The news: Novo Nordisk’s celebrity-filled 90-second Super Bowl commercial centers its recently launched Wegovy pill, the first GLP-1 oral drug for weight loss. In the drugmaker’s first-ever Big Game ad, celebrities including Keenan Thompson, DJ Khaled, Danielle Brooks, and John C. Reilly normalize taking a pill to make life easier.

Why it matters: Novo’s Super Bowl debut comes at a moment when the company needs to take back control of the GLP-1 weight loss pill narrative.

Wegovy pill’s strong January debut was marred by Hims & Hers’ introduction of a compounded copycat. Hims & Hers’ launch of a compounded semaglutide pill on Thursday marketed as having “the same active ingredient as Wegovy pill” risks confusing consumers as Novo is pushing its oral GLP-1 to a mass audience.

The ad gives Novo a chance to reset the story. While the Super Bowl campaign was planned before Hims’ announcement, the timing allows Novo to reinforce its distinction around FDA approval, clinical testing, and medical trust.

The size of the buy reflects the stakes. With media time estimated at up to $10 million per 30 seconds in the Super Bowl, Novo’s investment elevates Wegovy pill into mainstream consumer culture.

But pharma’s creative constraints still apply. More than half of the commercial is devoted to side effect disclosures, limiting how much storytelling Novo can do on the biggest TV marketing stage.

Implications for pharma and telehealth companies: While Hims’ compounded pill launch adds new noise to the category, Novo’s Super Bowl buy gives the drugmaker a way to reassert its position as the originator with FDA approval, clinical data, and a trusted global brand at scale.

Novo’s move raises the marketing bar for pharma companies in the weight loss drug space, especially for pill-based competitors. However, total media spend will tell a different story than TV alone. EMARKETER forecasts show pharma digital ad spending continuing to rise through 2027, underscoring that healthcare and pharma brands rely more heavily on digital channels for education, scale, and conversion and reinforcing the Super Bowl as more of a brand anchor than a performance driver.

Novo’s Super Bowl play strengthens its telehealth partners’ (who offer brand name GLP-1s rather than compounded forms) marketing by boosting awareness and credibility around Wegovy pill. While Novo invests heavily in the Big Game TV moment, its telehealth partners can surround the event with social, streaming, and creator-led messaging to capture spillover interest.

For compounders, however, Novo’s legal pushback against Hims, along with the FDA chief Marty Makary’s pledge to take action against “illegal copycat drugs,” raises regulatory and reputational risk—reinforcing the need for caution as enforcement tightens.