The weightloss brands used big celebrity names like Serena Williams, DJ Khaled and Kenan Thompson to reach more than 125 million viewers, with each ad costing around $8m to $10m for a 30 to 90 second flight.
“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,” said Ed Cinca, Novo’s senior VP of marketing and patient solutions.
Hims and Hers, a telehealth brand with a big focus on weight loss flighted an ad called rich people live longer.
In South Africa, direct-to-consumer advertising of most prescription medicines is tightly restricted under medicines legislation.
According to Sahphra, only medicines containing Schedule 0 or Schedule 1 substances may be advertised to the general public. Products classified as Schedule 2 to Schedule 6 — which include the vast majority of prescription medicines — may be promoted only to healthcare professionals such as pharmacists, medical practitioners, dentists and other authorised prescribers, and only through publications intended for those audiences.
While the public may be informed of basic details such as a medicine’s name, price, pack size and strength, any promotional advertising aimed at consumers is prohibited — a regulatory framework that stands in stark contrast to the US market.
Other brands that were given a coveted spot at the Superbowl includes automotive brands Volkswagen and Toyota, tech brands Microsoft and Google, and soft drink brands Pepsi and Poppi.
