During the marathon days of the past Coachellaone of the most important music festivals in the world where, paradoxically, music is the least important thing, an image caused a certain sensation on social networks: the total absence of lines at the food stalls.
To the plethora of content generated by the festival, a showcase for social networks where only the show by Niece Carpenter and the revival by Justin Bieber caught some attention strictly musically, we had to add the “get ready with me” on Instagram and the usual parade of looks themed, generally quite unsuitable for the Californian desert. In the background a silent revolution was brewing.
Because within this hyperaesthetic ecosystem there was a shadow. In the videos of many influencers and tiktokers We were able to observe a scene repeated day after day: non-existent queues to get food (even when it’s free), facing crowded lines to buy sunglasses or other accessories. For many, the reason was obvious: Ozempic.
We can interpret it from irony or, on the contrary, as a clear cultural symptom that is deeper and difficult to ignore. Because, if something seems evident, it is that, in a festival where consuming aesthetics is much more important than consuming food, the Ozempic era has found its best showcase.
Less hunger = less business
Anyone who’s been to a festival, especially in recent times, knows what it’s like.
Until recently we went with our eyes closed and our wallets open, assuming that, in addition to the increasing price of admission, we had to pay absurd amounts for a cold burger or a pad thai stale at Michelin star price. We got into the game and no one was surprised by the exorbitant prices, those 20 euros on average per plate were part of the ritual of the festival experience; but something has started to change at Coachella. To get an idea of the importance of this change: the economic volume of its gastronomic industry covers more than 100 positions.
Ozempic and derivatives are completely redefining the cultural codes of the last decade. Starting from the basis that each person does with their body what they consider, it is true that we were already noticing in red carpets and derivatives that curves are beginning to go out of fashion; with bloody examples because they are carried out by former standard-bearers of the movement curvy. Actresses and artists like Rebel Wilson, Barbie Ferreira either Meghan Trainor show a change in their figure that advances from photocall in photocall.
Little by little this permeates society; and also leaves a side effect that someone may consider unexpected. It is not only transforming bodies but also habits and, among them, our relationship with food in spaces of mass leisure. This change in the psychological relationship that we establish with food and the hunger-suppressing effect means that this character is eliminated from the equation. hedonist and impulsive.
If the desire for food ceases to exist, the key turn occurs. For years festivals were governed by a simple rule: the economic margin is not so much in the entrance, but rather in everything that happens inside. In this mechanism, food is a key element with these inflated prices, encouraging impulsive decisions in marathon days that invite consumption. This is where Ozempic has broken the model at Coachella, fully attacking that impulse.
In this showcase where it seems that eating is “annoying,” a drug that controls hunger is not useful, but rather more than consistent with the environment. And yes, Coachella may not be the Cruilla or the Arenal Soundbut on a large scale what is at stake is not only what the companies can bill food trucks. What is relevant is something deeper: in an environment where excess was part of the festival attraction, a model is now beginning to prevail where control, especially of the body and image, redefines spaces designed for the opposite.
Ozempic and the end of hunger
The impact of this medication is such that we are no longer talking about a health phenomenon, but rather a cultural phenomenon. What began as a diabetes medication, later converted into a weight loss solution, is no longer the beauty secret of the celebrities. The pharmacological equivalent of “drinking a lot of water and sleeping eight hours” has spread with universal consumption, and with this it not only transforms bodies with their corresponding physical consequencesalso behaviors.
What began as a resource for the elite is now heading towards a more affordable distribution and on a large scale. Because we are not talking about a diet, but about something much more radical, deactivating one of the most basic impulses of human behavior on a large scale, and the data begins to reflect that change.
At a global level, about 46 million of people already use these medications. In the United States, the number of people without diabetes who start treatment with these drugs has grown more than 700% in just four years. Today, around 12% of adults use them, with annual growth close to 30%. This impact does not remain only in the body and, if we transfer it to the context at hand, we see that it is directly reflected in consumption; These users spend 31% less on food and drink, especially on everything associated with whim and impulse (snacks, chocolate, etc.).
In Spain the trend points in the same direction, approximately 6% of households are already consumers of these treatments, thus representing an expense of 5.4 billion euros annually in food and beverages. And, again, the most relevant thing is not what you spend, but on what: this hedonistic consumption falls and basic and functional products increase.
With these numbers it is logical that the conversation of “surely he has lost weight thanks to Ozempic” does not die, but it is no longer limited to celebrities like Oprah, Kelly Clarkson or the native Ibai Llanos. The same statement now slips and extends to much closer environments such as the office, the next-door neighbor or our group of friends. If the 90s and low-rise pants taught us anything, it is that the dictatorship of aesthetics and thinness is universal and affects everyone equally.
A transformation that goes beyond the drug
With all this context, it is more than tempting to point to Ozempic as the big culprit of all consumer habits. But the image is somewhat more complex. Beyond the viral nature of these videos, is there a real change caused by these drugs or are we facing an amplified narrative that simplifies a broader phenomenon?
Because yes, these medications are in perfect harmony with what the festival projects, but it is also true that the prices within these events have been putting pressure on the market and the consumer for years, which translates into a lower volume and purchase frequency. Furthermore, at festivals, and specifically one like Coachella, although in previous years the sensation of food consumption was greater, food is not the main priority.
The first on the list may be alcohol or items that help project that specific aesthetic, hence those long lines to purchase sunglasses. Even going to the most basic and simple, that desert environment where you breathe gushing sand and those long days at various temperatures is not the ideal setting to whet your appetite.
So, more than the origin of the problem, Ozempic is the accelerator and a sign of a transformation in full operation, because the least important thing is how much we eat at a festival, but rather the relationship with excess and the body. And when this collides with a business model built on momentum, the impact is no longer anecdotal and goes beyond a video of our feed; We are facing a structural problem.
If this ultimately translates into internal consumption within these leisure activities falling, festivals will have to look for other forms of monetization. We can glimpse a near future in which they follow the path of the weddingswhere the sacrosanct menu was the pillar that articulated the celebration during our parents’ generation, and now the conversations revolve around the beauty cornerthe photo booth and glitter bar.
Seek profitability in the experiential idea as its own product, putting that experience at the forefront instagrammablegreater virality if possible, or an increase in the price of tickets masked by their segmentation (more premium, deluxe, gold, platinum areas… Ticketmaster), seems like the way forward for promoters. And more sponsorships, of course.
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Image | Unsplash
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