Let’s Talk About That Nick Jonas Dexcom Commercial

Last Sunday, millions of people gathered around their televisions for an evening of snacks, advertisements, and even a bit of football. If you were one of them, you might have seen an interesting commercial featuring Nick Jonas.

The ad was for Dexcom, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) used by millions of people with type 1 diabetes, myself and the youngest Jonas brother included. Its message was simple: Technology has come so far, yet people with diabetes are still pricking their fingers. There is a better way: The Dexcom G6.

This 30-second commercial has received a sprinkle of praise and a heap of backlash from people in the diabetes community. The praise, in a nutshell: Awareness is great! The criticism: Dexcom just spent millions to sell a product that a majority of their intended users want but can’t afford.

Many articles and social media posts have covered these reactions extensively, including this great piece by Dave Homes at Esquire, which I highly recommend you check out.

As for me, I agree that Dexcom’s ad strikes the wrong chord. In fact, the world “tone deaf” comes to mind. The light-hearted, almost flippant message of the commercial completely ignored the fact that in the United States, surviving with insulin-dependent diabetes costs roughly $9,600 USD a year in direct expenses alone. By the way, Canada is not the “free healthcare” utopia that some might have you believe. For those without private insurance, diabetes can cost around $6,800 CAD a year.

Also, note that I said surviving, not living—living can cost substantially more.

Here’s a simple analogy: Imagine you have a large, unruly lawn to maintain. I’m talking about a gigantic lawn with grass that grows two times faster than regular ol’ grass. Which equipment would you prefer for this job: a manual push mower, a motorized push mower, or a riding lawn mower? (And no, you cannot hire someone to do it, nor can you just not do it. There’s no loophole here.)

All three tools would technically do the job, but obviously the riding lawn mower would be the most efficient choice if you could afford it. Similarly, there are different tiers of medication and technology available to people with diabetes. Access to certain options depends largely on finances or insurance. There are other factors too, like personal preference and comfort, but cost is very often the deciding one.

Basically, millions of people are still stuck cutting their unruly grass with a rusty old push mower. The last thing these folks needed was to have multimillionaire Nick Jonas tell them how silly they are for not buying his premium, top-of-the-line riding lawn mower.

Dexcom not only ignored this reality, but also spent millions to do so—talk about irony.

A Quick Detour: Let’s Talk About Big Pharma

There’s no doubt that big pharma companies are guilty of price-gouging. They capitalize on illness and suffering to make insane quantities of money, and market regulations (particularly in the United States) allow them to do this.

This system is wildly flawed, and it causes immeasurable harm to millions of people. On the flip side, it does encourage innovation and progress. Insulin, for example, has changed a lot since 1922. This is thanks in large part to the work of major pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, among others.

Drug patenting is a complicated, messy business—one that I don’t have a deep understanding of, if I’m being completely honest. Broadly speaking, this is how it works: A company develops a new product, and for a set period of time, it’s the only company allowed to sell that product. No one else can make a different version of the same thing. To this end, big pharma companies spend billions on research and development in order to develop new products to cash in on.

Life-changing products like Dexcom’s CGM are often funded by the very system that makes them prohibitively expensive to so many. It’s not that this is the only way research is funded, or the only way drug companies make money. But it is a significant systemic problem, one made even worse when companies take advantage of its loopholes.

So, do big pharma companies prey on the vulnerable? Yes. Do they invest a lot of money in research and development that ultimately helps people? Also yes. Is this the only possible system that could result in innovation and progress? Of course not, but it’s what we’ve got for now.

Now, Let’s Talk About Privilege

I think Dexcom made a poor marketing decision, but I don’t know that it’s fair to hold the company solely accountable for the environment in which it operates. Similarly, while I get why people don’t want to hear an ultra-rich white dude tell them how easy it is to manage their diabetes, I also don’t see the point in criticizing Nick Jonas for endorsing a product he genuinely believes in.

The more I think about this, though, the more I realize that not everyone has the luxury of this accommodating, forgiving perspective.

Perhaps this view is only possible from someone like me. That is, someone with an immense amount of privilege. Someone who has always had the financial freedom to freely make healthcare decisions, who has never had to ration her insulin, or skip doses, or choose between her health and her passions, or face racial discrimination when seeking healthcare. Someone who has a vast support system, both personal and financial.

The thing is, I believe that I deserve this level of privilege. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, even Nick Jonas deserves this level of privilege. You know why?

Because everyone deserves this level of privilege.  

I don’t have the answers to complex questions around healthcare reform, nor do I know or understand all the issues at stake. I don’t know how to dismantle systems I scarcely comprehend.

However, I am more than willing to learn. I want to do what I can to create change, as small as the immediate effect might feel. Here in Ontario, that might mean supporting provincial governments that prioritize healthcare reform. More broadly, it might mean continuing to research and write about tough topics like the ones covered in this post.

Regardless of how I choose to do it, I hope I can put this privilege of mine to good use.