“Ozempic Santa,” wrote Elon Musk on X last Christmas, posting a photo of himself, looking svelte, dressed in a red-and-white costume by a twinkling tree.
“Technically, Mounjaro, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it,” the wannabe trillionaire added.
Ta-da moments such as this have become more common as people shed pounds with GLP-1 weight-loss jabs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, which suppress appetite. In the UK, about 1.4 million people bought them from private pharmacies in the year to April, according to Iqvia, the clinical research provider, though recent reports put the figure higher.
About 12 per cent of Americans have used them, says research group Rand.
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Perhaps you are determined to eat less in the new year, feeling a mince-pie-induced tightness of your waistband?
Many are fiddling their body mass index on online pharmacy sites to qualify for medicines, or microdosing to shift a few pounds. This behaviour is prompting fears of harmful side effects, shortages and the creation of a two-tier society of jab-haves and have-nots, exacerbated by recent price rises.
A Vogue article underscored the fomo (fear of missing out) with the headline: “Is everybody secretly microdosing Ozempic without you?”
In the past year, I have been stunned by a new professional phenomenon: shrinking contacts. I turn up to a meeting, interview or lunch, only to discover the lawyer or academic is startlingly leaner than when we last met.
It raises the thorny etiquette question: whether to mention or remain silent. Only a few years ago, it would have been straightforward. Nothing at all, or a straight: “You look well.” Back then, the body positivity movement emphasised health at any size, not slenderness.
So much so that, in 2018, diet company Weight Watchers rebranded as the enigmatic WW, intended to denote wellness, before realising it had undermined decades of branding and reverted to its name.
But the language and culture have shifted dramatically. Skinny is back in fashion – to the extent that the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled on adverts showing super-skinny models by retailers including Marks & Spencer.
Some dieters confess straight away to being “on the pen” – others mutter about a new fitness regime, or say nothing. For now, I will continue to highlight their healthy glow, which covers all bases.
Drugs are affecting the already-shortened and sober business lunch. Several restaurateurs have told me they are tweaking their menus. Watching someone push their food around can put a dining companion off their dinner, though it can be a blessing when the prandial interruption to the working day is cut short.
Some employers hope the impact of weight-loss drugs will be more significant. In the US, 43 per cent of large companies (of 5,000 or more workers) cover GLP-1 drugs in their health insurance plans, up from 28 per cent the year before, according to KFF, the US health researcher. In the UK, Vitality this year became the first to offer a contribution to jabs. Such offers are not about looks, of course, but about calculations to make staff more productive and reduce time lost to sickness.
The “network effect” could be making itself felt in professional circles, observes André Spicer, dean at Bayes Business School. “We have known for some time that if people in your network are overweight, then you too are more likely to be overweight.
[ Body positivity fell from favour as soon as Ozempic brought thinness backOpens in new window ]
“Recent work suggests the same is true with use of treatments like weight-loss drugs. This suggests the more users of fat jabs in your network, the more likely you will also become a fat jab user.”
In an uncertain jobs market, maybe losing weight is rational. One study found that almost a third of workers (32 per cent) had seen discrimination against someone at work because of their weight. One article ran with the headline: “Being hot is now a job requirement. With easy access to tweakments, the pressure to look good has increased.”
This could intensify in sectors that place a premium on looks, says Karyn Dossinger, assistant professor of management at Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago – such as fashion, retail or advertising.
Of course, this will come with a dose of judgment, she adds, with all manner of assumptions about a coworker or supervisor who is noticeably thinner. “Perhaps the employee is perceived positively because they are taking a proactive approach. Or, perceptions of them could be negative if taking a weight-loss drug is perceived as ... a shortcut or seen as having a lack of discipline [or] willpower.”
I’m sure the original Santa did not have to weigh up such things. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
