The economics of thinness (Ozempic edition)
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Arriving in Stepford, Connecticut, Joanna—protagonist of “The Stepford Wives", a horror novel—is dragged to a “workout class" at the Simply Stepford Day Spa by a neighbour. The duo are met by 15 identikit women.
Their hair, heights and skin colours differ a little. Their waist sizes do not. Each can be no bigger than a British size 8, their waists nipped in by belts and accentuated by 1950s skirts.
As some describe it, this is where the world is now heading owing to the discovery of weight-loss drugs. In three short years since America’s Federal Drug Administration approved these medications their use has exploded. Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, has become Europe’s most valuable company.
Eli Lilly, which manufactures Mounjaro, was one of America’s best performers last year. And celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Kelly Clarkson have emerged, almost overnight, slimmed down and svelte. Morgan Stanley, a bank, estimates that as many as 9% of Americans will take brand-name versions of weight-loss drugs by 2035.
That is just the tip of the iceberg. Demand for versions of these medications is only growing. On the subway in New York, Ro, a health-care startup, advises riders to “skip the shortages" and get access to cheaper versions for as little as $99 a month.
Instagram is plastered with advertisements from firms such as hers and eden, which target young people by using lower-case brand names and soothing colour schemes. In September Kourtney Kardashian, a socialite, began selling a capsule through lemme, her supplement firm, which also flogs vaginal probiotic gummies and anti-cellulite pills. The most important consequence of the drugs’ discovery is well understood: they
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