The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has taken action against weight loss drug providers Voy, Juniper and MedExpress for promoting prescription-only weight loss pills to the public.
The ASA said that the ads banned today include two from Voy’s “The weight is over” campaign, one of which has appeared on the side of buses around the UK and shows a hand holding a white pill beside the campaign phrase.
The other Voy ad, shown on video-on-demand services in August, featured a pill alongside the words “Oral weight support” and “It’s kind of a small deal”.
Read more: First oral weight loss drug ads banned by watchdog
Both ads featured “smaller text referring to a glucomannan food supplement”, the watchdog added.
It said the imagery and wording used in both ads “were likely to lead people to understand they were advertising the newly available oral Wegovy tablets, rather than a food supplement”.
“The small-print references to glucomannan weren’t enough to change that impression, and the video-on-demand ad also directed people to a website featuring prescription-only weight loss medicines,” it added.
Read more: GPhC takes action against two major weight loss pharmacies
The ASA also banned ads by Juniper and MedExpress that it said promoted oral prescription-only medicines (POMs) for weight loss “without naming them directly”.
It said a YouTube ad for Juniper stated “The weight loss pill is here”, alongside claims about results and eligibility, while an Instagram ad for MedExpress referred to “New weight loss tablets” and “No needles” and invited people to “Join the waitlist”.
Read more: Exclusive: GPhC takes first enforcement action over POM ads
Advertising regulations prohibit the promotion of POMs to the public in the UK, meaning it is against the law to the advertise or market prescription-only weight loss drugs.
The ASA said its own consumer research found that “people can interpret an ad as promoting a POM based on a combination of signals, including its images, wording and references to weight loss”.
“This means an ad can break these rules even if it doesn’t name the medicine directly,” it added.
“Won’t hesitate to take action”
ASA investigations manager Catherine Drewett said the rulings “make clear that advertisers need to consider the overall impression their ads create”.
“A medicine doesn’t need to be named for an ad to be understood as promoting a prescription-only medicine and references to a non-medicinal product in small print won’t necessarily change that impression,” she added.
“Using our AI monitoring, we have this sector under ongoing review, and we won’t hesitate to take action against ads that break the rules”.
Providers’ responses
A spokesperson for MedExpress told C+D that “the advert in question was identified following routine internal review before we were contacted by the ASA and the advert was removed from all platforms”.
“We will continue to work closely with regulators and review our marketing materials on an ongoing basis,” they added.
Read more: From a lawyer: Can regulators enforce weight loss drug laws?
Voy chief medical officer Dr Earim Chaudry said the campaigns concerned “were developed to align with UK advertising standards”, and that Voy keeps “all our advertising under continual review to ensure it meets any updated guidance”.
“We actioned withdrawal of the adverts while the investigation was under way and will not run them again,” he added. “We cooperated fully with the ASA throughout and acted promptly on its feedback.”
“We have an established relationship with the ASA, working with them on individual matters and proactively on the wider regulatory landscape. We believe working collaboratively as this fast-evolving area develops will ensure patients are protected and can safely access appropriate care.”
Read more: ASA rules against Bolt Pharmacy over Facebook weight loss page
Juniper did not respond to C+D’s request for comment.
It comes after ASA last month banned ads promoting oral weight loss drugs for the first time.
And it follows the General Pharmaceutical Council in September taking enforcement action against a pharmacy over the advertisement of POMs for the first time.
