Super Bowl LX draws four weight-loss drug advertisers as 30-second spots top $10 million

Four companies that sell weight-loss treatment bought airtime during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, in a game advertising observers have called the GLP-1 Super Bowl ^[1][5]. Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Ro and Hims & Hers all ran commercials, and 30-second spots cost as much as $10 million ^[1], surpassing that level for the first time ^[3].

Novo Nordisk used a 90-second in-game ad to tell viewers that Wegovy is now available as a pill, with comedian Kenan Thompson and music producer DJ Khaled among the celebrities ^[1]. Adweek also listed Danielle Brooks, Ana Gasteyer, John C. Reilly and Danny Trejo in the spot ^[2]. It was Novo's first Super Bowl advertisement ^[2]. The Wegovy pill contains the same active ingredient, semaglutide, as injectable Wegovy and Ozempic ^[1]. It was approved by the FDA in December and costs an average of $149 a month ^[2], and it is listed at a starter price of $149 on Novo's cash-pay direct-to-consumer website ^[1]. Reuters reported the pill has seen strong early U.S. demand ^[1].

Eli Lilly advertised Zepbound during NBC's pre-game show and during the game on its Peacock streaming service, a spokeswoman said ^[1]. The iSpot ad catalog lists a Zepbound "Watch This" spot tied to Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium and published Feb. 2 ^[6]. Lilly's oral weight-loss offering is expected to be approved in April ^[1].

Ro ran its first Super Bowl ad, a 30-second spot featuring tennis player Serena Williams, whom Ro named a brand ambassador last August ^[1][2][3]. Ro sells GLP-1 medications including Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound ^[2]. Co-founder and chief product officer Saman Rahmanian said Ro enlisted Williams to "dispel the myth that taking weight loss medications is cheating" ^[2].

Hims & Hers returned for a second year with a fourth-quarter commercial narrated by the rapper Common and built around the line "Rich people live longer" ^[1][2]. The ad did not mention the GLP-1 drugs the company sells, a change from last year's spot, which centered on compounded GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and drew a backlash ^[2]. On Saturday, Hims reversed course on a Thursday launch of a compounded GLP-1 pill based on semaglutide at a starting price of $49 after threats of legal challenges from Novo and the FDA ^[1]. Novo said it would take legal action against the compound provider ^[2].

The airtime prices varied by network and placement. Thirty-second spots cost up to $10 million, according to Adweek ^[1], and the price went above $10 million for the first time, according to news reports ^[3]. Peter Lazarus, executive vice president of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, said spots averaged $8 million for 30 seconds, with some exceeding $10 million, a record ^[5]. Adweek reported each brand spent upwards of $10 million on 30- and 60-second commercials ^[2]. Nielsen projections put the audience at around 130 million viewers ^[1]; Adweek put the figure at 140 million ^[2], and another account said more than 120 million ^[5]. A record 127.7 million U.S. viewers watched the 2025 game across TV and streaming ^[5].

Spending by this category has become significant to pharmaceutical advertising overall: Sean Wright of media intelligence firm Guideline AI said pharma ad spending last year was propped up by the weight-loss category and could have fallen by as much as 5% without GLP-1 ads ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

The commercials put the pill forms of these drugs in front of one of the year's largest audiences. Novo's ad was built around the argument that people should not feel embarrassed about taking Wegovy ^[2], and Novo marketing senior vice president Edward Cinca said the goal was to generate as much awareness for the pill as possible ^[2]. Northwestern marketing professor Tim Calkins said of the slate, "You could call this the GLP-1 Super Bowl" ^[5].

Price is part of the pitch. The Wegovy pill is listed at a $149 starter price on Novo's cash-pay website ^[1], and Adweek reported an average of $149 a month ^[2]. Adweek, citing Grand View Research, reported that 12% of American adults now use a GLP-1 and that U.S. patients spent $40 billion on appetite-suppressing drugs in 2024, a figure projected to triple by 2030 ^[2].

The advertising also sits alongside legal and regulatory friction over compounded versions. Hims & Hers pulled back its $49 compounded semaglutide pill two days after announcing it, after Novo and the FDA threatened legal challenges ^[1]; Novo said it will sue ^[2]. Whether the ads changed what patients ask for or what clinicians prescribe has not been reported.

What happens next

Lilly's oral weight-loss drug is expected to be approved in April ^[1]. Novo has said it will take legal action over Hims & Hers' compounded product, but no filing date or further detail has been disclosed ^[1][2].