An injectable weight-loss drug similar to the infamous Ozempic is being advertised on New York City’s subway system, and Sophie Turner is not amused.
On April 3, Turner posted on her Instagram Stories, resharing an Instagram repost of a Tweet showing pictures of the ads in the Times Square subway station. The large posters are plastered with text reading, “A weekly shot to lose weight.” The “Game of Thrones” star’s reaction? “WTF.”
The ads are for telehealth company Ro, which claims to prescribe both Ozempic and Wegovy — both brand names for the drug semaglutide, though each brand delivers a different dosage.
The catch is that Ozempic isn’t approved by the FDA as a general weight-loss treatment; it’s only meant to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. The drug’s website states that “Ozempic may help you lose some weight. Ozempic is not for weight loss.”
And yet Ro’s page for Ozempic claims that the company will prescribe the injectable online “for weight loss,” and also states that “150,000+ have lost weight with Ro.”
Ro also claims to prescribe Wegovy, which has been approved by the FDA as a weight-loss drug, albeit only for certain groups of adults (those with BMIs of over 30, or with BMIs of over 27 who also have a weight-related health issue).
The recent spike of interest in Ozempic as a weight-loss tool has caused quite a bit of controversy, with celebs including Chelsea Handler, Kyle Richards, Remi Bader, and Jameela Jamil speaking out about the pressure to use it or the risks around using the drug off label. It’s become so renowned that it even made its way into Jimmy Kimmel’s Oscars monologue.
Touting Ozempic and Wegovy as quick and easy weight-loss fixes reinforces harmful messaging rooted in a diet culture that glorifies thinness. It also risks creating a demand around the drug that could make it harder for type 2 diabetics — the people the drug was intended for — to access it. So seeing ads that make overly simplified claims about the drug and its effects is troubling, to say the least. Turner really put it best: WTF.