Behind Hims & Hers’ weight loss drug campaign in the New York Times

Hims & Hers is taking a more serious approach to its latest campaign. The telehealth company, which is best known for its lighthearted sexual health and hair loss ads, has bought a series of print ads in the New York Times drawing attention to the obesity epidemic. Hims & Hers began selling weight loss drugs in 2023. See all of Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 honorees here The full-page ads will run in the Times’ news section every Sunday through the end of the year. While discussions around weight loss drugs often focus on availability and pricing, Hims & Hers centered its messaging on the personal impact of obesity. Its latest ad compares extreme obesity to lifelong smoking, stating that both shorten life expectancy by up to 14 years, which aligns with scientific research. The first ad ran on Oct. 6. Also read: Hims & Hers enters weight loss conversation The ads are created weekly, in-house, so that the brand can stay up to date with research and regulatory developments, according to Dan Kenger, chief design officer at Hims & Hers. This was evident with its Oct. 13 ad, which responded to a Food and Drug Administration announcmenet related to weight loss drug regulations just a couple of weeks earlier. Hims & Hers saw its stock price dropped earlier this month after the Food and Drug Administration announced that Eli Lilly had produced enough of its weight loss and diabetes drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro to remove them from a shortage list—effectively barring the commercial production of knockoff drugs. Even though Hims & Hers argued that it wouldn’t be affected by this ruling because it produces a different kind of GLP-1 medicine, its stock dropped nonetheless. It used its Oct. 13 ad to plug its compounded GLP-1 treatments as necessary, saying a shortage of name-brand drugs still existed. Hims & Hers sells brand-name weight loss drugs marketed under the Wegovy and Ozempic monikers. It also markets so-called compounded semaglutide, which it describes as a “GLP-1 injection with the same active ingredient as Wegovy and Ozempic.” Its stock price later recovered when the FDA announced it would reconsider its decision to remove Eli Lily’s drug from its official shortage list. Doctors have partially attributed the shortage to misuse of weight loss drugs thanks to their ease of access through telehealth and online platforms. Going forward, Kenger said Hims & Hers wants to simplify its messaging by focusing on the health ramifications of obesity as much as possible. “We thought it was our responsibility to help people understand the decisions the FDA was making and how abrupt they were,” he said. “But we don’t want to lead with that because it’s a lot of insider baseball. We really want to shine a light on the impact the obesity epidemic has.” Hims & Hers has stated that it expects its weight loss program to bring in more than $100 million in revenue by the end of 2025. It has not directly advertised its products in the campaign, however, and has instead focused on broader health facts. “That’s how you build good sentiment,” Kenger said. ~ ~ ~CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story incorrectly described the assortment of Hims & Hers' weight-loss drug offerings.

Behind Hims & Hers’ weight loss drug campaign in the New York Times

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