What are Dr. Phil’s '6 Rules to Get ON IT' and how were they developed with AstraZeneca?
Executive summary
Dr. Phil McGraw’s “6 Rules to Get ON IT” are the centerpiece of the ON IT Movement — a public-awareness campaign launched in partnership with AstraZeneca to help adults with type 2 diabetes overcome psychological barriers and stick to treatment plans [1] [2]. Reporting and company materials describe the rules as a six-step, psychology‑based roadmap drawn from McGraw’s personal experience as a long‑time patient and his background as a clinical psychologist, but the specific textual list of the six rules is presented on ONITMovement.com and in campaign materials rather than reproduced in the company press pieces summarized here [2] [3].
1. Origins: a celebrity patient meets a pharmaceutical campaign
AstraZeneca announced the ON IT Movement in 2016, framing it as part of the company’s broader diabetes efforts and naming Philip McGraw — who says he has lived with type 2 diabetes for roughly 25 years — as the campaign’s public face; AstraZeneca presented the partnership as a way to combine drug‑maker resources with McGraw’s ability to address the psychology of adherence [4] [5]. Company press releases and the AstraZeneca blog say the movement was designed to “empower adults living with type 2 diabetes to make a personal commitment to live a healthier life,” and they identify Dr. Phil’s six rules as the campaign’s core practical guidance [1] [2].
2. What the movement says it aims to do — and how the rules fit
AstraZeneca and related coverage characterize the six rules as guidance to help people “create a plan and stick to it” by addressing motivation, accountability and the psychological hurdles to long‑term self‑care; Dr. Phil is billed as using both his patient story and psychological training to communicate those points [2] [5]. The ON IT campaign also used media appearances and a dedicated website to amplify the rules and to encourage people to work with healthcare providers on individualized treatment goals [3] [2].
3. Where the rules came from — development and messaging
Public materials indicate the rules emerged from the collaboration between McGraw and AstraZeneca as a messaging vehicle for patient education: AstraZeneca provided the platform and campaign infrastructure while McGraw contributed content rooted in his clinical‑psychology framing and lived experience with diabetes [4] [2]. The company framed the project as part of a broader strategy to support patients “through education programs and resources” and advocacy — including a Capitol Hill event tied to the ON IT Movement — rather than as clinical guidance or a drug promotion per se [6] [2].
4. Commercial context and conflict‑of‑interest concerns
Several industry outlets noted a commercial angle: AstraZeneca pursues growth in diabetes treatments (including GLP‑1 drugs such as Bydureon) and has incentive to raise disease awareness, and subsequent reporting flagged that McGraw has been a paid spokesperson for the company’s diabetes products, which raises predictable ethical questions about the intersection of celebrity advocacy and pharma marketing [7] [8]. Coverage explicitly warned that celebrity partnerships can backfire if audiences perceive unbalanced promotion or if treatment choices are oversimplified in a media campaign [8].
5. Reception, limitations and what the sources do not show
Mainstream reporting and AstraZeneca’s own posts present the ON IT Movement as patient‑centered outreach and cite diabetes prevalence and costs to justify the effort, but the materials assembled here do not publish the full verbatim text of the six rules within every press summary — they point readers to OnItMovement.com and to campaign videos for the detailed list [1] [2] [3]. Independent critiques exist about celebrity–pharma ties [8], and other reporting on Dr. Phil’s programs has raised broader concerns about his therapeutic practices in separate contexts, which observers might consider when evaluating the campaign [9]. The sources provided do not include independent evaluations of whether the six rules improve clinical outcomes.
Conclusion
The “6 Rules to Get ON IT” were developed as a behavioral, psychology‑oriented framework co‑branded by Dr. Phil and AstraZeneca, deployed through the ON IT Movement to encourage people with type 2 diabetes to commit to treatment plans; AstraZeneca supplied campaign infrastructure while McGraw supplied the psychological framing and personal testimonial, and the partnership has drawn both promotion and scrutiny because of the company’s commercial interests in diabetes medicines [2] [4] [8]. For the exact wording of each rule and the campaign’s detailed materials, the primary ON IT campaign pages and videos cited in the company and media pieces are the direct sources [3] [2].