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The Super Bowl is a staple family event for most households. While the main attraction is the game (ok, or maybe the half-time show), it also delivers some of the most talked-about ads in the world. Some ads make us laugh, some tug at our heartstrings, and now, many tout medications that promise people will finally feel “good” in their bodies.
At first glance, these ads seem empowering. How could they not when they include superstar athletes? But there’s always a catch: these messages come from companies selling weight-loss drugs that reinforce the idea that people shouldn’t feel great in their bodies unless they’re smaller.
These ads avoid the explicit “weight loss” pitches of the past, like the days of Jenny Craig. Many ads never even say the word “weight,” it is simply implied. Instead, these brands frame GLP-1s as a route to better healthcare and medical well-being, positioning them as an easy step to “take charge of your health.” While the message is polished, the subtext is the same: losing weight leads to confidence, health, and self-worth.
This rebranding matters because when weight loss is framed as health, it’s harder to question. It implies that smaller is healthier, and makes it our personal responsibility to shrink for health.
GLP-1 medications, and their advertisements, are everywhere right now. In 2025, over $1 billion was spent marketing these drugs to Americans. And it worked: roughly 12% of U.S. adults report currently using a GLP-1 drug, doubled from the previous year. Americans spent an estimated $40 billion on these drugs in 2024, with projections showing that number could triple by the end of the decade. As the category grows, so does the sophistication of its marketing.
When ads like these air during the Super Bowl, their impact is massive, reaching millions and reinforcing the harmful narrative that happiness and health are linked to body size. These advertisements, on social media and in your living room during the Super Bowl, may shape how young people view and interact with their bodies.
It’s important to say this clearly: GLP-1 medications have legitimate medical uses. But we can’t ignore the fact that they are being widely marketed to people of all sizes, reinforcing our cultural message that smaller is better. Research shows that exposure to weight loss messaging increases body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, and deadly eating disorders.
Complicating this further are the adjacent ads. Last year, 17 of the 51 advertisers for the Super Bowl were fast food, snacks, and alcohol brands, including Taco Bell, Doritos, and Budweiser.
The underlying message? Enjoy yourself, but not too much. Eat, but not like that. If your body changes, there’s a solution.
Starting a New Conversation With Your Children
If you’re watching the Super Bowl with your kids this year, it’s likely that they’ll notice those ads too. And they may plant a much bigger idea, even if they don’t say anything out loud: no matter your body size, you will be happier and healthier if you were smaller.
Unfortunately, this is not a new message to them, or us. For decades, magazines, social media, and our peers reinforce that we should want to fix our bodies. Kids have already internalized, often by the age of 6, that smaller equals better. And they get to hear it again during the Super Bowl.
So, what can parents do in the moment, when an ad comes on?
You don’t need to overexplain or jump into a lecture; my teens erupt in groans and lovingly mock me whenever I do this. Sometimes a simple interruption of the narrative is the most powerful: “Bodies come in all shapes and sizes; weight is not an indicator of health.”
If your child asks more questions, approach them with curiosity. You can explain that companies want to sell us products, and they do that by convincing people that something is wrong or missing. You can also remind them that how someone looks doesn’t tell you how happy, kind, or thoughtful they are—all more important traits than our physical appearance.
These moments matter because children’s beliefs around their bodies and food are formed by thousands of small experiences. Sometimes these memories are made on the couch, with two teams vying for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, with the volume turned down a little.
