 sketch, nor any planned rebroadcast or further "SNL" GLP-1 material beyond the prior year's Oscars-themed joke.^[1][2] It is not yet known from these sources whether the sketch prompted any formal response from Novo Nordisk about its branding appearing in the parody.