Something unprecedented will happen during advertising’s biggest night. Super Bowl 60 will feature what may be the most paradoxical advertiser roster in Big Game history: medications that reduce Americans’ consumption of snacks, alcohol and fast food will share commercial breaks with the very brands that depend on that consumption.
Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy and Ozempic, makes its Super Bowl debut with a star-studded campaign, featuring Kenan Thompson, Danielle Brooks, DJ Khaled and Ana Gasteyer.
Ro will air its first-ever TV spot with Serena Williams.
Hims & Hers, which had a controversial GLP-1 ad last year, returns with escalated rhetoric about “rich people” and healthcare access.
Sharing the same broadcast are Doritos, Pringles, Budweiser, Bud Light, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Uber Eats, and the full roster of consumption-dependent brands that have dominated Super Bowl advertising for decades.
Despite these shifts, legacy advertisers are largely running the same playbook. Doritos is bringing back “Crash the Super Bowl.” Pringles has Sabrina Carpenter. Bud Light is reuniting Post Malone, Shane Gillis, and Peyton Manning. Uber Eats is doubling down on the “football was invented to sell food” conspiracy theory with Matthew McConaughey and Bradley Cooper.
The creative isn’t acknowledging the shift. These campaigns were built for a consumer with a reliable appetite, predictable cravings and a wholly permissive attitude toward indulgence. That consumer is disappearing, and advertising pretends otherwise.
The numbers should concern legacy advertisers
The data on GLP-1’s impact on consumer behavior has moved from theory to undeniable fact. Research from Cornell and Numerator found that GLP-1 households cut grocery spending by 6% within six months, with savory snacks down 10.1%. Morgan Stanley’s analysis projects a 75% reduction in alcohol consumption among GLP-1 patients, with nearly a quarter quitting entirely. Household penetration of GLP-1s rose from 11% to over 16% in under a year. With the new Wegovy pill and plummeting prices, that curve is ascendant.
Yet, the CPG industry is responding at the product level, Conagra slapping “GLP-1 friendly” labels on Healthy Choice, Nestlé launching Vital Pursuit, a line of portion-controlled frozen meals. Smoothie King created a GLP-1 Support Menu. Restaurants from Manny’s Deli in Chicago to Chipotle are introducing smaller portions and high-protein options.
But mere product-level adaptation sidesteps the larger strategic question. What happens when your brand positioning depends on consumption that is pharmacologically suppressed?
