Why the Hims & Hers Super Bowl Ad Made Me Uncomfortable — in a Good Way

Why do Super Bowl ads feel like they matter more than any other ad?

For me, it is because they are one of the few moments where everyone is watching the same thing at the same time. I watch the Super Bowl every year not because I care about football, but because the commercials become part of the cultural conversation the next day, online, and everywhere in between.

That is why the opening of the Hims & Hers Super Bowl ad *Rich People Live Longer* immediately stood out to me. It does not start calm or comforting. It feels chaotic. Extreme treatments. Healthcare presented almost like an experiment gone too far. It startled me in a way that made me pay attention. Then the tone shifts. Suddenly, care feels more human. People are talking calmly to doctors who actually want to work with them. It felt like my experience. That contrast is what interested me.

It Called Out a Reality We Usually Ignore

The ad is very simple. No celebrities. No humor. No distractions. It opens with a blunt idea that wealth changes health outcomes.

We live in a time where wellness is constantly aestheticized online. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian or my favorite housewives can casually post about full body scans or preventative testing like it is just another beauty treatment. I have scrolled past so many of these posts and it has left my mind almost instantly. But the reality is that that level of access gets normalized, even though most of their followers will never have it.

According to Campaign Live, the ad intentionally presents the wealth gap as a health gap, showing how the rich receive proactive care long before they are sick. Even though I have seen versions of this message before, the plain wording still caught me off guard.

The Pushback Exists, and That’s Exactly the Point

This ad has been all over my feed. TikTok, podcasts, comment sections. People argue that healthcare inequality is too complex for a Super Bowl ad, or that Hims & Hers is not the right brand to raise the issue because of its own controversies.

I get why people feel that way. Super Bowl commercials are normally pretty safe. Most brands lean into humor or nostalgia, or they hire Ben Afflack to play a Dunkin Donuts attendant. According to research from the University of Virginia, about 34% of Super Bowl ads featured a celebrity in 2015. By 2024, that number had climbed past 60%. The formula is clear. Familiar faces, low risk, easy reactions.

Without that playbook, an ad risks being brushed past, unless the message itself is strong enough to hold attention.

Reporting from CNBC makes it clear that Hims and Hers operates within a messy system, especially as it faces legal threats from Novo Nordisk over weight loss medications.

But I do not think this ad is pretending to fix anything. I think it is doing something more realistic. It is forcing people to look at a problem they usually scroll past.

Why the Creative Choice Actually Works

Most Super Bowl ads feel like a spending contest to me. The brands with the most money buy the biggest celebrities for the loudest thirty seconds, and that becomes the message. Aspiration looks like luxury, fame, or status.

This ad reframed aspiration as access to care. Being seen by a doctor. Living longer. That shift is what made it feel meant for real people, not celebrities.

My argument is that this choice is strategic. The ad does not rely on celebrity fantasy to grab attention. It rejects the idea that people need to see private jets or massive homes to feel sold to. By speaking to someone watching the Super Bowl from their couch, it positions Hims & Hers as a brand that values the average person. In a space where attention is often bought, choosing substance over spectacle is what makes the message stand out to me.

Why This Message Matters Beyond Advertising

Health is not a niche issue. It touches everyone, whether we want to think about it or not. In 2026, the American Cancer Society predicts that approximately 2.1 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in the United States, and more than 626,000 people will die from the disease.

This ad made those numbers feel real. It took healthcare out of the abstract and dropped it into a moment that is usually all about distraction. The fact that a Super Bowl ad made me stop and think, instead of laugh and move on, is exactly why it worked.