GLP-1 Envy Was Just the Beginning

Americans watching the Super Bowl today will hear a tantalizing pitch: You, too, can live like the rich. All you need is a way to order up health care the way they do.

A new ad scheduled to air during the big game, from the telehealth company Hims & Hers, opens with the provocation “Rich people live longer.” A dizzying montage spoofing America’s wealthiest and most wellness-obsessed characters follows: An ageless man bathes in red light in the manner of Bryan Johnson, the multimillionaire who rose to fame for his fanatical efforts to live forever. A bald man doffs a cowboy hat as a rocket blasts off—clearly an allusion to Jeff Bezos, who in recent years has become incredibly buff and backed a buzzy age-reversal start-up. Surgeons pull the sagging face of a woman taut as a drum, perhaps a reference to the Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner’s notorious 2025 facelift. Dan Kenger, the chief design officer at Hims & Hers, told me in an email that the actors in the commercial represent only “symbols of an intimidating, members-only healthcare culture.” But the parallels to real life are too obvious to ignore. “They get the best of everything,” the voiceover continues. “So why don’t you?”

Hims & Hers is best known for offering weight-loss and hair-restoration treatments, but the ad positions the company as a gateway to a different world of health care—one with concierge doctors who are available on demand to offer personalized, cutting-edge therapies. “America’s healthcare is a tale of two systems: one elite, proactive tier for the wealthy, and a broken, reactive one for everyone else,” Kenger said. Hims & Hers’ actual offerings, which include diagnostic blood testing and hormone therapy, may be more mundane than a facelift, but the ad emphasizes one thing they all share: They’re all available to you, for a price.

Telehealth platforms such as Hims & Hers offer patients the ability to pay out of pocket to quickly seek treatment for their ailments. Generally, they assert that patients must consult virtually with a medical provider before receiving a prescription, but this requirement isn’t featured prominently in most ads. The new spot from Hims & Hers notes that its doctors are around to chat, and—in the fine print—mentions that a consultation with a provider is required before receiving treatment. But unless you’re squinting at the screen, the message that comes across is that health care is primarily a transaction between patient and company.

In general, telehealth platforms have come to essentially function as a kind of Amazon for drugs, making it easier for people to get prescriptions for controlled substances such as Adderall and testosterone. The companies sidestep the high cost associated with many name-brand drugs by using compounding pharmacies to offer cheaper, nearly identical versions of the medications. In theory, a licensed provider writes the prescription after a thorough medical assessment. But in just the past two years, two different telehealth practices have been sanctioned for inappropriately prescribing stimulants. (Hims & Hers has not faced any federal investigations for its prescribing practices.)

Last year, Hims & Hers ran a Super Bowl ad similarly focused on democratizing care—specifically GLP-1s for weight loss. It asserted that America’s obesity epidemic is caused by “the system,” which keeps people sick by making health care unaffordable. When name-brand GLP-1s such as Wegovy first started being prescribed for weight loss, in 2021, they were inaccessible for most Americans because of their steep cost and insurance providers’ limited coverage. Rumors that celebrities were using the drugs for cosmetic reasons sparked a mix of outrage and envy, and as Americans of more humble means began to see the results the drugs could bring about, many began scrambling for cheaper sources—a perfect opportunity for Hims & Hers and its peers.

[Read: What is Hims actually selling?]

But Americans aren’t clamoring for just GLP-1s anymore. Medications such as testosterone and peptides—a largely untested class of drugs with a wide range of purported health benefits—are in high demand too. Like GLP-1s, they have been touted by wealthy, high-profile figures, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Joe Rogan, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Hims & Hers has positioned itself to meet these demands. Last year, the company launched its low-testosterone treatment program and bought a peptide-manufacturing facility. It plans to use that factory to make its own “personalized” drugs.

Such language evokes the concierge treatments enjoyed by the rich. But in telehealth-platform parlance, personalization usually refers to creating a version of a name-brand medication that fits a patient’s needs by, say, changing the dose, adding other active ingredients, or offering it in a different format. These compounded versions aren’t reviewed by the FDA—in fact, the FDA announced Friday that it had asked the Justice Department, out of concern for consumer safety, to investigate Hims & Hers for selling compounded GLP-1 pills. The move is part of the DOJ’s wider plan to take “decisive steps” to restrict the marketing of compounded GLP-1s.

The medical community is concerned that telehealth platforms too easily allow patients to take unsafe drugs—or drugs they simply don’t need. The Obesity Society, a scientific organization, warns people not to use compounded GLP-1s, because they may not contain the appropriate active ingredients. (As I wrote recently, men’s-health experts are also worried about the cardiovascular and reproductive consequences of unnecessary testosterone-replacement therapy.) When I asked Hims & Hers about the DOJ investigation, a spokesperson directed me to a public statement posted yesterday on X, in which the company said it would stop selling compounded GLP-1 pills. “We remain committed to the millions of Americans who depend on us for access to safe, affordable, and personalized care,” the statement said.

[Read: T-maxxing has gone too far]

The Hims & Hers ad is shrewd in its heavy-handedness. It validates Americans’ frustration with health care and positions itself as a deliverer of justice. (The ad is narrated by the rapper Common, known for his socially conscious music; in its Super Bowl ad last year, the company used Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” a song about systemic racism and gun violence, to pile onto its message of a broken system.) Pew Research Center data released a few days ago show that 71 percent of Americans are worried about the cost of health care.

At the same time, Americans can’t seem to stop imitating billionaires’ wellness habits: untested peptides, NAD+ IV drips, Erewhon smoothies, red-light masks, keto diets. A slew of other planned Super Bowl ads promoting new visions of health illustrates just how central the pursuit of wellness has become to American life and the American economy, even when the benefits of so many of these practices are questionable at best. Hims & Hers is accurate in its diagnosis that much of this country’s gap in health and longevity boil down to wealth. But the treatment it prescribes seems to be an unlikely cure.