A golfer with a modest stomach and a grin as he longs to drive. A silver fox in a suit jacket enjoys a glass of wine while being watched by a beautiful woman. A bearded father cooks for his children in a sunny kitchen.
These are the models of well-being promoted by Fella Health, a startup that prescribes trending weight-loss drugs for men.
Long on pop science and bold statistics, short on visual appeal, Fela tries to answer the question: How do we sell GLP-1 (a revolutionary class of drugs like Ozempic, often used for weight loss purposes) to consumers? Are people less likely to ingest it?
One tip: Don't be afraid to have a little buddy conversation. (“Boys, are you tired of not hitting your weight goals?” Fela asks in the Instagram ad.)
“We're not going to make you a mom,” said Richie Cartwright, founder of Fella. “We're mechanics. We bring in cars that need repair.”
This branding — an unemotional, slightly blunt, fact-only Jack — is far from typical when talking about weight loss, a sensitive issue for many. But many companies seem to think that marketing this drug to men, especially middle-aged men, may require a slightly different, more stereotypically masculine approach.
The homepage of Blokes, another telemedicine company, is filled with stark black-and-white images of shirtless weightlifters. Former Roman Law released an ad aimed at reaching men interested in GLP-1. These brands fit the mold of other brands like Hims and Keeps. It has found financial success by discreetly selling drugs to treat sensitive conditions such as baldness and erectile dysfunction. Men are not immune to vanity, but these companies are trying to avoid it.
“If you put too much emphasis on appearance, a lot of men end up saying, 'I'm not like that, I'm a practical guy,'” said Cartwright, who has spoken to more than 1,000 people about men's attitudes. It is estimated that Towards weight loss.
He said his company has attracted about 10,000 “associates” since it was founded in 2021. The company has a goal of reaching 1 million users by 2026.
This is just a drop in the bucket for Americans using GLP-1 for weight loss. Ozempic was approved as a diabetes treatment in 2017, but gained fame last year as a weight loss drug. As its popularity soared, some telemedicine platforms began selling unapproved alternatives. Fera says it prescribes semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, from compounding pharmacies.
Combined semaglutide has not been approved by the FDA, which has warned that such products may not be safe or effective.
There is no good data on the number of people taking GLP-1 or the gender breakdown of those taking it, but a poll last year by KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) found that 51% of American women take GLP-1. It turns out that there is an interest in the intake of such drugs compared to 38 percent of men. A 2020 study also found that men in the UK are often turned away from weight loss services because they feel outnumbered or feel that praise and discussion of emotions is overbearing. There was found.
Adrienne Bitter, lecturer in American studies at Cornell University and author of Diet and the Diseases of Civilization, said Ozempic is closely associated with female celebrities in pop culture who are thought to be obsessed with their appearance. He said there is a connection.
The approach that companies like Fela take to branding their medicines is “trying to justify that yes, you can be a man, and you can be thin,” says Dr. Vitale. “But it doesn't have to be this frivolous, fad diet vanity project that women's weight loss has been about for 150 years.”
Chase Franks, a nurse in Owensboro, Kentucky, posts on TikTok about a variety of topics related to GLP-1, including his own experience taking semaglutide. Franks, who has 116,000 followers on the app, specializes in weight management and began scripting his GLP-1 at a local clinic. He currently works full time as a provider for a telemedicine company prescribing compounded semaglutide.
He said the majority of telemedicine customers are women. In his personal life, he says many of his male friends are “interested” in his experience taking semaglutide, but negative cultural messages about using the drug to lose weight can make men think twice. Told.
“Men are slower to ask for help,” said Franks, 35. “Taking medication for weight management has some degree of shame in society and the media. The comments I receive about taking the 'easy path' are mostly from men.”
Both men and women report being dissatisfied with their bodies, but women face greater stigma for being overweight than men. And the very idea of losing weight outside of sports and exercise has gender implications, said Emily Comtois, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Tulsa.
“Weight loss is understood as feminine and feminizing, not only in the United States but also in similar Western countries,” says Roberts, author of Diners, Dudes, and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media. Dr. Comtois says. And culture. ”
That's why some men feel uncomfortable even admitting they're taking GLP-1.
Keith Berry, owner of a remodeling and furniture company in Kelowna, British Columbia, said he was initially hesitant to reveal publicly that he started Ozempic.
“It felt weird to think, 'I'm on weight loss pills,'” Berry, 45, said. “I'm a happily married 40-year-old man with kids, a job, and everything else. I'm not a TikTok model.”
Telemedicine company Ro produced three patient-targeted ads last year to promote GLP-1. Two of the ads feature female leads, depicting themselves feeling overwhelmed by thoughts of food, and how the drug gives them the “mental freedom” that allows them to enjoy family trips and nights out with friends. It's advertised. The third ad features a patient named Josh, depicted as a young man in a soccer uniform and military uniform, who cannot resist donuts. He says the drugs have allowed him to scuba dive and resume an active lifestyle.
“GLP-1 is like a military mindset,” he says.
Although women are more commonly targeted in diet culture, when the focus is on men, it is common to exaggerate the stress of being a man in modern society. Dr. Bitter says that around the time of President Eisenhower's heart attack in 1955, diet programs for men were intensified to focus on cholesterol and the heart health of powerful men.
Decades later, she says, the meat-based “keto” and paleo diets popular among men in the 2010s were meant to “regain a sense of masculinity that was marginalized and lost.” In 2012, WeightWatchers introduced the “Lose Like a Man” ad campaign featuring basketball star Charles Barkley.
Occasionally, men who take advantage of the latest weight loss methods publicly admit to concerns about their appearance. The poster child for a busy man who takes GLP-1 is Elon Musk, who in 2022 revealed that a shirtless photo of himself on vacation was linked to what he called “a beneficial way to lose weight.” He said he started Wegovy because of this motivation.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk told the New York Times at a recent event that he still uses Wigobee “sometimes,” but that future users should be prepared for “burps and farts.” He said there is. Side effects.
Other prominent men who have spoken about their experiences with drugs include Barclay, who said the GLP-1 drug made him feel “more human.” Film director Paul Schrader wrote on Facebook that he experienced unwanted side effects. And comedian Tracy Morgan joked that she had “eaten up” the drug, but later revealed it had worked for her. Michael Rubin, CEO of online sporting goods retailer Fanatics, dressed up as a Munjaro injection for Halloween.
Jake Beaven Parshall, a plus-size influencer who is paid by Weight Watchers to promote GLP-1 products, says that ultimately it doesn't matter the gender of the person taking weight loss drugs. He said there shouldn't be any.
“Trying to feminize your health or gender your health care is ridiculous,” he says. “You just have to do what's best for you.”
madison malone kircher Contribute to the report kitty bennett contributed to research.
