Hims & Hers Marketing Hews to the Physician’s Rule: Do No Harm

If you are still on Twitter these days, try a little experiment: Do a search for Hims & Hers. Note what pops up. You’ll find three clear categories of commentary. Category one: droll one-liners pointing out that the brand sells libido-enhancing drugs for men and antidepressants for women. Some like to point out that there’s a kind of freshness in the bare-naked honesty of this polemic approach when it comes to the seemingly existential condition of the sexes. Category two: LGBTQ+ folks who label binary people as “hims and hers.” Within this category, commentary on the Hims & Hers brand seems to be one of wry acceptance: They are, after all, used to being misunderstood and underrepresented. Category three: cynics. There are many who wonder how legit the company is. Social media commenters question how the brand can keep the promises they make in its direct-to-consumer marketing without the American Medical Association’s imprimatur, let alone one’s own doctor screening the offerings. In spite of the doubters, the Hims & Hers brand has skipped lightly over this murky pond. But as the rise of DTC ecommerce meets telemedicine, including mental health care, Hims & Hers will increasingly have to navigate skeptics in both the medical community and the nonbinary communities. So far, Hims & Hers’ impressive growth has served to insulate it from such challenges. For now. Modernizing the Marketing of 160-year-old Health Care Giant Bayer A positive prognosis An analysts' consensus on Nasdaq shows positive expectations for Hims & Hers ahead of its quarterly earnings report next week. Even before the company went public in January 2021 via a $1.6 billion special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Oaktree Acquisition Corp, Hims & Hers picked up over $200 million in eight funding rounds. All the while, it’s built a steadily growing customer base. In August, subscriptions on the Hims & Hers platform rose 80% to 817,000 from the same period a year before. The company’s addition of Google Android apps in September also is expected to continue its momentum. Certainly, Wall Street analysts and casual social media observers don’t look at things the same way. If anything, the persistent questions consumers have about the brand demonstrates its ability to attract, if not completely satisfy, curiosity about how a “new model health and wellness” company operates. The brand attempts to balance its binary brand identity with a wider appeal to all. Is it working? Viva la difference? One reason Hims & Hers attracts so much discussion is rooted in its direct style. It seems to revel in taking sharp aim at issues still mired in stigma by most traditional health care purveyors. Hims & Hers presents itself as a judgment-free zone, a landing page for people who may be feeling very vulnerable. In the words of a brand spokesperson, who asked not to be named, “Many of the conditions for which we offer access to treatments—sexual health, mental health, dermatology—don’t just impact one aspect of a person’s life; they can cause broader anxiety, feelings of helplessness, etc. We want people to know that they are not alone in dealing with these conditions, that it is okay to talk about them, that there are treatments that can help and that these treatments can be accessed in a convenient and safe manner.” It’s a feel-good message. But it can be limited in 2022. The brand’s message remains strictly bifurcated between men and women—and no one else. That’s despite consumers’ wider acceptance of nonbinary marketing over the last two years. The appeal, then, is reflected by tapping into traditional gender roles. There are still plenty of people who don’t want to imagine that the other sex is looking at them while they shop for very personal solutions to issues from hair loss to mood disorders, conditions that are not sexy and often isolating. According to a Hims & Hers spokesperson, there are no plans to change that stance. “The approach and science for treatment of many of the conditions addressed on the platform differ for men and women. Understanding this is key to being able to offer safe, effective and personalized experiences,” the Hims & Hers spokesperson told Adweek. As to these differences, one would think that the approach for nonbinary people would require specialized services and outreach. To that point, Hims & Hers said that all providers on their platform receive training in treating LGBTQ+ patients. Hims & Hers and everyone else The brand cited work with Dr. Mitchell Lunn and Dr. Juno Obedin-Maliver of the PRIDE study at Stanford University, who lead training for Hims & Hers’ providers. “We helped Hims & Hers develop their training toward LGBTQ+ cultural competency through our LLC, LGBTQ+ Health Consulting,” Obedin-Maliver said. “The company has invested in expanding its reach and responsiveness to LGBTQ+ communities and that is meaningful.” Don’t expect any addition of “Thems” branding anytime soon, the company indicated. Hims & Hers stands by its gendered brand offerings. The company pointed to research, particularly focus groups and surveys, it’s done in partnership with what a spokesman said was “over 150 LGBTQIA+ experts and community members working to improve inclusivity.” However, the company did not provide a list of those resources. “Through this research, we heard significant feedback that a standalone gender neutral or nonbinary brand wouldn’t achieve the inclusivity we are seeking to achieve, and that it could in fact be alienating to certain members of the community.” In lieu of opening up the platform to specific nonbinary consumers, Hims & Hers has tried a softer form of outreach to that community and millennials. For example, the company tapped Miley Cyrus as a creative advisor in 2021. And the company partnered with The Trevor Project to sponsor drag performers Violet Chachki and Gottmik for their 2022 "No Gorge" Pride Tour, during which the queens spoke enthusiastically about their love of Hims & Hers products, such as its hair loss treatment and over-the-virtual-counter “calming drops.” It’s all under the brand’s ethos that’s close to a marketing version of the physician’s dictum to “do no harm.” Wondermind Wants to Get Your Mental Health in Shape Getting into position The company’s origins began in 2017 as Hims. As the name clearly stated, it was a brand for men’s health and wellness care. Primarily, Hims' focus was on delivering medications for erectile dysfunction and hair loss. The ads staked out a position that was, well, decidedly ballsy. The brand took a warmer, softer tone when it launched Hers the following year. Hers was a platform for women interested in discreetly purchasing birth control pills. It also offered remedies for female sexual issues such as flibanserin, a medication that addresses low libido. The company’s marketing has continued to act as a disruptor with a heart of gold. It’s gradually added welcoming websites selling personal care products and, as of April 2020, access to mental health services and medications. With a crisis of available and affordable psychological services two years after the pandemic emerged, it’s another area Hims & Hers is trying to put its personal stamp on. Mental health openings and obstacles The ramping up of mental health services comes at a time when consumers are increasingly dubious about tech startups. Hims & Hers has taken on a tall order dealing in services to vulnerable consumers who are used to battling misinformation, scams and false promises. One cannot help but marvel at the number of obstacles and the myriad dangers involved in such an endeavor. One doubter about the rise of telehealth is Jamieson Webster. A physiologist and author, Webster is professor at the New School for Social Research, where she supervises doctoral students in clinical psychology. She’s especially concerned about those seeking mental health medication through the promise of faceless, instant online platforms. “I’m fairly cynical,” Webster said. “Even if this helps some people, [it could harm more vulnerable mental health patients] since it’s easy and anonymous—and nothing could be worse than that. Without oversight, without a sense of side effects and watching to see if they really help above and beyond a person’s attachment to taking a substance, they tend to help only minimally.” Good therapy takes more than seeing patients “online for 20 minutes,” Webster noted. Care depends on making sure drugs are taken in a process that allows for a professional relationship with an accountable caregiver. Webster fears a world where there’s “no real responsibility for [patients] because it’s some platform and I click on and click off. I have no doubt that these beautiful and weirdly gendered platforms are sneaking in the lowest quality care for a population that is becoming more and more desperate.” Agencies Must Advance in Health Care Messaging by Practicing Empathy In response to the concerns of skeptics, Hims & Hers spokesperson said, "Trust and safety are critically important and we take this responsibility incredibly seriously. It’s important to remember that 'direct-to-consumer, in this case, doesn’t remove the clinical providers or their expertise or authority from the equation." The brand added that care is delivered through "licensed providers who are required to use their independent medical judgment and expertise in diagnosing and treating patients." The company insisted that the providers it works with "are subject to the same standard of care as they would in a more traditional setting." As for Hims & Hers' mental health offering, the company pointed out that it does not offer access to controlled substances. Additionally, the company said it has established protocols and mechanisms to ensure that customers who seek psychiatric treatment for anxiety or depression undergo a heightened cadence of check-ins. Hims & Hers' awareness of the sensitivity of the issues surrounding psychological treatment in a telehealth setting recognizes the ways the wider health care industry will have to catch up. In a general sense, Louisa Holland, executive officer for science integration at the ad agency VMLY&R Health, offered a caveat with a sanguine view of what brands and medical professionals face in this new wellness landscape. “I don’t think anyone should get a prescription for any mental health product without first spending time with a therapist and a physician trained in psychopharmacology,” Holland said. “However, it’s perfectly fine to receive that support via telehealth. Telehealth itself isn’t the issue. The issue is whether the quality of healthcare provided by the service is appropriate for the medical need.”