Novo’s 1st Super Bowl ad taps celebs to tout Wegovy pill

Amid the fast-moving rollout of the Wegovy pill, Novo Nordisk has taken to advertising’s biggest stage to help get the word out. After a week’s worth of social media teasers, Novo on Friday unveiled a commercial that’ll make its broadcast debut during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, marking the Danish pharma’s first-ever Super Bowl ad. The 90-second spot features an array of celebrities—“Saturday Night Live” stars Kenan Thompson and Ana Gasteyer, musician DJ Khaled and actors Danielle Brooks, Danny Trejo and John C. Reilly—all chosen for their “ability to connect” with audiences and their “unique and distinct styles of communication,” as Ed Cinca, Novo’s senior VP of marketing and patient solutions, told Fierce Pharma Marketing in an interview. The commercial starts with Thompson and Khaled sharing the “big news” that Wegovy is now available in pill form, after which Thompson suggests to viewers that “if there was a pill that made other helpful things possible, you’d take it.” A montage ensues, showing the stars wishing for pills that could improve their parallel parking skills, turn them into pro wrestlers, help them rescue more kittens and, as Gasteyer requests, make others “stop being so judgy about how to lose weight.” That last sentiment may be particularly relatable to the ad’s target audience, per Cinca, who called it his “favorite part” of the spot. “That, I think, really hits a chord with so many folks who are experiencing this weight loss journey,” the executive said. “It’s already so difficult to lose weight, it’s nearly impossible to keep it off, [your] body’s fighting against you—and then, all the while, the judgments that come from family and friends as part of it.” “I hope that through this fun, irreverent tone, we can also have a serious dialogue and people can start engendering the right conversations around weight loss,” he added. After the requisite readout of the drug’s risks and side effects, the ad ends by directing viewers to visit the Wegovy website and talk to their doctors about the pill, alongside text noting that a monthly supply of the med costs $25 for the commercially insured and—under a limited-time offer—$149 for self-paying patients. The Super Bowl spot follows another, less-starry ad for oral Wegovy that debuted during the Golden Globe Awards in January and also appeared during the Grammy Awards broadcast earlier this month. Aligning TV ads with major tentpole events early in the year has been a key part of Novo’s “really dramatic go-to-market acceleration” for the Wegovy pill, according to Cinca. The pill form of the blockbuster GLP-1 was approved by the FDA in late December, and its commercial rollout began just two weeks later. “The Super Bowl has been on our board as a moment in time that’s going to coincide with a nice window after our launch and the introduction of the product to really generate broad awareness,” he said, adding that the commercial is also set to air during NBC’s broadcasts of the 2026 Winter Olympics to “maintain that level of awareness and generate that level of knowledge.” With its Super Bowl debut, Novo is joining the ranks of Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sun Pharma, all of which have also allotted some of their marketing budgets to big game placements this year—though their ads all comprise unbranded disease awareness campaigns. Sticking with branded ads to roll out the Wegovy pill has always been the plan, Cinca said, noting that while widespread awareness of obesity as a disease “is probably low,” awareness of obesity itself is not. “From a disease awareness perspective, it’s not necessarily an area that I think we would go down that path,” he said. “It’s more about recognizing that we’ve had so much success already with Wegovy as an injection with 2.4 milligrams. It’s become synonymous with weight loss,” he continued. “So, really, this is about identifying the other 95% of patients who have been curious, have been interested, but for one reason or another have shied away from an injection. … The pill really represents a huge opportunity for so many more individuals.” To that end, Cinca emphasized Novo’s “incredible excitement” around the Super Bowl ad’s potential to spread the word about oral Wegovy. “For us, it’s knowing that we have a really incredible asset that folks need to be aware about,” he said, citing both the average 17% weight loss linked to the Wegovy pill and its indication to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. “So, folks can have the motivation for themselves, the way that they look and feel, and know that they’re doing quite a lot to improve their overall health,” he continued. “That’s, I think, the part that maybe doesn't get talked about enough, but it should be.”