Lilly runs "Never Over" during the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

Eli Lilly began running a short film called "Never Over" during broadcasts of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, less than a week into the two-week event ^[1]. The one-minute spot, made with ad agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland, uses a narrator styled after 1950s newsreels to compare an athlete's training to the scientific method, moving through steps like "observe," "question," "hypothesize," "experiment" and "test" before urging viewers to start the process over again ^[1]. It ends with white text on a red background reading "Health is never over" ^[1].

The ad does not mention any specific medicine, including Lilly's diabetes and weight-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, both tirzepatide. Instead, Lilly's chief marketing officer Lina Polimeni said the film is meant to compare the decades of research behind Lilly's medicines to the years an Olympic athlete spends training for a shot at competing in the Games ^[1]. "What matters is not actually getting to the podium, it's how you get there," she said ^[1].

The Olympic push follows other recent Lilly ad placements, including a spot in the pregame program for Super Bowl LX and a unit that ran during the Peacock streaming broadcast ^[1]. Lilly also released a separate commercial featuring some of its sponsored Team USA athletes to promote Kisunla, its Alzheimer's drug, a message distinct from the corporate-brand focus of "Never Over" ^[1].

Beyond television, Lilly is supporting the "Never Over" campaign with out-of-home advertising in Italy and the United States, including a large display at the Oculus transit hub in New York and a walk-through experience meant to simulate an athlete's path to the Games ^[1]. Lilly has been an official partner of Team USA since the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and is also a partner of Team Italy, which led the company to run an Italian-language version of the ad on broadcasts there along with transportation and on-site activations ^[1]. Polimeni, who was born and raised in Italy, said the campaign marks the first time she can share a piece of her work with her parents in a language they understand ^[1]. As of the report, with the Games nearing their halfway point, Lilly had teased additional activations planned through the closing ceremony, though specifics were not detailed ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

This campaign is corporate brand advertising, not a promotion for a specific drug, dose, or price. It does not describe how Zepbound, Mounjaro, or any other Lilly product works, what they cost, or who qualifies for them, so it offers patients no new clinical or coverage information. What the ad does signal is how much money and attention Lilly is putting into shaping public perception of itself as a science-driven company at a moment when its GLP-1 drugs face heavy demand, competition, and scrutiny. Patients weighing these medicines may see more of this kind of messaging in mainstream, non-medical settings like sports broadcasts, and it is worth remembering that a brand-image ad is different from information about a specific drug's benefits, risks, or cost ^[1].

What happens next

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics were roughly at their halfway point when this report was published, and Lilly said it planned additional marketing activations through the closing ceremony, though the source does not specify dates or describe what those activations will include ^[1].