Thanksgiving dinners are mostly back to normal now after some pandemic awfulness, but this year saw another unexpected guest: the rise of anti-obesity medication like Ozempic, which some love and some hate. The good news: Such drugs curb people’s ravenous appetites. The bad: What do those taking it do for a holiday centered around binge eating? For The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng, this problem perfectly sums up his adopted nation.
Ozempic having an effect on Thanksgiving is the most American story ever. @ronnychieng pic.twitter.com/xPMS1O5yPd
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 22, 2023
“This is the most American story ever,” Chieng said during a segment on the show’s episode Wednesday night. “Big Pharma created a drug to help Americans eat less, and now they’re having anxiety over what they’re going to do on the eating holiday.”
Chieng did see one silver lining. “I will say Ozempic is great for people whose parents can’t cook,” he explained, imagining such people saying, “No, mom, I’m not hungry because of the Ozempic. It’s not because your dry turkey tastes like sh*t.”
He concluded that those on the drug can “focus on the real meaning of Thanksgiving: Friends, family, and remembering the time the Pilgrims and the Native Americans shared a meal and watched the Super Bowl and nothing bad ever happened after that, ever.”
Chieng, who was born in Malaysia and grew up in both Singapore and America, also explained what Thanksgiving looks like to an outsider, saying he “still can’t believe is a real holiday.” He added, “I asked someone what happens on Thanksgiving, and he said, ‘Uh, we all get together and eat.’ And I was like, ‘So it’s dinner?’”
You can watch Chieng’s Daily Show segment in the tweet above.