Serena Williams has appeared in several Super Bowl commercials, but never one this great.
In a new spot on telemedicine service Ro, the tennis great provides viewers with an in-depth look at the effects of GLP-1 on weight, joint stress, blood sugar levels, and even cholesterol. “Ro has helped me move better,” she tells viewers. “Law makes me feel better.”
Over the past few years, Williams has helped create marketing points for Anheuser-Busch’s Michelob Ultra and Remy Martin. This time, an advertiser focused on her athletic prowess rather than the celebrity in order to get health-conscious Americans to think more about whether they want to jump on the wellness wagon.
“The fact that elite athletes like Serena Williams struggle with weight loss like millions of others is clear evidence that weight loss was never a matter of willpower,” Saman Rahmanian, co-founder and chief product officer of Ro, said in a recent interview. “So we decided to turn that story into a story and tell it during the Super Bowl.”
He declined to say when the commercial would air during NBC’s Feb. 8 telecast of Super Bowl LX, but agreed the cost would be no small feat. NBC is seeking between $7 million and $10 million for 30 seconds of advertising time during the big game, according to a person familiar with recent negotiations.
In recent years, consumers have been bombarded with commercials urging them to try weight loss drugs ranging from Ozempic to Wegovy. During last year’s Super Bowl, Hims & Hers, a telemedicine service, proposed making such medicines available to consumers rather than relying on big drug companies like Novo Nordisk.
Getting Williams may not have been as difficult as it seems. She is married to Alexis Ohanian, a member of Ro’s board of directors and an investor in the company.
But she will definitely bring an edge to the company. “There’s really no one as disciplined as she is. Her talking about weight loss pills has a whole different ring to it,” Rachmanian says.
The Super Bowl ad aims to launch a major campaign to demonstrate that people can “be healthier with Ro.” Williams will be joined by basketball great Charles Barkley, who lost 45 pounds to reduce stress on his knees. And so do lesser-known participants like Hannah Nylander Asplin, a Minneapolis-based runner who was able to complete the marathon after losing 75 pounds, and Deanna and Mitchell Taylor, an Atlanta-based couple who lost 79 pounds together.
Advertisements may cost a lot of money, but RO executives are “working to make sure the value is realized over the long term,” Rahmanian said, viewing the Super Bowl as a “catalyst.”
