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The millennial-targeted telehealth company Hims & Hers (HIMS+3.45%) is spending big bucks on its first ever Super Bowl commercial to hawk its affordable weight-loss treatments.
With Super Bowl ads reportedly costing about $7 million for a 30-second spot this year, Hims & Hers likely spent about $14 million for its one-minute commercial.
The ad takes a surprisingly political tone — with Donald Glover’s “This is America” as its sound track — criticizing the high price tag of branded weight-loss drugs.
“Welcome to weight loss in America — a $160 billion industry that feeds on our failure,” says a narrator in the commercial. “There are medications that work — but they are priced for profits, not patients.”
“We wanted to highlight that systematic issues aren’t things people should be ashamed of or feel bad about,” Hims & Hers chief commercial officer Mike Chi told The Wall Street Journal.
The ad briefly features the company’s GLP-1 injections. The weekly treatment contains off-brand semaglutide — the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s (NVO+0.49%) popular diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy.
Hims & Hers last May started offering customers compounded semaglutide injections for just $199 a month — hundreds of dollars cheaper than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 list price and Wegovy’s $1,349 price tag.
GLP-1 drugs are a class of medications that mimic gut hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. Newer versions of these treatments, like Wegovy and Ozempic, have become highly sought after because of their effectiveness at treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, due to their high retail price and skyrocketing demand, many patients have had difficulty getting their hands on these popular medications.
When a medication is in shortage, which Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy has been for years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows pharmacies to make compounded, or altered, versions of the drug if they meet specific regulatory requirements. This loophole has led several digital health companies, online pharmacies, and wellness spas to produce and sell cheaper versions of brand-name weight-loss drugs during recent shortages.
Hims & Hers’ bet on the Super Bowl could pay off considering Morgan Stanley (MS+0.56%) anticipates the global market for GLP-1 treatments could hit $105 billion by 2030.
Hims & Hers stock has already skyrocketed 200% over the past year.