Eli Lilly is drawing attention to a lifelong journey of obesity struggles in its new campaign linked to GLP-1 Medicare access.
“A Life Covered,” is the latest short film installment of Lilly’s efforts to address stigmas around obesity and was made in partnership with Wieden+Kennedy Portland. Like some of its previous films centered around weight stigma, the TV spot takes a personal look at the disease burdens through the eyes of someone with lived experience.
But unlike its past campaigns, “A Life Covered” takes place in the intersection of aging and obesity to address an underrepresented demographic of obesity patients and promotes Lilly’s work to expand access through its Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program, which offers its weight loss drugs for a flat copayment of $50 per month.
With the recent rise of weight loss medications including Lilly’s Zepbound and oral Foundayo, one perspective that hasn’t been highlighted as much in the wider obesity market is that of the older generation, for whom “obesity isn’t a recent chapter,” but is instead “something they’ve fought their whole life,” Lilly’s SVP and chief marketing officer, consumer, Lina Polimeni told Fierce over email.
In the new 60-second TV spot that anchors the campaign, an older woman recounts some life moments that were colored by obesity. One of her earliest memories, she says in a voiceover while staring out the kitchen window, was her mother “taking food away from me when I was five.”
From there, soft instrumental music plays as the scene flashes through framed photos of the woman’s life, including her wedding photos. “I remember thinking about my weight on my wedding day,” she says.
A New Year’s Eve scene, where a younger version of herself sits on the couch as she looks back on how “every resolution was about it,” cuts to a living room with 1980’s style aerobic workout videos on the TV as the woman follows along. The flashback scenes, complete with a grainy, vintage film style, fades into the woman’s modern-day living room set as she lifts some weights in the present.
“And after 67 years, I don’t think I’ve lived one day without thinking about my weight.”
More flashbacks flood the screen in quick succession, illustrating the passage of time as the woman carries her young son into his bedroom before the same room holds the woman and her now older son and then the same bedroom flashes again, now void of people.
“I never thought that would change in my lifetime,” the woman says while sitting on the couch. The camera holds in place as she stands up from the couch while words on the screen read “obesity medicine is now on Medicare for $50/month.”
The front door opens and the camera cuts to the view from her window. As the on-screen text says “some people spend their entire lives fighting obesity,” the woman is seen walking out the door in the background. “We fought to make obesity medicine accessible for them,” the text says before the Lilly's branding appears at the end, with the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program explained in smaller text below.
In making the ad, Lilly took inspiration from “real people” who have battled obesity for decades, Polimeni said.
“These are people who have fought a very unfair fight against this disease for a long time, and we wanted to honor their fight while also celebrating how important this moment was,” Polimeni said.
The company and Wieden+Kennedy Portland used fragmented moments from the woman’s lifelong journey to portray the significance to the older generation of having access to a medicine “you never thought you’d see in your lifetime,” she added.
Previously, the filmmaking duo addressed weight stigma with a collection of unbranded shorts delving into the societal shame people with obesity can face. Most recently, Lilly and Wieden+Kennedy Portland's “My Focus” short film in January looked to “reframe how obesity is talked about in culture” and position the condition as a “matter of health” as opposed to an appearance or weight-based concern, Polimeni said at the time. “A Life Uncovered” takes the conversation a step forward by focusing on access through the U.S. healthcare system.
“Making the medicine was never going to be enough on its own,” Polimeni said. “Putting health above all means doing everything we can to get medicines in the hands of people who need them, including those in their later years who may have been previously overlooked. This campaign is what putting that belief into practice looks like.”
“A Life Covered” launched on July 1 with social, print and out-of-home activations. The rollout included centerspread placements on Sunday editions of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and other regional publications, plus digital spectators across New York City. The short film then debuted August 18 across premium TV and streaming platforms, with initial placements on NBC and Major League Baseball coverage.
Lilly is also planning additional premium video placements across major digital and social platforms including YouTube, Meta, Snap and TikTok as it continues to amplify the campaign through the fall. Next month, the campaign will air live during the Emmy Awards, according to the company.