If you’ve ever found yourself humming to the catchy “Oh, Oh, Oh, Ozempic” jingle from pharmaceutical ads, you know how impactful they can be. These ads do far more than just stick in our heads; they significantly influence our perceptions and discussions around medications. For example, the Ozempic advertisement cleverly adapts the chorus from an existing song — from “Oh, oh, oh, it’s magic!” to “Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic!” This change not only promotes the drug but also misleadingly suggests that Ozempic is a magic bullet for weight loss, simplifying complex medical realities.

Twenty-five years ago, when I began my career in healthcare communications, the FDA would have regarded such implications as claims, preventing the ad from ever being aired. Interestingly, my CEO at the time shared an anecdote about his father, who worked in the legal department at a pharmaceutical company. He famously earned the nickname “Dr. No” due to his consistent rejections of advertisements that made overly ambitious claims.

You may or may not agree with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s criticism of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising, but I believe he makes a valid point about the excessive nature of these campaigns. Ads depicting individuals dancing and singing on the idyllic beaches of the Caribbean suggest that medical products can be magic bullets — a portrayal that drastically oversimplifies reality.

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