In the month since the FDA approved over-the-counter sale of diet drug alli (low-dose orlistat), the initial wave of enthusiasm has subsided as GlaxoSmithKline maintains a low-profile while preparing to launch a premarketing educational campaign for the diet pill.

This campaign -- which Glaxo and the FDA agreed should run for several months before alli (pronounced AL-eye) goes on sale -- is expected to start soon, since the company said that it hopes to have the half-strength version of prescription Xenical on pharmacy and supermarket shelves this summer.

The FDA, before okaying alli as the first and only weight-loss product it has ever approved that will be available to consumers without a prescription, was insistent that consumers not be led to view it as a "magic pill" but be educated to the need to combine it with a reduced-calorie diet and exercise program.

So far, this educational program consists solely of an extremely slick website -- myalli.com -- featuring graphics of very modestly overweight individuals and, as is so often the case with direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, embedding cautionary parts of the message amid such marketing slogans as:

• "Start the revolution here"
• "You are not alone"
• "If you have the will, we have the power"
• "It's a chance to prove yourself to yourself"

The most interesting part of the "plan" -- which at this point is promoted on the website but not demonstrated -- is Glaxo's intention to provide alli purchases who register online with "a customized action plan, based on confidential answers you provide in a brief survey.

"As you check in , you’ll get immediate feedback on your progress, plus specific guidance on next steps. You can also access recipes, menus, and interactive tools. And remember, this innovative support program is available online 24 hours a day."

But even this element of the alli campaign is not unique. The Reader's Digest for several years has had a website called changeone.com which similarly encouraged dieters to register, track their progress, and benefit from individualized tools including "My Activity Plan," "My Meal Plan," and others.

Nevertheless, an advertising campaign promoting myalli.com apparently will begin shortly.

"One of the first things we will do is use television advertising and magazing advertising to direct people to the web," said Steven L. Burton, Vice President, Weight Control, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. "We want to build as much awareness as we can behind myalli.com."

While Glaxo has indicated that about a month prior to launch, it intends to begin selling a book called "Are You Losing It?" in pharmacies and grocery stories where the diet pill will subsequently appear, no one has yet explained how this $6 book will be wildly different than many other weight-loss books.

An indication that Glaxo may not be planning on off-the-chart book sales perhaps comes in its announcement that profits from the book -- but not profits from the pill -- will be "going to help fight childhood obesity."