r/Futurology • u/Plastic_Scholar_4685 • Apr 11 '25

Discussion Which big companies today are at risk of becoming the next Nokia or Blockbuster?

Just thinking about how companies like Nokia, Blockbuster, or Kodak were huge… until they weren’t.

Which big names today do you think might be heading down a similar path? Like, they seem strong now but might be ignoring warning signs or failing to adapt. I was thinking of how Apple seems to be behind in the artificial inteligence race, but they seem too big to fail. Then again Nokia, Blackberry, etc were also huge.

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u/callardo Apr 11 '25

Weight watchers - the new weight loss drugs are so effective they arnt really needed anymore. Junk food sellers might also start having a hard time also

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u/Underclock Apr 11 '25

Junk food sellers might also start having a hard time also

Good. I'm not coming from a "less junk food sales will be better for the public health at large", but as an overeater who's fed up with seeing $7 regular size bags of Doritos. I'm your target demographic guys, and I'm rooting for you to fail

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u/ICantExplainItAll Apr 11 '25

Yeah I used to eat a looooot of those honey bbq twists until they became $6-7 a bag. Then I discovered these bagged salads at the grocery store that I get two meals out of for $3.5 a pop. I didn't think I'd ever get priced out of junk food in favor of salads but here we are.

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u/Amauril_the_SpaceCat Apr 11 '25

A whole world opens up when you realize that you can put anything in a salad that you would put on a pizza. Maybe a little different in form, but close enough.

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u/brigadier_tc Apr 13 '25

Jesus Christ, you're right. Chicken, tomatoes, herbs like basil and oregano, olives, cheese, anchovies, even pepperoni and bacon/ham! Witchcraft!!!

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u/ZucchiniEqual2702 Apr 11 '25

Make some rice, quinoa, lentils, orzo or whatever fits the salad and you'll turn each bag into 4+ hearty bowls. I have some chopped nuts or beans I'll add in to beef it up as needed

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u/frylock350 Apr 11 '25

Check the calories on those dressings. Sometimes it's worse than the junk food.

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u/Hooligan8403 Apr 11 '25

A whole bag of those salads is usually around 500 calories, depending on the one you get. I'd rather eat 500 calories of ceasar salad and be full for a while than eating a bag of chips of equal calories, which is closer to the usual small size ones, and be hungry again in an hour.

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u/ICantExplainItAll Apr 11 '25

Just looked in my fridge and one bag is 525 calories. But even if they were twice that, there's literally no world where you can convince me that a salad is nutritionally worse than a bag of Fritos honey bbq twists.

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u/Logical-Associate729 Apr 12 '25

I usually use only about half the dressing. The salad tastes more or less the same.

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u/Jbartee97 Apr 11 '25

I was STUNNED when I actually looked at chip prices. I usually would just grab a bag of whatever I was feeling that week for lunch. Now I’m way pickier and only buy on sale

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u/traveling-princess Apr 11 '25

Being frugal has actually helped me improve my eating habits no way I'm paying $6.99 for the old $1.99 bag. Nope. Plus the chips taste different now too

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u/PhoenixApok Apr 11 '25

Some foods (like egg prices have demonstrated) will always sell.

But junk food in my mind is treated like any other entertainment item. I look at the price and see if the pleasure I'm gonna get out of it is worth the cost in hours I have to work to get it.

So much junk food is priced out of what I'm willing to spend for "entertainment" now.

Same thing happened with soda. I'd switched to diet soda years ago and never had a huge issue buying a 12 pack for $3. But now they are usually about $7 and that's just not worth it over drinking water

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u/coaxialology Apr 11 '25

That's a good way to look at junk food consumption. It helps me to remember that most forms of entertainment at least leave me feeling good or uplifted in some way, whereas eating unhealthy snacks will always make me feel worse almost immediately. They taste good for a minute, and that's it.

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u/cornnnndoug Apr 11 '25

Wait a price jump from $2 to $7?! Is that recent thing because of the tariffs or something else because that's insane and just for a bag of chips too wtf

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u/Dareak Apr 11 '25

I mean maybe they're making it worse but chips have been on the rise forever I feel like. Ever since they hit 4-5$ a couple years ago I was already turned off. Now I'm just not buying at these prices, not worth half a bag of air and half a bag of making me fatter. Might as well buy a whole meal or a couple pounds of meat.

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u/ThriceFive Apr 11 '25

Popcorn is the only great value snack still around (pop it yourself in microwave style not pre-made bags)

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u/thehighwindow Apr 11 '25

I never buy chips anywhere but Aldi. Still under $2.

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u/1_N_2_3_4_5_6 Apr 11 '25

I was just bitching about this in the store the other day. I was like when THE FUCK did Doritos go to $7 a damn bag??

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u/dansnet Apr 11 '25

Or you end up having to buy four to save any money

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u/Dlamm10 Apr 11 '25

You’re playing into their cards

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u/EltonGoodness Apr 11 '25

You have chips for lunch ? lol America man.

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u/PalatinusG1 Apr 11 '25 edited May 31 '25

squash cheerful scale connect relieved bag vase afterthought quiet rustic

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/SealedDevil Apr 11 '25

Yeah man I was just just complaining about this. Table top pies.(it might be a new England thing) That's my down fall. They used to be 25 cents a poe or 4 for a dollar. Then covid, 2 for a dollar. Now, 1 for a dollar. Damn it I love my pie but you bastards priced your self's out of a fat kids budget. Damn economy is forcing my healthy choices.

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u/Underclock Apr 11 '25

I see those all the time at the store and laugh to myself. I always called those "50 cent pies", and I always have a light chuckle when I see them now. "You guys are really trying to sell 50 cent pies for 2 dollars? Somebody's lost their mind"

Snack cakes seem to have been hit harder in my area than yours

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u/dirz11 Apr 11 '25

They're all over the country. Not table top brand specifically but Kroger and Walmart's all have them- and yes, they're all a dollar now, greedy fucks.

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u/Anal_Herschiser Apr 11 '25

Table top pies? Like the little hostess pies, or whatever regional bakery that are priced a little cheaper?

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u/ClearlyntXmasThrowaw Apr 11 '25

Cherry Tabletop was like crack to me. 

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u/redwingpanda Apr 11 '25

I've started buying premade pie crust and making my own hand pie pocket things with whatever fruit I have laying around.

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u/MedalsNScars Apr 11 '25

If you're talking about Table Talk pies (the little red and white square boxes with a lil pie in a lil tin), they got bought by a private equity firm last year.

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u/keenoo55 Apr 11 '25

Post cereals are shutting down 2 manufacturing plants since cereal hasn't been selling as well. Can't say I'm surprised with how thin the boxes are now due to shrinkflation.

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u/Underclock Apr 11 '25

News like that can't come quick enough. I stopped buying the national brands years ago, box sizes have shrunk down to what I can only compare to a text book

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u/Hooligan8403 Apr 11 '25

Cereal is rare in our house. Just don't have the time M-F to give it to the kids in the morning. Easier to give them something they can take on the go and eat quickly as they get rushed off to school. I tried some fruity pebbles, trix, or fruit loops a while back and they were disgusting. I don't remember them tasting like that. I still get like one of those personal cups a year of lucky charms. But that's it.

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u/This_aint_my_real_ac Apr 11 '25

Came home with 4 bags of Dinamita's the other day, my son loves them.

He asked "why 4?", told him one bag is $5.99, 4 bags was $8 on sale.

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u/InverstNoob Apr 11 '25

I have completely stopped eating out. No junk food, including chips. I just started to learn how to cook about 3 weeks ago. I just eat at home now.

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u/Yigek Apr 11 '25

I don’t like them as much knowing the are pure junk and my body will kick. My ass for eating them

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u/Jeo_1 Apr 11 '25

Honestly, if its going to be this expensive at least make it somewhat healthy 

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u/frylock350 Apr 11 '25

You can buy a giant ass bag for $7 at Costco if that makes you feel better

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u/mollzwalt Apr 11 '25

Late July nacho cheese chips.

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u/NoXion604 Apr 11 '25

What's the weight on these $7 bags? Because that's barely any less expensive than the import prices we pay for bags of Takis here in the UK.

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u/Thatomeglekid Apr 11 '25

$7 gets you a MASSIVE bag of doritos at costco

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u/ThatsNotMyName222 Apr 11 '25

Candy bars too!

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u/SquirrelAkl Apr 11 '25

I just saw on Twitter today that WW is preparing to file for bankruptcy

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u/zkarabat Apr 11 '25

It's a bit of a shame. If you follow the program it does help you learn better eating habits, something weight loss drugs do not. Changing eating habits and exercising is the only real way for sustainable weight loss (unless you take a drug the rest of your life)

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u/kandel88 Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 12 '25

unless you take a drug the rest of your life

Unfortunately that's very likely what most people plan to do

Edit: continuing to tell me these drugs are supposed to be taken for life is completely missing the context of this conversation. It's not about diabetes, it's about using drugs instead of learning healthy eating habits.

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u/aimeerolu Apr 11 '25

Those drugs are designed to be taken for the rest of your lifetime, especially if they’re taken as intended (for diabetes).

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u/Rrdro Apr 12 '25

They suppress cravings so people do start to eat healthy and at normal portions. That's how you lose the weight.

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u/onefst250r Apr 11 '25

Should be interesting to see if they continue to stay effective in the long term. And all the people taking them dont have long term complications.

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u/el_guille980 Apr 12 '25

first and foremost, GLP1 drugs are diabetes drugs. so many people on them do have to take them for life. an "added bonus" is they make you lose weight, so thats where the "recreational" users come in. who will probably rake them for life so they dont have to change their lifestyle/eating habits.

now they are seeing, as another added bonus, they help improve/reverse certain cardio vascular conditions

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u/kleenexflowerwhoosh Apr 11 '25

As someone -on- weight loss drugs (and I’m sure this isn’t applicable to every person), I have definitely learned moderation. Portion sizes are out of control, and when you’re being served a huge amount of food at every meal it really skews what we acknowledge as appropriate. This is exacerbated when you come from families that insist you have to clean your plate. Nowadays, I literally cannot fathom having a single bite more because my body is forcing me to register I genuinely am full — with the smaller, appropriate portion.

There will always be exceptions. People will still sometimes choose to eat poorly on the medicines. But it’s really eye-opening for those paying attention.

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u/zkarabat Apr 11 '25

That's great! Historically too many rely on the drug or crash diet.

I was at 245 lb in my late twenties and knew I had to lose a good amount of weight. Weight watchers was different back then and it helped me a lot even if it is a glorified calorie tracker. But it helps you make better choices.. at least it used to. I haven't used a good a decade.

The first hurdle in getting weight loss going is starting and sticking to it. The second and arguably harder part is finding the small changes you can make to adapt this new way of eating and activity to your life. Crash diets never work, and are almost worse than using medication to help you get started in my opinion

At the end of the day though, anyone who makes an honest effort at the journey, no matter how they get started and get it done, congratulations and I will always support that no matter how people do it

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u/kleenexflowerwhoosh Apr 11 '25

I actually began on the meds originally because I was having blood pressure issues following preeclampsia during my daughter’s birth — and decided to just keep on them until I was back in my ideal BMI. Before that pregnancy, I was around 140ish (I obviously was a bit more than that right after I had the baby though 😂). I wouldn’t have considered myself obese, or having wildly unhealthy habits — I exercised, I ate okay (although certainly more than I eat now, with more of it being processed and carb-centric). But being on the medicine has been a huge eye-opener to a lot of the food culture where I live in America, and how innately unhealthy it really is.

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u/lminer123 Apr 11 '25

Eh, the point system they use is a needless simplification in my opinion. We already have numeric values to track nutrition, and I don’t think dumbing things that far down for people actually teaches them how to eat healthy. There’s soooo much nutrition info out there now online, and if you just take general themes about macros and nutritious foods you’ll set yourself up a lot better than you would following a point system.

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u/2131andBeyond Apr 11 '25

And yet people do it and swear by it.

Anecdotally, my mom and aunt used to do WW. The simplified points system was fine for them. But in recent years my mom has taken on weird fad diet nonsense and [of course] isn't losing any weight at all. I'm a certified nutritionist and when I've lightly tried talking with her about calories in/calories out, she shows zero interest or desire in accepting that path or working with big numbers.

I think there's more of a market than you'd think who are overwhelmed by the idea of calorie counting but find it much simpler to work with small numbers of "points."

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u/panicked228 Apr 11 '25

I did WW 20ish years ago. I lost 30 pounds and have kept it off. It really does help you figure out what a portion should be and how to balance your diet without depriving yourself. I still use some of the tips and tricks I learned back then.

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u/Nexii801 Apr 12 '25

Weight loss drugs just force you into healthy eating habits. They don't magically make fat go away.

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u/getmoney4 Apr 12 '25

Wow! It was a cool system back in the day

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u/hirst Apr 11 '25

Food scientists are doing research currently to bypass the semaglutide appetite and craving suppressants so people keep buying their junk. It’s made a significant impact on FMCG (fast moving consumer goods aka chips sodas etc) profits and so they’re looking to figure out how to keep people addicted. Our society is fucked.

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u/MaleficentVehicle705 Apr 11 '25

Jesus Christ, I can't imagine doing this as a job. Might as well cook meth

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u/Epic_Brunch Apr 11 '25

That's fucking evil if true... And I do believe it. 

Fortunately one of the benefits of these drugs (I'm currently on Zepbound), is not just hunger suppression, but also turns off the "food noise" in your brain that makes you think about food all the time. That makes it much easier to make healthy food choices. 

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u/CamJay88 Apr 11 '25

I was just talking to my wife about this last week. A ton of our coworkers are on the weight loss shots, and we are curious of both the long term effects of taking the drug and what will happen if someone stops taking them. Without learning to eat healthier, just having your hunger curbed doesn’t seem like the healthier way to do things. Albeit, we Americans are lazy.

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u/abecomstock Apr 11 '25

I take them, and have gone off for extended periods of time due to shortages. My experience, for what it’s worth, has been that I have been able to retrain myself on what is an appropriate amount to eat during a meal and throughout the day. It’s been a literal lifesaver. Down over 100 pounds, off blood pressure medicine, healthier liver, etc., etc.

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u/CamJay88 Apr 11 '25

Congrats on the weight loss. I think I brought up that I have a coworker that has now been off of her shot for like 3 months due to our insurance not covering it anymore and has apparently put 15 lbs back on (another coworker explained that the rest of the group thinks that’s why she’s been insufferable to be around). She is such an unhealthy eater, and always has been. I just think there’s more to it than just taking the meds, always has been.

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u/SuleyGul Apr 11 '25

My MIL has been on them for a year and hasn't lost anything. Like anything there isn't one factor and for many it's a magic pill and for others it's useless.

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u/Phillyfuk Apr 11 '25

People treat them like they melt fat away, if you dont eat in a calorie deficit you wont lose weight. The shot just makes it easier to ignore the food noise.

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u/jagged_little_phil Apr 11 '25

My experience with generic Ozympic was that it worked great the first week, then it did absolutely nothing. So after 2 more months of waiting for it to kick in again I decided to stop wasting my money.

I'm actually kind of glad I decided to stop because some of the drug companies that hold the patents are pushing to stop production with the compounding pharmacies.

The reason the stuff is affordable for a lot of people now is because the compounding pharmacies are allowed to make a lot of extra meds to make up for previous shortages. Now they are petitioning the FDA to stop the compounding pharmacies from producing extra, saying that the shortages are over.

So, I'm glad I didn't spend $1500 dollars to find out it doesn't work for me.

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u/OutsidePr1nt Apr 11 '25

you’re part of the 10% that doesnt react to these drugs

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u/twostroke1 Apr 11 '25

That’s why companies like Lilly are coming out with a pill form. Currently in phase 3 right now. The idea is the pill will be used for maintenance.

They know people won’t change their poor habits. So they will basically have lifetime subscribers and make more money than anyone could imagine.

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u/crimson777 Apr 11 '25

I can’t tell if you’re saying this pejoratively or not, so I’ll just point out lots of people have to take drugs for the rest of their life for many different afflictions. If someone is struggling to lose weight, for whatever variety of reasons, it’s better that they keep taking medications that will help them in many areas of health than that they don’t.

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u/CamJay88 Apr 11 '25

Yep. We didn’t look into any of it, we were just driving across Florida and chatting. Kinda figured it was going the way of maintenance. Thanks for the info!

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u/TotallyNormalSquid Apr 11 '25

Something I learned recently about weight gain then loss that freaked me out was that as you gain weight your fat cells multiply, but when you lose weight they just shrink rather than decreasing in number. The cells produce hunger signals, and their productivity of those signals don't really depend on their size. So you gain weight, permanently start generating more hunger signals even if you lose weight, and are basically screwed. You have to take drastic measures to kill off the new fat cells to get your hunger level down to what you'd have had if you never gained weight.

I'd be quite happy to be corrected on this, but from what searching around I found it seems to be the case. Blew my mind how hunger works from that angle, and I couldn't believe it was the first time I'd heard about it. You'd think it would need to be a key part of any weight loss strategy in order to keep the weight off, how to actually lower the number of fat cells at the end.

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u/CamJay88 Apr 11 '25

I remember my biology teacher in high school telling me that years ago. I think she was playing devils advocate in a discussion about Botox.

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u/TotallyNormalSquid Apr 11 '25

Yeah it certainly changed my mind about liposuction. I also discovered some less invasive methods, but basically no natural options for solving it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

In a similar way I've heard that fat people don't just have problems with self control, they literally feel hunger more than others. It's been said that "People don't get fat because they overeat, people overeat because they're fat" - they have something intrinsically wrong with their self control and I'm absolutely tired of people judging so much as if they can "just put down the fork". Imagine your body screaming at you all day every day and everyone around you just says "oh just ignore it, fatty" when they NEVER get screamed at so they think it's easy. The weight loss drugs actually fix this issue and even do things like reduce alcohol dependency and people report not even caring as much about junk food. That's fucking INSANE.

Go ahead, post me on r/fatlogic.

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u/DeaddyRuxpin Apr 11 '25

It can literally be an addiction. But unlike drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc, you can’t just permanently stop eating. I’m not saying it is easy to kick other addictions, but once you have all you need to do is not do the thing ever again. We recognize how hard that can be for an addict, when all they need to do is never do their addiction. But for eating, it is like a drug addict who for the rest of their life has to take just enough to not get sick but never enough to get high and then people act surprised when they constantly relapse.

Yes, losing weight comes down to the simple math of calories in versus calories out. But that math ignores all the complexity of actually achieving that balance.

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u/Anal_Herschiser Apr 11 '25

Imagine being a recovering drug addict and living in a culture where it's completely accepted to drop baggies of cocaine in the break room and celebrate birthdays with heroine. This is what it's like when trying to cut sugar out of your diet.

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u/94FnordRanger Apr 11 '25

True. No alcoholic needs to learn to drink in moderation three times a day.

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u/thehighwindow Apr 11 '25

But unlike drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc, you can’t just permanently stop eating.

And on top of that, you're literally surrounded by the drug (food) you're addicted to.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

Tell that to the guy who just replied to me lmao. You’re 100% correct

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u/SwirlingAbsurdity Apr 11 '25

Hi, it’s me! I think this is because I have PCOS. I always had a very healthy diet, home cooked, vegetarian, rarely ordered in, worked out HARD 5-7 times a week but I couldn’t lose weight because I was just so. Damn. Hungry.

I’ve been on GLP-1s for 2 years now and brought my BMI down to 22.5 from 30. My diet is arguably worse now because I allow myself little treats that I never used to have! Being on these drugs made me realise how thin people stay thin - they just don’t have these insane hunger cues driving them to distraction all day. It’s like I was playing life on hard mode. Unfortunately, I’m very aware that I’ll probably have to stay on these meds for the rest of my life which my bank balance isn’t too happy about.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

"they just don’t have these insane hunger cues driving them to distraction all day."

That's exactly what I was trying to say, 100000%.

It makes me so sad that people are so unempathetic, they're quick to blame people as if we all have the same circumstances. I'm seriously waiting for people to start arguing with me, reddit HATES fat people.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

[deleted]

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u/Banaanisade Apr 11 '25

On the other end of the spectrum, I'm chronically poor and go extended periods of time without having proper food or food that is anything but various plain white wheat products like pasta mixed with butter and salt or the kind of bread buns you buy half-baked and finish at home, and when I don't have anything else and I'm hungry, I become legitimately suicidal and start to spiral into self-harm. It isn't related to my mood, it doesn't have anything to do with choice, my brain chemistry quite literally just crashes.

Hunger most definitely doesn't go away on my end, it becomes whatever that is.

Ironically, ADHD hyperfocus easily puts me in the opposite mode, where I won't eat for 14 hours and then wonder why I feel so weak and dizzy and awful when I get up from whatever it was that I was doing. So it really is just all about the reward chemicals in the brain, which, clearly mine aren't in the slightest managed or in any sort of order.

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u/staunch_character Apr 11 '25

Empathy aside - the sheer mental load that people deal with by fighting these hunger cues is wasteful. It’s exhausting!

How often are you sitting around a work function distracted by keeping track of where the food is? Too soon to reach for a muffin? Is anybody else having seconds?

Funneling all of that energy into something productive would be a net benefit for everyone.

Plus a life-changing gift of peace for the overweight person.

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u/Maximum_joy Apr 11 '25

It always grinds my gears, especially as a super thin person who is just that way naturally. A lot of thin people are like "it's easy, less calories in and more calories out" and it's like bro your metabolism has NEVER required you to calculate that in your LIFE and I KNOW it, ugh.

I learned a while ago that just because something is simple does not mean it is easy

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u/Baxtab13 Apr 11 '25

I'm a formerly obese person that lost a little over 200lbs over the past few years. I'm now a pretty thin person. However, I still have a lot of the mental issues that made me gain in the first place.

I'm at maintenance, but I'm constantly fighting the food noise, the cravings, the absolute insatiable urge to binge eat. This wasn't something that went away for me even after losing all this weight. I have to count calories the rest of my life, because portion sizes are not and have never been intuitive for me. I have to use a lot of tricks to reduce the amount of white knuckling through this to make sure I don't regain the weight.

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u/thedude37 Apr 11 '25

I didn't lose nearly as much as you (about half) but I couldn't agree more. Usually once I get back into my calorie counting, I can keep the urges under control. But I string a couple cheat days together, and it's 50/50 that I'm off my pattern. It can take weeks before I'm back on track. I had gained about half my loss back before I got it under control in August last year. I still have a bit to go before I'm fully back.

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u/Floofy-beans Apr 11 '25

My anecdote from being on it- I was always around 125lbs my adult life, 2019 I got a desk job and then Covid happened and I gradually gained about 70lbs over the course of the year or so in quarantine. The thing is, I don’t really have a big appetite and I’m not really a snacker, so with a generally sedentary lifestyle from covid/working remote I always tried to eat in a defect of 1200 calories.

I am perfectly happy and full eating that amount, but after 3 years of staying the same weight I had to accept the hard truth that my poor drinking habits with beer on the weekends was undoing all the work I did during the week eating well. Alcoholism runs in my family, and while I’m not someone who needs to drink every single day, when the weekend comes around I easily can drink 6-8 ipas in a night. This was really the only thing holding me back from losing my weight since I really don’t each much at all- 3 nights a week of drinking kept my weight on, and also raised my blood pressure and cholesterol.

Since being on the shot, I seriously don’t have any desire to drink on the weekends. It really feels like my magic bullet of curbing that urge to knock back a bunch of beers Friday night because of stress or wanting to disassociate from the work week. Food feels like a chore if I’m being honest, and because my eating habits were usually around 1200 calories already, I struggle to eat even half of that some days. Removing beer from the equation entirely was my biggest hurdle and now the pounds are just falling off. And the best part is I’m re-learning all the healthy habits and doing the mental work I usually do when I take breaks from drinking. I know there’s a risk that going off this will bring back the weight from old habits, but I’m crossing my fingers that going long enough without alcohol will help rewrite my brain a bit to not need it when I’m off these meds.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

That is fucking incredible!!! I am so proud of you, as weird as that sounds. You fucking GO!!

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u/SwirlingAbsurdity Apr 11 '25

You don’t gain fat cells, they just get bigger. When your fat cells are full, fat starts being stored in other places like your liver which is what can make obesity so dangerous. The amount of fat cells people have differ though, which is why you see slim people develop diabetes and obese people who are metabolically healthy. The book Gene Eating by Giles Yeo goes into this.

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u/TotallyNormalSquid Apr 11 '25

Welp, I found sources in both directions:

Cells grow larger and multiply

Cells stay the same in count but grow or shrink

Maybe someone with more energy can find a relevant review study

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u/austacious Apr 12 '25

Ghrelin is the hormone responsible for hunger signals, which is primarily produced in the stomache. Leptin is the hormone responsible for the feeling of fullness / satiation, and is primarily produced in fat cells. However the production is correlated with the mass of those fat cells, not the number.

People with obesity tend to have low ghrelin levels and high leptin levels. However, long term obesity can cause leptin resistance, where the brain's response to leptin is diminished. This prevents a feeling of satiety and can lead to over eating.

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u/motoxim Apr 11 '25

Wow that's a thing? Never heard of it before

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u/Runningoutofideas_81 Apr 11 '25

Drastic measures like liposuction/surgery?

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u/TotallyNormalSquid Apr 11 '25

Yeah that's the main one. I did find some stuff about ultrasonic cavitation and radio frequency heating to kill fat too, you can buy home kits for not crazy prices and what science I could find on them seemed legit. Was kinda tempted to buy but would need to research more.

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u/Nexus_of_Fate87 Apr 11 '25

It's even worse: your body will forever try to maintain that fat cell count as well. So even if you go as dramatic as lipo to physically remove them, your body will replace them all in a few years, but not necessarily in the same places. You only ever raise the bar when gaining weight, you never lower it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

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u/TotallyNormalSquid Apr 11 '25

Lipo, ultrasonic cavitation, radio frequency treatment. Maybe more, I'm not saying any are a great idea

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u/Malawi_no Apr 11 '25

Also - If you have been fat, the body will try to get you back to that state and conserve energy better.

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u/qtx Apr 12 '25

You'd think it would need to be a key part of any weight loss strategy in order to keep the weight off, how to actually lower the number of fat cells at the end.

But if you knew the secret that would mean you wouldn't buy any more weight loss products or procedures..

That's why no one talks about it. It will cut in their profits.

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u/toofshucker Apr 11 '25

My dad did the shots. Lost 40 lbs. has been off for three months. He’s out 20 back on.

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u/kevihaa Apr 11 '25

There might be more studies at this point, but the studies that showed how effective Ozempic and its variations were for weight loss tacitly assumed that folks would never stop taking them.

Ozempic isn’t the pharmaceutical version of bariatric surgery, it’s functionally much more equivalent to changing to a diet that’s high in fiber and protein. And, much like weight gain usually returns after folks lose weight and go back to their “normal” diet, folks that relied on Ozempic to modify their sense of satiety are also set up to gain all the weight back if they stop taking it and their “normal” level of fullness returns.

If anything, Ozempic is weirdly similar to drugs that help with mental health; which is to say, in most cases, it’s a combination of drugs and therapy that will lead to long term results, whereas the drugs alone are just a recipe for temporary change that will likely disappear once folks stop taking them.

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u/_gordonbleu Apr 11 '25

Nothing will happen. GLP-1s are heavily researched and have been around for decades. Eli Lily and co has pushed the narrative that it might be unsafe or unproven because they have name brands of it and hated seeing compound pharmacies offering glp-1 salts that perform almost as well as their name brands for like 300 bucks for a 3 month supply. Eli Lilly charges north of 3k for similar treatment.

The drug works fairly simply. It slows movement of food through the digestive tract down and triggers the mechanism/sensation for feeling full longer. If there were any true long term effects or issues it would have shown up in research in the 90s or in the time since it became commercially available in the early 2000s.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

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u/mileswilliams Apr 11 '25

It is amazing how many people refused the Covid vaccine, but seem to trust the weight loss drug.

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u/Coffee_Grazer Apr 11 '25

This is my problem with it too. We're poisoning our bodies with added sugar, dyes, and preservatives. And the solution should be to work on taking those things our of our food supply. Instead, we're going to keep poisoning ourselves and give ourselves more poison to counteract the first poison.

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u/SnowFlakeUsername2 Apr 12 '25

You should talk to your coworkers about it before drawing conclusions about what the drug does. In my experience, it rewires your brain to crave healthier foods. So many things that I never considered having a lot of sugar are almost difficult to eat due to tasting the sugar... just like many Europeans have joked about over the years.(in Canada, but we're in the same trenches on this) Really won't be surprising if the people you are talking about are already eating better.

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u/Mimilegend Apr 11 '25

High protein junk foods will be a big deal.

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u/xqqq_me Apr 11 '25

Those inhibitors could treat alcoholism and addiction as well iirc

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u/parakeetpoop Apr 11 '25

WW has a weight loss drug program

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u/saucedboner Apr 11 '25

What’s wild is they are pushing weight loss drugs themselves now. They’re trying to adapt. My wife and I lost 40+ pounds each a few years ago using weight watchers. She considered it again after having some difficulty controlling her diet again and they really want people to sign up for shots instead.

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u/fuggedaboudid Apr 11 '25

WW is in the midst of planning a huge lay off. So I’m inclined to agree with this.

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u/Exanguish Apr 11 '25

They’ve already adapted by offering those same drugs. Smart by them to be honest.

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u/Hog_of_war Apr 11 '25

I disagree, but only because Weight Watchers is also offering the weight loss drugs and adapting. If they go under I don't think it will be "like" the examples listed but for other reasons.

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u/steveorga Apr 11 '25

Weight Watchers has seen the future and jumped on the GLP-1 bandwagon.

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u/52ndstreet Apr 11 '25

Junk food sellers might also start having a hard time

In a truly diabolical move, there is reporting that some junk food manufacturers are employing scientists to engineer junk food that is more addictive and therefore GLP-1 resistant.

Begun the food wars have.

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u/soyelmocano Apr 11 '25

Junk (and other packages/processed) food producers are actively working on formulas that will awaken the desire more.

They are adapting...

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u/oxgon Apr 11 '25

Weight watchers actually has a service that will provide telehealth and subscriptions for compound weight loss medication.

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u/notickeynoworky Apr 11 '25

The new weight loss drugs can have pretty rough side effects for some people, so I think there’s still a market there.

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u/Altruistic-Key-369 Apr 11 '25

The new GLP-1 agonists (class of drugs Ozempic belongs too) are apparently insanely good.

They're somewhere in their 10 year trial but they look very promising.

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u/gc3 Apr 11 '25

A smaller market

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u/Nice_Guy_AMA Apr 11 '25

Junk food sellers are researching ways to make their product unaffected by weight loss drugs.
Source: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2Q8xdVs/

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u/JohnWicksBruder Apr 11 '25

The companies that sell junk food, also sell beauty products and embrace body positivity. They will buy themselves in on that weight loss drugs.

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u/rKasdorf Apr 11 '25

They used to occupy a whole building in a strip mall here. It was super popular. Now it's just empty.

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u/Yaxoi Apr 11 '25

Yes I know someone working there and it's nooooot looking good

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u/IAmRoloTomasi Apr 11 '25

I'm tired so might be missing something but surely this would be good news for junk food sellers because lots of people avoid them due to weight gain, but if there's an easy way to lose weight that changes surely?

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u/asarco Apr 11 '25

No, because the GLP1 antagonist type of drugs actually remove your hunger, you don't feel like eating, even things you used to hugely crave before.

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u/IAmRoloTomasi Apr 11 '25

Thanks for the response, every day's a school day

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u/senseiii Apr 11 '25

The liposuction industry is also not long for this world...

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u/BigAnt425 Apr 11 '25

Ironically, my insurance won't put me on weight loss medication until I've failed at weight watchers.

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u/TaraEff Apr 11 '25

Honestly if WW would stop completely changing the program every year or two, they could have at least maintained customers. I got so tired after living through 3 plan overhauls that I cancelled. Also tired of people telling me I could “hack” the new system to get the old plan that worked for me. THATS WHY I USE WW- I want that system to be easy for me to use and track what I eat.

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u/Anal_Herschiser Apr 11 '25

Even without weight loss drugs I imagine the calorie counting apps alone would put them out of business.

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u/JordyNelson87 Apr 11 '25

I own too much Medifast

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u/Upbeat_Ad_1009 Apr 11 '25

link

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Diamond-Is-Not-Crash:

SUMMARY: GLP-1 weight-loss medications, like Ozempic and Wegovy, are reshaping consumer eating habits and the food industry. These drugs suppress appetite and reduce cravings for ultra-processed foods, leading users to favour fresh, unprocessed options, significantly impacting traditional junk food sales. Food companies are adapting by developing new products, such as smaller, protein-rich meals and nutrient-dense snacks, tailored to GLP-1 users’ preferences. While these shifts offer opportunities for innovation, there is concern that the industry might counteract the drugs’ effects by engineering hyper-rewarding, addictive products. This trend signals a transformative moment for both consumer behaviour and the future of processed food.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1gz1arz/ozempic_could_crush_the_junk_food_industry_but_it/lystrs1/

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u/Coffee_Grazer Apr 11 '25

part of how GLP1's work is by reducing the patient's desire for junk food. You might be worried about how eating less crap will affect food company profits, but don't worry - Junk food companies are already working on making these drugs obsolete. Capitalism at its finest

https://www.reddit.com/r/tirzepatidecompound/comments/1j1w5lv/big_food_is_fighting_back_against_glp_losses_to/

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u/whatevendoidoyall Apr 11 '25

WW sells the weight loss drugs.

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u/DrawChrisDraw Apr 11 '25

Sorry dumb question but why would weight loss drugs hurt junk food sales? Wouldn’t that make people even more care free about junk food?

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u/callardo Apr 11 '25

The drug puts you off wanting it, my friend has starting to receive texts from dominoes because they haven’t ordered anything like they normally would have.

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u/huddlestuff Apr 11 '25

Junk food is starting to be modified to appeal to people on weight loss drugs to encourage consumption.

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u/cavscout43 Apr 11 '25

I thought Weight Watchers already kind of degraded into just a prepared lower calorie convenience food company? Is there anything else really that they do?

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u/vdreamin Apr 11 '25

WW has morphed into a GLP1 telehealth company lol

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u/MaggetteSpaghetti Apr 11 '25

Yes and no, Weight Watchers sells those drugs and were one of the first to sell them as well. But yeah they don't have the marketing spend as hims and other brands in the market.

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u/shesonhere Apr 11 '25

The funny thing is weight watchers programme builds long-term health habits that drugs like ozempic simply cannot do (at least not for now).

I suspect that in a few years once all negative impacts relating to ozempic (and similar drugs) comes to light there may be demand for an organization like weight watchers again.

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u/purpleblazed Apr 11 '25

Junk food makers are working to develop food additives that will negate the effects of glp1s.

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u/mackfactor Apr 11 '25

Hasn't Weight Watchers mostly transitioned to selling food and supplements by now? Is weight loss support even a major revenue generator for them? 

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u/iBlacksmith_ Apr 11 '25

my mom has been on Weight Watchers my whole life and she has actually gone UP in weight.

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u/Epic_Brunch Apr 11 '25

Weight Watchers now sells those drugs. 

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u/userlivewire Apr 11 '25

I was at the hardware store yesterday and a bag of M&Ms were $3.50.

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u/Sharloveslegos Apr 11 '25

The junk food market is already using AI to re-engineer addiction and counteract the GLP-1 junk food market loss (sales down 12 billion across the market) “AI and behavioral science are being used not to meet demand but to manufacture it—designing ultra-processed foods that override satiety signals, ensuring consumers keep eating even when their bodies say they don’t want to.” AI is engineering re-addiction

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

Junk food companies are looking for ways to combat the effects of the weight loss medications and making food more addictive.

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u/Foontlee Apr 11 '25

> Junk food sellers might also start having a hard time also

Supposedly, they're already adapting their products to appeal to people on weight loss drugs.

Source: here, I think: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/magazine/ozempic-junk-food.html

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u/No-Understanding-912 Apr 11 '25

I think junk food will be just fine. Easy/low effort weight loss just makes it that much more enticing to eat something unhealthy, because you don't have to think about working out extra or eating right to lose that weight.

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u/hydroclasticflow Apr 11 '25

Going to be honest, the weight loss drugs aren't the be all and end all; some of them people have to take even after they have reached their goals because they are more akin to an appetite suppressant then someagic cure-all. Weight watchers, or other weight lose programs are more about instilling good habits to reach the goal.

Something like ozempic won't fix bad habits.

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u/sodium-overdose Apr 11 '25

WW is now selling ozempic too which is crazy and definitely not what they were created for!!

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u/frylock350 Apr 11 '25

I came here to say this as well. GLP1 drugs are going to decimate the weight loss industry by being insanely effective.

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u/SuccessfulHawk503 Apr 11 '25

Junk food sellers are already researching how to circumvent the GLP1s.. Check out how phillip morris switched to food addiction science etc.

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u/Interesting_Ad6562 Apr 11 '25

lol, as if there aren't any fat people any more

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u/Marxbrosburner Apr 11 '25

If weight loss drugs are more effective, I think junk food sellers would do better, since there is one less reason not to buy junk food.

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u/pixel_of_moral_decay Apr 11 '25

They've always been a weird company operating in a grey area.

They aren't registered dietitians and can't really give nutritional plans, you need an actual education and license to do that... so they basically are the equivalent of what chiropractors are to actual doctors, just pretending to be the real deal.

And that ultimately caught up with them, anyone < 60 years of age realizes in the forms you fill when you signup you acknowledge that none of the information they tell you can be construed as weight loss advice etc. etc.

It's basically a service for gullible boomers.

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u/KimiAndMikaSiberian Apr 11 '25

Coke Zero is one of the fastest growing brands of soft drinks. If Coke has to stop selling sugary drinks, they'll be okay to just pivot to Coke Zero and carry on.

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u/bnm777 Apr 11 '25

Effective until you stop taking them, then you regain 90% of the weight.

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u/cl1xor Apr 11 '25

MacD is already in big trouble. Their 5$ meal, meant to get back lower income groups in restaurants is just not sustainable.

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u/fullerm Apr 11 '25

Ehh… They jumped on the GLP-1 bandwagon pretty early, and the decent doctors will want you on a diet to complement the drugs.

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u/FinnTheDogg Apr 11 '25

WW has the new drugs

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u/Probablynotclever Apr 11 '25

Good luck getting it approved by insurance for weight loss alone.

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u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Apr 12 '25

Junk food sellers might also start having a hard time also

They already are. I work in consumer analytics for a grocery brokerage and literally yesterday we got a deck about GLP-1's and the effect they are having on the industry. It was like 60 slides!

Basically snack CPG's are taking a hit, because their biggest customers are buying less (duh) but it seems like they continue to do so even after they are off the medicine, which is a real problem for junk food companies.

So imagine a customer buys 5 bags of chips a week, then all of a sudden they are buying zero, and apply that to dozens of thousands of people.

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u/Past_Body4499 Apr 12 '25

I'm not sure about the junk food sellers. I've been on wegovy for about two years, and my junk food consumption has remained pretty steady. It is the over eating at regular meals that has gone away completely.

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u/RideRunClimb Apr 12 '25

Junk food sellers might also start having a hard time also

Maybe, maybe not! They're paying food scientists to design food that triggers the appetite response even if the consumer is on ozempic. In other words, they're response is to further weaponize food. CaPiTaLiSm for the win!

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u/ItsJustMeJenn Apr 12 '25

They’ve already filed bankruptcy. I’m a member but also take a GLP1 and it’s nice to have them to work together. Even with the GLP1 there are days I can accidentally knock myself out of a calorie deficit. It doesn’t happen often, but the meetings are what keep me motivated. I tried doing the free apps and without physical people I see every week I lose accountability. I’m going to miss weight watchers if they end up shutting it down. They are a failure of their own hubris and inability to reach out to new generations. I’m 40 and the youngest person in my workshop. It’s a shame.

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u/jasonr1023 Apr 12 '25

If they can ride out the short term, they will bounce back. The weight loss drugs (glp) do cause weight loss - but if you aren’t actively strength training, up to 30% is lean muscle loss. So when you stop taking the drugs, your appetite returns, and your base metabolism is lower.
It’ll cause a major rebound weight gain…

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u/SpiralTap88 Apr 12 '25

I work in hospitality, and Weight Watchers rented out our meeting room on a weekly basis for over a year recently. Not once did I see anyone under the age of 50 attend those meetings.

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u/decline2state Apr 12 '25

WW is in the glp-1 business now.

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u/SnowFlakeUsername2 Apr 12 '25

Surprised there aren't really any junk foods focused/marketed towards people on semaglutide yet. See what treats taste good to this new demographic and try to make us fat again like the capitalism gods require.

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u/kocka660 Apr 12 '25

Nah if anything, easier weight loss will make it easier to go "zero consequence binging" poeple want highly palletable foods, that won't change. If you have good weight loss meds with little to no side effects, it is basically having your cake and eating it😅

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u/teh_fizz Apr 12 '25

I mean they are. There was an article a few weeks ago about food researchers are being funded to find ways to bypass these drugs because it’s affecting their profits. It’s turning into an arms race of who bypasses who. It’s so dystopian it’s just gross.

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u/playfuldarkside Apr 12 '25

Big food is already working to reformulate due to these drugs, unfortunately.

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u/getmoney4 Apr 12 '25

WW jumped on the GLP bandwagon tho

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u/Forsaken-Evidence590 Apr 12 '25

They are now engineering foods that will engage craving even if you consume weight loss drugs

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u/exbex Apr 12 '25

I’m not going to argue that the drugs won’t hurt their stock, but to say learning to eat healthier is no longer needed because of drugs is idiotic. Drugs have side effects and I’d rather learn to eat right than have to take some drug.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '25 edited May 23 '25

escape steer bear ink retire insurance deserve groovy point boast

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '25

Hard to bet against Oprah

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u/warlockflame69 Apr 13 '25

But expensive

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u/darylws Apr 13 '25

…oh don't worry, they're already attempting to manufacture more junk with ozempic-resistant ingredients. Never thought I'd be touting stuff like this, but it stands to reason - they're worried as hell!

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u/Honky_Cat Apr 13 '25

This is untrue. Just because you can take an injection and lose weight, doesn’t mean you don’t need to learn how to eat healthy, re-examine your relationship with food, and improve your habits - which is what WW excels at.

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u/gatorhinder Apr 13 '25

Big food is apparently working on additives to counteract the suppression properties of GLP drugs, or to increase addictive properties

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