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In Aug. 2025, Serena Williams, a retired American tennis player, starred in a commercial for a GLP-1 shot company called Ro. The 23-time Grand Slam champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist appeared on television screens, billboards and advertisements across the country, alluding to the fact that she’s in shape because of a weight loss drug.
Let’s be so serious: she’s an Olympic athlete.
Ro’s branding markets to consumers who want to look like an Olympic athlete in a fast, convenient way. The company strives themselves on their easy distribution, highlighting direct to customer healthcare.
Williams claims to have lost 34 pounds after one year on the GLP-1 shot. The advertisement highlights how she struggled losing weight after having kids, and Ro was the only thing that worked.
The medicine seems to be the only thing that worked to make her abs shredded and her biceps huge. In the advertisement, she’s the perfect bill of health and looks the same as she did 20 years ago on the tennis court. In reality, her physique came with months of exercise and eating healthy. Neither of those activities were mentioned in the commercial.
Having Williams as the face of Ro promotes unrealistic body standards and encourages the weight loss drug epidemic. Seemingly promising patients that they will look like an Olympic athlete just by taking the weight loss medication is unrealistic and toxic.
And the biggest kicker of Williams starring in the weight loss drug commercial? Her husband is an investor in the company.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, invested in Ro and now sits on the board.
His wife being the celebrity ambassador is highly unethical because an Olympic athlete’s physique is obviously going to sell this weight loss product, which puts more money into the family’s pocket through William’s endorsement and the increased Ro sales.
Weight loss drugs are beneficial for those with diabetes or an increased risk of heart disease. GLP-1 drugs suppress appetite by mimicking a hormone in the gut, which in turn lowers blood sugar levels in people with diabetes and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke in people who are overweight or obese.
Williams has never been obese, or at least that’s how America sees it. In order for this campaign to be realistic, Williams should have another medical reason than “baby fat,” which should then be promoted to audiences.
By increasing the general public’s use of weight loss drugs, medication is being taken by those who need the medication for a cleaner and safer lifestyle. By alluding to the fact that Ro will give patients the physique of an Olympic athlete, more healthy Americans will be pushed to use the drug just to lose the extra pounds, and continue to promote unnatural body standards.