The story

Eat this. Not that. Do this exercise. Not that one. Eat for your blood type. Or your star sign. Don’t eat after dark. Or on Tuesdays. Try this drug. Not that one. When you want to lose weight, everyone - friends, family, total strangers, diet brands - has their little gem of advice to offer. 

In a sea of unsolicited, unhelpful weight loss advice, MedExpress, the UK’s biggest online pharmacy, asked us to make a weight loss ad that would cut through the noise and highlight their clinical support. 

Where typically, weight loss ads feature unrealistic transformations, patronising before/afters and people with larger bodies inexplicably dancing. We wanted to give our audience more. 

For many women, and people with larger bodies, weight loss advertising is unrelenting, overwhelming, shaming and extremely triggering. We felt it was time for something new. Something that met our audience with empathy, and made them feel seen, not shamed. Something more entertaining, and frankly, a little weirder. 

So we wrote a story based on how weight loss advice makes us really feel. And we executed it to entertain, not patronise – with surreal, amped up performances, and layered dialogue, props, wardrobe and posters, all shouting ‘advice’ at our unsuspecting hero. An emotionally resonant and entertaining weight loss ad? It shouldn’t be radical. But it is. 

The campaign ran on linear, video on demand and catch-up, including ITV, Channel 4 and Amazon Prime and in cinemas. It was accompanied by radio and social running across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

This film is for anyone who’s had enough of unsolicited advice, and wants to lose weight on their own terms.

Partnered on: Concept, script, creative direction.

Collaborated with: Angus Hyland’s team at Pentagram. Head of Brand Narrative at Pentagram Ashley Johnson, Project Managers Ishaan Pamnani and Luka Elliot, Copywriter Chris Boddy. Strategist Claire Berthet. Art Director Dani Matthews, Director Lachlan Dickie, Editor Ben Currie at The Quarry, DOP Rob Farley, Sound designer Iain Grant, production designer Bobbie Cousins, Casting director Kharmel Cochrane, stills photographer Latoya ‘Fits’ Okuneye, Wardrobe designer Emma LiPop, Grader Rich Fearon at Black Kite, producer Debbie Impett, Tor Kristoffersen, Vanessa Hetherington, Dan Preston-George at Form Films. Designer Stu Gough. 

As seen in: Creative Review and Creative Bloq

Awards: Shortlisted for Creative Review Annual, Writing.