Pharmaceutical Companies Use Indirect Advertising to Target China's Weight Loss Market

Pharmaceutical companies are using indirect marketing strategies to promote weight loss treatments in China, where local laws prohibit the direct advertising of prescription medicines. Companies including Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Innovent Biologics are competing for market share in the world's second largest drug market by promoting obesity awareness in public spaces such as metro stations, exercise studios, and soccer stadiums. These campaigns often focus on the risks of specific diseases or symptoms, such as snoring, to encourage consumers to visit doctors without mentioning specific product names.

Recent examples of these tactics include a banner with a Lilly logo in a Shanghai metro station advising commuters to visit a respiratory department for snoring, a symptom linked to sleep apnoea and being overweight. Other advertisements from Innovent and Meituan have promoted scientific weight management to reverse fatty liver disease, while Pfizer partnered with gym chain Supermonkey to host healthy weight loss parties. According to a professor of science communication at Soochow University, this level of indirect promotion is rarely seen for other prescription drugs, such as those for hypertension or tumors.

Market demand is growing as China's National Health Commission estimates that the rate of overweight or obese people could exceed 65 percent by 2030. JP Morgan research suggests that sales of GLP-1 therapies for weight management could grow from current estimates of 3 billion to 4 billion yuan to 30 billion yuan within the next five to seven years. While Novo Nordisk launched the first once weekly GLP-1 for weight management in China in late 2024, competitors Lilly, Pfizer, and Innovent followed with launches between April and July 2025.