Lilly builds a Mounjaro television campaign around Simone Biles

Eli Lilly has launched a television ad campaign for its type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro featuring Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and her mother, Nellie, as part of a broader marketing push tied to the Paris Olympics ^[1]. Simone Biles does not have type 2 diabetes, but her mother does, though Nellie does not take Mounjaro herself ^[1]. The ad uses the family connection to promote the once-weekly drug to a national television audience during an Olympic year ^[1].

The spot opens with a close-up of Simone Biles preparing for a gymnastics routine while Nellie says in voiceover, "my daughter works hard and so do people with type 2 diabetes" ^[1]. Nellie then asks whether people could "do diabetes differently" if their efforts alone were not enough ^[1]. A separate voiceover then explains the benefits and risks of Mounjaro over footage of Nellie, Simone's floor routine, and the crowd ^[1]. The ad closes with Simone Biles delivering the line, "you can do diabetes differently, with Mounjaro," while walking beside her mother ^[1].

The campaign is part of a larger deal Lilly struck with Team USA, which was extended last year to cover both the 2024 Paris Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Games ^[1]. Lilly named Biles and six other athletes to its Team USA roster ahead of the Paris Olympics, which began at the end of July 2024 ^[1].

The advertising push arrived even as Lilly faced supply constraints for Mounjaro. Anat Ashkenazi, the company's chief financial officer, told investors in April 2024 that sales growth would "primarily be a function of the quantities we can produce and ship" in the near term ^[1]. Patrik Jonsson, president of Lilly diabetes and obesity, offered a more optimistic view at an investor event in June 2024, saying the FDA had removed two Mounjaro doses from its drug shortage list and that "I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel" ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

High-profile celebrity advertising can raise public awareness of type 2 diabetes and the drugs used to treat it, but the timing here highlights a mismatch some patients may have experienced firsthand: the campaign launched while Mounjaro supply was still constrained ^[1]. That means patients seeing the ad and asking their doctor about the drug may have faced availability issues depending on their dose and location, even as the shortage situation was said to be improving for some doses ^[1].

The ad itself is required to include information on benefits and risks, which is standard for direct-to-consumer drug advertising in the United States, and viewers can look to that segment of the commercial for safety information beyond the celebrity endorsement ^[1]. The campaign also illustrates how large pharmaceutical companies use major cultural moments, like the Olympics, to reach broad audiences for prescription drugs, a practice that has made Lilly one of the biggest direct-to-consumer advertisers in the country ^[1].

What happens next

Lilly's partnership with Team USA is set to continue through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, meaning further Olympic-themed marketing for its diabetes and other drugs is expected in the years ahead ^[1]. Whether Mounjaro supply fully catches up with demand generated by advertising like the Biles campaign was not resolved as of the reporting in mid-2024, though company executives expressed optimism that shortages were easing ^[1].