Hims & Hers Super Bowl ad for compounded GLP-1s draws a 650% traffic spike and pushback

Hims & Hers aired a 60-second Super Bowl ad on Feb. 9 promoting its weight-loss offerings, including compounded GLP-1 medications, and the company says traffic to its site rose more than 650% in the hours after it ran ^[1]. The spot, called "Sick of the System," aired in the third quarter of Super Bowl LIX, which FOX Sports says drew 127.7 million viewers, the most-watched Super Bowl on record ^[1].

Hims & Hers said new customer registrations and platform activity reached record highs ^[1]. The Hers app climbed to No. 2 in the Health & Wellness category on the Apple App Store; it had not been in the top 10 before the game, a company spokesperson said ^[1]. EDO Inc., which measures viewer responses to TV advertising, ranked the ad fifth in engagement among all spots that aired during the game ^[1]. Hims & Hers shares gained 10% that week and were up 83% so far that year, Fierce Healthcare reported ^[1].

The ad pitched compounded GLP-1 medications against branded products such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which contain the molecule semaglutide ^[1]. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, so they do not carry standardized FDA labeling, including side-effect warnings, boxed warnings or risk evaluation and mitigation strategies that apply to approved drugs, though they remain subject to state pharmacy board oversight and USP compounding standards ^[1]. The disclaimer that the compounded medications are not FDA-approved appeared briefly and in very small type, according to Fierce Healthcare ^[1]. Hims & Hers says it discloses that compounded medications are not FDA-approved or evaluated for safety, efficacy or quality ^[1].

Prices are reported differently in the two accounts. Fierce Healthcare reported compounded GLP-1 medications at $165 a month on subscription, with Hims & Hers subscriptions for Wegovy and Ozempic starting around $1,800 a month ^[1]. ADWEEK reported compounded semaglutide injections at $199 a month, compared with almost $1,000 for Ozempic and $1,349 for Wegovy ^[3].

Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, placed a print ad in The New York Times and USA Today on Monday, Feb. 10, called "Check Before You Inject," which the company described as a direct response to the Hims & Hers spot ^[1]. "Some compounded semaglutide vials have been found to contain dangerous impurities, banned substances, or incorrect doses," the Novo ad says ^[1]. On Feb. 7, The Obesity Society said the ad "will mislead viewers by excluding any information about the overall risks and side effects of compounded drugs" ^[1]. The trade group PhRMA said the ad violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ^[1]. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) sent a bipartisan letter to the FDA accusing the company of omitting safety information ^[1][3]. The Partnership for Safe Medicines asked the FDA to enforce prescription drug advertising rules and asked Fox not to run the spot ^[3]. The Alliance of Pharmacy Compounding backed the ad, saying it does not promote a specific drug and falls under FTC rather than FDA advertising rules ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Compounded semaglutide uses the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy but has not gone through FDA review for safety, effectiveness and quality, the agency warned in June 2023 ^[1]. The FDA said in January that patients should not use a compounded GLP-1 drug when an approved drug like Wegovy is available ^[1]. The agency says compounders may be able to prepare a compounded version of a drug that is in shortage if they meet certain requirements ^[1].

The ad also drew attention to who does the prescribing. In a survey of 2,000 primary care physicians by Sermo, released by the digital health company Omada Health, 67% said getting a GLP-1 prescription for weight loss through a third-party telehealth provider may put their patients' health at risk ^[1]. The sources do not describe how the survey sample was drawn.

People comparing options see a wide price gap between compounded products and brand-name drugs ^[1][3]. The FDA's position on compounded versions is one factor that could change what telehealth companies are able to offer.

What happens next

Durbin and Marshall said they plan to introduce legislation to close gaps in federal rules on prescription drug advertising ^[1]. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have filed petitions with the FDA to add their GLP-1 medications to the list of drugs considered too complex to compound safely ^[3]. Whether the FDA will act on the letters from the Partnership for Safe Medicines or the senators has not been reported ^[1][3].