Can GLP-1 Marketing Move the Needle on Stigma?

GLP-1 medications are mainstream. Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Zepbound, you’ve heard of them. You’ve seen the celebrity speculation splashed over the newsstands. This year, they were a prominent part of Super Bowl advertising. In 2025, 1.6 million Brits used a GLP-1 drug - that’s about 2% of the country’s population.  In the US, a Gallup survey in 2025 found that 12.4% of respondents admitted to using them, up from 5.8% in February 2024.  These things are massive.

But, curiously, for such a popular and booming new category in the pharmaceutical industry, both the drugs and the condition they’re used to treat are mired in stigma. The result is a fascinating but delicately complex challenge for marketers, who are finding that if they want to change attitudes towards GLP-1s, first they need to change attitudes towards obesity.

What Exactly Are GLP-1s and Why Are Marketers So Excited?

But what exactly are they? Born of a medical technology first developed to treat diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists simulate the hormone GLP-1 which, among other things can regulate appetite, regulate blood sugar and slow the passage of food through the digestive system. That makes them a serious weight management tool, and there’s also evidence that they can help with other issues like inflammation. There are a few different compounds under the umbrella, such a semaglutide and tirzepatide, and while they're currently most commonly injected, oral versions have recently been approved by the FDA. 

They’re not without controversy. The rapid weight loss they can enable is associated with a range of possible side effects, from hair shedding to gall bladder problems. Moreover their impact on desire mechanisms of the brain have been linked to worsening depression and anxiety. But for those with obesity they are also linked to a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke and can have positive effects on emotional wellbeing. 

In the health advertising field, these medications are seriously exciting. For this series we’ve had no shortage of adland experts keen to share their insights.

Mario Muredda is global CEO of Ogilvy Health and from his perspective, he hasn’t seen a medical technology breakthrough quite like this since the rise of the PD-1 inhibitor cancer drugs.

“I've been working in advertising for 20 years, specifically in health and pharma advertising. I'm a science nerd. I continue to be blown away by how versatile these agents are and the broad spectrum of benefit,” he says. “From a weight perspective, from a liver health perspective, from a metabolic perspective, addiction perspective. These really do appear to be wonder drugs. The more I read about them, the more surprised and amazed I am.”

Science Versus Stigma: Why Advertising GLP-1s Is So Tricky

A so-called ‘miracle drug’ that can, among other things, help with weight loss and already has millions of users around the world - you’d think they’d be the easiest thing in the world to market. But despite their growing popularity, manufacturers and providers face a tangle of complicated cultural beliefs, delicate questions of body image, inconsistent regulations, and responsibilities to balance access with clarity around risk. Speaking to clients and agencies working in the space, it quickly becomes clear that stigma and deeply rooted judgements about obesity represent a huge strategic challenge.

It’s unusual for a prescription medication to have this level of public awareness - the issues marketers really have to tackle are much more intricate. Ryan Sullivan is CMO of GoodRx, a US-based price comparison and discount platform for healthcare and pharma. They’ve recently started talking about GLP-1s and weight loss medications in their advertising, and awareness simply isn’t an issue. "What’s different with GLP-1s is the level of consumer awareness and intent... That shifts the role of marketing. It’s less about explaining the problem and more about helping people navigate a complex path to access.”

That ‘complex path’ is beset by judgement and deeply held narratives about obesity, what it is and what causes it. Weight stigma is a paralysing force that doesn’t motivate people to adopt healthier behaviours. Quite the opposite; according to researchers it creates a “vicious cycle” that can lead people to gain weight. Stigma creates stress, raising cortisol levels and can encourage people to seek comfort in food, for example . It can foster disordered eating and the avoidance of exercise. And, crucially for marketers of weight loss tools such as GLP-1s, stigma can deter people from seeking help or treatment.

Advances in science reveal the environmental and biological roots of obesity. The ‘disease model’ of obesity frames it as a condition caused by metabolic, genetic, environmental and psychosocial factors. But the popular narrative persists. That it’s a matter of weakness, ill discipline, a moral failing.

When it comes to GLP-1s that medical framing is proving to be fruitful. Gareth Finch is managing director of Bumpp, a specialist health PR and marketing agency based in Australia, and he’s seeing this strategy play out. “Eli Lilly has an unbranded awareness and education campaign live in-market right now, with the message ‘Obesity is not about a lack of willpower, it’s a chronic disease’... That tells you exactly where the narrative is now going based on these therapies,” he says.

Older beliefs are not easily quashed, however, particularly those with deep roots in religious frameworks (what is ‘eat less, move more’ if not an update on biblical judgements around sloth and gluttony?). A clash of culture and science is coming into focus. For those who see weight management as a question of strong will and discipline, weight loss drugs are a cheat. A study published this April found that people trying to lose weight werejudged more harshly when using GLP-1s than those using diet and exercise only.

“Biology is advancing faster than the cultural narrative can keep up,” says Noor Tourte, chief strategy officer at Ogilvy Health.

When It Comes to Word of Mouth, Users’ Lips Are Sealed

That stigma has a curious impact on word of mouth and marketers can’t necessarily rely on satisfied patients to publicly praise the products. Gareth Finch explains, people fear being negatively judged not only for being overweight but for using a GLP-1s.

“In terms of attitudes to GLP-1s for weight management, people are aware that these therapies exist and people are using them. However, for those using GLP-1s for their weight, my experience is that they are generally not comfortable revealing that they are using them,” he says. “There is still some level of awkwardness around it, which is likely to be driven by each person’s own reasons (e.g. the perception they lack willpower, or they are too lazy to exercise to lose weight, or even that they are wealthy enough to afford to pay for these medications privately). People shouldn’t be expected to tell others about the medications they are using.”

One recent survey in the UK found that two thirds of people using GLP-1s hide it from some or all of their friends and family.

That’s something that John Wiltshire, executive director, medical strategy at OLIXIR UK has observed. “Using GLP-1s is still seen as taking the ‘easy’ or ‘lazy’ way out, with two-thirds of UK patients* hiding treatment from some or all friends and family. Despite the recent surge in media coverage and celebrities helping to normalise the conversation, obesity stigma remains deeply embedded across Europe.”

Creating an environment where people do feel comfortable to talk is, argues Noor, imperative if the market is to mature and if those unhelpful myths are to be busted.
“Stigma thrives in silence,” she says. “We have to bring the biology of what is going on out into the open and shift the conversation... If you don't shift that conversation then then we won’t unlock the real impact of these GLP-1s, it won't start.”

Hope and Agency Can Transcend Judgement

Voy is a UK-based provider that has recently launched its first TV advertising campaign. According to Chris Banks, vice president of brand at Voy, the company sees breaking stigma with their messaging as part of the ‘value’ they can give their customers.

Their new campaign, “If You Don’t Like It, Change It” from agency 10 Days seeks to change the conversation by encouraging a sense of agency and alluding, indirectly, to the idea that the medications are tools. In the UK, with its tight regulatory framework, a brand like Voy can’t talk explicitly about the medication’s benefits on TV, so instead they’re creating a narrative that’s built around hope, that people have the power to change things they’re unhappy with.

“We wanted to create an ad that was very empowering that felt positive and energising and motivating, whereas in the space typically the brands that exist are either very passive or practical and direct or negative and only play in the struggle and the pain,” says Chris. “That's our vision for Voy, that we're a really positive brand that's trying to break stigma, there's a bit of advocacy for people there and it feels like we're championing people's rights a bit more."

Candida Hilton is director of communications and Voy and she digs deeper into this idea of agency.“I also think that so many people are so stuck in the struggle that we really feel a responsibility to remind them that they have agency to choose, to remind them of that,” she explains. “For us, it really was about just reminding them that if you don't like it change it, it wasn't about, necessarily, physical change, it was just about reminding people that they can choose to get help if they so wish.”

It’s an approach that is driven by the brand differentiation and the need to delicately work within tight and shifting regulations but it turns out to be quite a profound strategic unlock. A sense of self-efficacy has been shown to have a crucial role to play in weight management.

Peter Agliardo is EVP, creative strategist at Remedy Edge New York, and he agrees that empowerment is vital.

“For stigma, creativity (and strategy) must balance treatment power with personal power,” he reflects. “If the treatment is the sole hero, it can reinforce disempowerment. The opportunity is to communicate benefits in motivating ways while showing people they are still central to the journey. That helps explain the success of partners like Hims & Hers, Ro, and Noom, which emphasise empowerment alongside cost savings.”

Can GLP-1 Brands Learn from Erectile Dysfunction Meds?

GLP-1s are unique in many ways, but for some experts the trajectory from taboo to tool mirrors that of Viagra. Erectile dysfunction and the ‘little blue pills’ have gone from something that was joked about and furtively procured to a product that’s marketed openly.

Candida explains that she sees a connection between GLP-1s and the other products sold by their sister brand Manual, which operates in the men’s healthcare space, offering medications to tackle ED, hair loss and low testosterone.

“Any of our four categories, they all have one thread in common and that is the stigma. We're focused on really tackling that and doing everything we can as a business to make the environment more fertile for them to make these decisions and to feel comfortable reaching out for support and help if they feel that's what they want to do.”

According to Sommer Bazuro, PhD, chief medical officer at Omnicom Health, there are lessons to learn from the ED category but the stakes are higher and context markedly different.

“There are some parallels, especially in how a therapy can move a stigmatised topic
into mainstream conversation. But GLP-1s are larger in scope because obesity sits at
the intersection of chronic disease, identity, culture, and public health,” she says. “The lesson from categories like ED is that normalisation can reduce shame and encourage care-seeking, which is positive.”

But there is, she sets out, a ‘cautionary lesson’ too. “Once a therapy becomes culturally iconic, marketing can outpace medical nuance,” says Sommer. “That is the risk with GLP-1s. If the category becomes shorthand for vanity, quick fixes, or celebrity culture, it undermines the seriousness of the disease and the importance of appropriate care. So yes, there are lessons in destigmatisation and access, but the GLP-1 category requires even greater discipline because the societal beliefs around weight are more pervasive and more emotionally loaded.”

Navigating New Stigmas

And that seems to be happening in the GLP-1 space. There’s a new suite of stigmas that have arisen as the medication has become popular. In the UK, the media popularly calls the medication ‘skinny jabs’. There’s a focus on underweight celebrities abusing the medications and media speculation around whether the drugs are heralding the return of ‘90s heroin chic. Such coverage drives awareness but, says Sommer, it’s a ‘double-edged sword’.

“It distorts the category by collapsing a serious chronic disease into a celebrity or vanity narrative," says Sommer. "That is deeply unhelpful for people living with obesity who are seeking better health, improved mobility, or relief from complications like sleep apnea or liver disease. The phrase ‘skinny jab’ is catchy, but it is clinically reductive. It invites judgment, fuels misconceptions, and can make appropriate treatment feel frivolous or suspect. For legitimate providers, that means there is now a bigger education job: to redirect the conversation from spectacle to science and from aesthetics to health. The stakes are high because language shapes who feels seen, and who feels shamed.”

It almost goes without saying that glamourising unhealthy levels of thinness is something that responsible marketers should avoid on an ethical basis, but it’s also a question of efficacy. Anything that emphasises vanity, shallowness, and risky behaviour will only reinforce these negative narratives and the stigmas and feelings of shame that surround the category.

Similarly, there’s a growing ‘grey market’ of non-approved peptides and ‘compound agents’ made by shady manufacturers, which are highly risky. As Noor points out, any negative fallout from these concoctions can easily add to negative perceptions of legitimate medications. “You've got a marketplace, now, with approved, branded, highly regulated products that are associated with a company and a brand, and a mimicked version that have been created in random labs across the country around the world. Those things get conflated by the general public,” she says. “That's where things get really tricky.”

What Does Responsible Marketing of GLP-1s Look Like?

Marketers bear a heavy responsibility. Careless marketing that treats the drugs lightly, that preys on people’s insecurities and negative body image, that presents them as a quick fix, can lead people to make the wrong decisions and risks damaging health. And that reinforces the existing stigmas around the category.

For Sommer Bazuro, there are clear boundaries around what marketers should and shouldn’t be focused on. "Responsible brands lead with informed care, not demand generation. In this category, that means being clear that treatment decisions belong in consultation with a qualified healthcare professional and that obesity management is individualized, long term, and not just about appearance.”

Lisa Chait, executive director, strategic planning at OLIXIR New York agrees that the medical gravity of the drugs should come before anything else. “With all the hype surrounding GLP-1s... it’s easy to forget that GLP-1s are real medications, for people living with real health concerns, and should be treated as such... We need to enter the market through a cultural lens, but always remember GLP-1s are for health, for chronic diseases, and should not be trivialised. Leaning too far into the trends risks minimising their credibility as FDA approved medications.”

It’s also about setting expectations, if people are going to start their journey, says Noor. "Responsible marketing has to shift the conversation, it's not about aesthetic transformation. It is about functional health outcomes. That means you're not promising someone perfection. You're promising them the partnership.”

Aside from the importance of marketing the products in a sensible and sensitive manner, there’s also the bigger responsibility to change the conversation around obesity. That’s something that would positively impact the lives of everyone who has obesity, whether or not they use the medications. (One could argue that down the line we may find that more new stigmas emerge, possibly linked to GLP-1s, as obesity becomes something that can be changed if you have enough money, and therefore obesity becomes a signifier of poverty and lack of access. Nonetheless, the removal of moral judgements around obesity must be a positive change.)

"It starts with respecting the reality of obesity. Too often, people living with it are still blamed, shamed, or dismissed as lacking willpower,” says Peter Agliardo.

And that’s where advertising and marketing can absolutely step in. Carlo Nakhle is business director at HavasLife Middle East. "While access improves, the responsibility on both healthcare players and marketers increases. There’s a much bigger role to play in guiding the conversation, not just participating in it."

As we’ve found, this stigma is deeply rooted and complex but there are signs that things are starting to change and the PR push is having an effect.

Lisa Chait says, “The astronomical growth of the market has proven that beliefs are changing. The knowledge that obesity is a disease is being talked about from all directions – including influencers, pharma marketers and telehealth companies – and has seeped into culture. Even so, one of our core mandates is to always be respectful and understanding of the struggle that people with obesity face every day.”