How to advertise on The Human Upgrade: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

The Human Upgrade sells its host-read inventory direct, quoted per campaign rather than off a public rate card. Spotsnow attributes roughly 96% of the show's ads to direct response, which is about as close to a fully coded, attributable feed as podcast advertising gets. Its anchor buyer, iRestore, has run roughly 46 to 54 ads here. For a brand weighing this show, that mix reads as a place where performance dollars keep coming back, not a one-off awareness play. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys.

Full profile: The Human Upgrade on Spotsnow.

Why The Human Upgrade is built for host-read direct response

The host is Dave Asprey, the entrepreneur widely called the father of biohacking and a New York Times bestselling author. The show sits in health and fitness, the same lane its supplement, longevity, and device advertisers occupy.

With Spotsnow attributing about 96% of ads to direct response, the format does real work: codes, vanity URLs, and clean attribution let a buyer tie a sale back to a specific read. Spotsnow estimates the audience at roughly 210,000 listeners, and calls that a reach estimate, not a counted figure. What makes the format land here is the show's structure. Asprey spends whole episodes explaining mechanisms, so when he pivots into a product read on red light or a microbiome test, the listener is already in a learning posture. That sustained attention is exactly what a host-read borrows.

The influence shows up off the feed too. Spotsnow data shows a 4.6 Apple Podcasts rating from roughly 6,600 to 7,300 ratings, with Asprey carrying about 1.4 million Instagram followers and around 278,000 YouTube subscribers. The audience skews slightly female, concentrates in the young to mid-adult range, leans high-income, and sits mostly in the US. That's a buyer's dream for premium health products.

Who is advertising on The Human Upgrade

Spotsnow tracks roughly 99 to 116 advertisers on the show, dominated by longevity, supplement, and biohacking-device DTC names, with a few auto and B2B spots mixed in. Recognizable buyers include Autotrader, Kia, GoFundMe, Pipedrive, and Viome.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

iRestore

iRestore sells clinically backed low-level laser light therapy devices for hair regrowth, plus LED face masks and supplements. Spotsnow data shows roughly 46 to 54 ads and estimated total spend over $100K, classified direct response. Hair-regrowth light therapy maps straight onto an audience that already buys red-light panels and device-based longevity tools.

Gatlin

Gatlin runs a blend of host reads and produced spots on the show. Spotsnow data shows roughly 17 to 20 ads and estimated total spend over $100K, a mix of direct-response and produced creative. It's the useful outlier here: proof the feed works for more than one creative approach and more than one objective.

Viome

Viome sells at-home microbiome and gene-expression tests with personalized nutrition and supplement guidance. Spotsnow data shows roughly 13 to 16 ads and estimated total spend over $40K, classified direct response. It's a clean fit for listeners already primed on gut health, personalized nutrition, and measurable self-optimization.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why health and fitness brands cluster here

Asprey doesn't just have an audience. He has an audience that treats supplements, testing, and devices as a normal line item. That's why the roster tilts so hard toward products that need explaining before they sell. When the host has spent years teaching people why mitochondria matter, a device that claims to boost them doesn't have to fight for credibility. It borrows his. Pair that with a high-income, US-heavy base that's already comfortable spending on health, and you get a feed where a $100-plus product read can pay back. The clustering isn't a coincidence. It's the audience's mindset matched to the host's authority, and it's the reason the same categories keep buying instead of testing once and leaving.

How your ad could sound

What works: the read opens on biology, not the brand. "A lot of looking good is about biology," Asprey says, tying red light therapy to the show's whole thesis before iRestore is ever named. The personal endorsement lands ("I use both as part of my longevity protocol"), and a specific timeframe ("about three months") plus a 12-month money-back guarantee cut the risk of a first purchase.

Worth improving: the spot leans on device specs ("300 lasers and 200 LEDs") and never states a clear promo code or short URL in the captured window, so the attribution feels buried in a direct-response read. The call to action also lacks urgency, resting on "right now at a big discount" without a deadline. A named code and a firm offer window would tighten the payback.

View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The format carries the pitch. With about 96% of ads coded to direct response, buyers can tie a sale to a specific read rather than guess at lift.
2. Host credibility transfers to the product. Asprey built the biohacking category, so a health read arrives with authority already attached.
3. The audience is primed to buy. High-income, US-heavy, and health-obsessed listeners already spend on supplements, tests, and devices.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. iRestore's roughly 46 to 54 ads are not a test. That's a brand that ran the numbers and kept spending.

The Human Upgrade in a nutshell

The listeners skew slightly female, land in the young to mid-adult range, earn well, and sit mostly in the US. The buyers already there are longevity, supplement, and device brands like iRestore, Gatlin, and Viome, running mostly host-read direct response. The show is sold direct and quoted per campaign, not off a rate card. If your objective is coded, attributable performance in health and wellness, this feed fits the brief; awareness-only buys are the exception here, not the rule.