The nation’s top drug regulator said he wants to do away with pharmaceutical ads that employ “dancing patients, glowing smiles, and catchy jingles that drown out the fine print.” On Super Bowl Sunday, the drug industry will treat him to lounging football stars, a shouting DJ Khaled, and the soothing tones of Enya.
Sunday’s game, the annual zenith of American advertising, is the first since Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary began a self-described “crackdown” on drug marketing last year. And, based on the ads released in advance, little has changed in the eyes of the industry.
Pharma companies are running what marketers call disease-awareness ads, which explain the ailment a given medicine treats but stop short of actually mentioning the drug itself, sparing actors from having to recite mood-killing side effects whose mention might otherwise also give viewers pause.
Meanwhile, telehealth firms, which are subject to a different set of rules, are airing commercials that weave through gaps in the regulation of pharmaceutical advertising, said Steven Woloshin, who leads the Center for Medicine and Media at The Dartmouth Institute.
“It’s a big, big loophole,” said Woloshin, who has long advocated for regulations that would rein in drug advertising and require manufacturers to disclose how well their medicines actually work.
Here’s a look at what the drug industry is paying to put on your screen this Sunday, despite the FDA’s vocal criticism.
‘Relax your tight end’
Novartis bought a minute-long spot explaining that patients can opt for blood-based screenings for prostate cancer over a traditional rectal exam, employing a sedate group of NFL tight ends — get it? — to make the case. Fingers are brandished; glutes are flexed. Not mentioned is Pluvicto, the FDA-approved treatment Novartis sells to treat metastatic prostate cancer.
‘Rich people live longer’
Hims & Hers, whose last Super Bowl ad drew Makary’s specific ire, is back this year with another populist clip arguing that the company’s fleet of loosely regulated products can give everyday Americans the kind of concierge medical care enjoyed by the ruling class. While Hims calls upon the worried-well proletariat to seize the means of health, it does not mention that the advertised services — lab tests, compounded drugs, hormones, and cancer screenings — would cost thousands of dollars a year on its platform, something arguably targeted to people one could describe as “rich.”
‘Healthier on Ro’
Ro, a rival to Hims, has enlisted the superlatively decorated tennis champion Serena Williams as its celebrity spokesperson. And in the company’s first Super Bowl ad, she explains how she lost weight, lowered her blood sugar, and alleviated her knee pain with the help of the Ro platform and the “FDA-approved GLP-1 options” it provides. Because Ro doesn’t manufacture GLP-1 drugs — that falls to Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly — and doesn’t mention the brands by name, the company isn’t required to detail the drugs’ side effects and contraindications. Instead, viewers get a text-based invitation to visit the Ro website for more information, a message that, depending on the size of your home TV, may or may not be legible.
‘Mission: Detect the SOS’
In this Boehringer Ingelheim ad, Octavia Spencer and Sofia Vergara play — spies? Vigilantes? There’s a motorcycle, a helicopter, and a voiceover beginning “In a world,” all in service of spreading the word about a urine test that can detect kidney damage for patients with high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. As with the Novartis commercial, neither Spencer nor Vergara mentions that Boehringer Ingelheim’s drug Jardiance is approved to treat patients who score high on that particular test.
Something from Novo Nordisk
The Danish pharmaceutical giant behind Ozempic and Wegovy has released social media teasers of its coming Super Bowl ad, featuring Kenan Thompson, Danielle Brooks, Danny Trejo, DJ Khaled, and Ana Gasteyer, each relaying excitement or anxiety over their future in a “big game commercial.” There’s also a professional wrestler and a singing cat.
