Zepbound ranked most effective pharma brand in 2025-26 NFL games, EDO says
Drugmakers are putting more ad money into NFL games, and the engagement numbers favor GLP-1 marketing, though the measure is not prescriptions or health outcomes.
Pharma commercials that ran during 2025-26 NFL regular season games were about 104% more effective than average pharma ads on prime-time broadcast and cable, according to the TV measurement firm EDO [1]. Eli Lilly's Zepbound, a tirzepatide medicine, was the most effective brand in that analysis [1].
EDO measures ad effectiveness as the likelihood that a commercial drives consumer engagement, counted per person and per second [1]. By that measure, a pharma ad would need to run 69 times on an average broadcast or cable prime-time program to generate the same total impact as a single average pharma ad during those regular season games, EDO said [1].
Zepbound ran one ad per week and finished 519% more effective than the average pharma advertiser [1]. A 60-second Zepbound spot that accounted for half of the brand's airings was the season's most effective individual commercial, at 439% above the average pharma ad [1]. Lilly also ran 12 separate awareness or corporate ads, which came in 65% more effective than average and made Lilly Corporate the third most effective NFL brand advertiser [1]. One of those spots, 30 seconds long, featured actor Julianne Moore and the message "Brain Health Matters" [1].
The second most effective brand was the telehealth provider Ro, whose 12 ads were 246% more effective than average [1]. A 30-second Ro spot featuring Serena Williams and promoting GLP-1s was the season's fourth most effective individual commercial, 119% above average, and represented half of Ro's airings [1]. Ro planned to bring Williams back for the brand's Super Bowl debut [1].
Rounding out EDO's top five brand list: Amgen's Otezla, for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, at 18% more effective across 10 airings, and Novartis's Pluvicto at 11% more effective across 13 airings [1]. Top individual commercials also included a 60-second Dupixent ad from Sanofi and Regeneron aimed at eosinophilic esophagitis patients (seven airings, 307% more effective), a 30-second Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitor spot featuring Nick Jonas (five airings, 141% more effective), and a 60-second Johnson & Johnson Caplyta ad about bipolar depression (seven airings, 25% more effective) [1].
In total, 332 pharma ads ran during the 18-week season, a 13% increase from the previous season, or roughly 18 per week [1]. Pharma ads were also 9% more effective than they were the prior season [1]. Several drugmakers, including Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Ro, Hims & Hers and Boehringer Ingelheim, were buying ads in the upcoming Super Bowl, according to the report [1]. The report did not say which products those Super Bowl spots promote [1].
Why it matters for patients
Drugmakers are buying more NFL inventory, and EDO's numbers suggest those placements draw more engagement than a typical prime-time slot [1]. For people who take GLP-1 medications or are considering them, that likely means more commercial messages about these drugs during games, alongside ads from telehealth companies that prescribe them [1].
The effectiveness EDO measures is engagement — actions that follow a commercial — not prescriptions written, health outcomes, or how complete or accurate the ads are [1]. Whether any of these campaigns changed the number of people who started, switched or stopped a GLP-1 has not been reported.
It is also worth being precise about which drugs the rankings cover. Zepbound is tirzepatide, the same molecule as Mounjaro; it is not semaglutide, the molecule in Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus [1]. No semaglutide brand appears in EDO's brand or individual-commercial rankings [1]. Novo Nordisk, which sells semaglutide medicines, was listed among the companies buying Super Bowl time, but no semaglutide-specific ad performance figures were given [1].
What happens next
Ro's planned Super Bowl debut featuring Serena Williams was flagged as coming up [1]. EDO's regular-season measurement does not cover the Super Bowl, and whether those game-day ads perform anywhere near the regular-season numbers has not been reported [1]. It is also not yet known whether the NFL placements will shift spending away from other prime-time programming.
Sources
Semaglutides.org provides information only, not medical advice. Talk to a licensed provider about your own care before making changes. Some telehealth links are affiliate links and are labeled where they appear.