Ro CEO wants to erase GLP-1 stigma with first Super Bowl ad featuring Serena Williams
- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady interviews Ro CEO Zachariah Reitano about his company’s first Super Bowl ad.
- The big story: Two major Fortune 500 CEO transitions.
- The markets: Mixed after a selloff in software stocks on Tuesday.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. At their best, Super Bowl ads often capture something in the zeitgeist, sparking conversations or amplifying trends. Airbnb’s 2017 ad spoke to a nation in shock over Trump’s “Muslim” travel ban, the NFL’s anti-racism ad in 2021 built on the momentum of Black Lives Matter, while last year’s Carl’s Jr spot featuring a bikini-clad Alix Earle was hailed by some pundits as “anti-woke.”
Some are calling this year the Wellness Bowl. Oikos is promoting protein, Raisin Bran has an ad on gut health with William Shatner, and Liquid Death is touting hydration. PepsiCo is pushing its probiotic soda and zero-calorie offerings, while making its snacks cheaper and healthier. But the rock star will be GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
Zachariah Reitano wants Americans to embrace GLP-1s as a lifelong wellness tool. The CEO of telehealth company Ro is running his first Super Bowl ad, in which tennis star Serena Williams talks about how GLP-1s improved her mobility, cholesterol, sugar levels, and weight. “People constantly hear about the weight loss component, but we wanted to tell 100‑plus million people that these products can do that and also so much more for your underlying health,” Reitano told me.
He’s not alone. With GLP-1s touted as the “first true longevity drugs,” a transformative force in health care, and now available in a pill form that makes the uninsured cost as low as $149 a month, the focus is shifting from being a weight loss boost to the foundation of a lifestyle program. Drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also planning campaigns in and around the Super Bowl to address the stigma around obesity drugs.
Such efforts could spur even wider use of GLP-1s, which accounted for more than 10% of annual health care claims for U.S. employers last year, creating a cost crisis. Despite the launch of cheaper pills, states like California and Pennsylvania stopped Medicaid coverage of GLP-1s for weight loss last month, and insurers are imposing restrictions.
GLP-1 providers are ready to do battle. Ro rival Hims & Hers has promoted GLP-1s as a right, not just a remedy. Last year, it ran a Super Bowl ad that accused drugmakers of price-gauging on the coveted drugs. This year, the telehealth player is targeting billionaires with the message, “rich people live longer.”
Ro’s Reitano sees the rumblings of a revolution, too. “The U.S. is this paradox: the peak of innovation and outcomes in many areas, but day‑to‑day and preventive care can be incredibly cumbersome or inaccessible,” he says. “GLP-1s are forcing an incredible rewiring of the health care system …. this bull in the china shop of our health care system’s incentive structure.” But first, he argues, “we have to remove the stigma around using them.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com