The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) today (July 9) published nine rulings against providers – including six pharmacies - as part of its “ongoing work to tackle illegal ads for weight loss prescription-only medicines (POMs)”.
The rulings addressed both social media and search ads for weight loss treatments – such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – making it “crystal clear that all injectable forms of weight loss medication are POMs and can’t be advertised”, it said.
And they established that “the use of various claims and images...that indirectly advertise” weight loss drugs, including “featuring unbranded medical injection pens” are “banned”, it added.
Read more: ASA ‘confident’ it can tackle online POM advertising
The ASA investigations revealed that the following phrases are “references to weight loss POMs” and therefore “aren’t allowed”:
- “Weight loss injections”
- “Weight loss pen”
- “Obesity treatment jab”
- “GLP-1” – in the context of an injectable medication
- “Weight loss medication”
- Abbreviating the name of a weight loss POM
Read more: Weight loss clinic admits affiliate codes shared ‘against regulations’
They also clarified that “in the context of ads for weight loss”, adverts cannot feature:
- Unbranded medical injection pens
- Partial images of an advertiser-branded medical injection pen
- An image of a vial of liquid on the front
- Links to landing pages on websites where named POMs are promoted or are the only available option
“Extensive monitoring”
The ASA said that it has been “carrying out extensive monitoring and enforcement work” on weight loss POM advertisers since December.
And it stressed that while it is “seeing an improvement in advertisers sticking to the rules in some areas”, there is “more to do” and it will take “further action”.
The rulings addressed three types of adverts – paid-for ads and influencer or affiliate ads on social media and paid-for ads on search engines – with all nine rulings upheld, the ASA said.
Read more: Pharmacies must ‘immediately’ remove weight-loss ads, regulators warn
For seven of the companies – Chequp Health Ltd, Hexpress Healthcare Ltd, Juniper Technologies UK Ltd, SemaPen Ltd, Yazen, Cloud Pharmacy and Express Healthcare Ltd – the regulator investigated a singular advert.
But the ASA issued rulings on two separate adverts by Phlo Clinic.
C+D approached all eight providers for comment - read some of their responses below.
“Paid partnership”
One of the rulings involved “TV personality” Gemma Collins, who posted a “paid partnership” Instagram video in January stating that she was “starting this year two sizes down, thanks to Yazen’s weight loss app and medication”.
“All you need to do is download the app and answer a few quick questions about your goals - do not buy it from anyone but Yazen,” she said in the video.
Following two complaints about the post, the ASA concluded that the ad breached its code by promoting POMs to the public.
Read more: Weight loss: Online pharmacy influencer discount codes shot down
Yazen chief executive Fredrik Meurling said that its “marketing and messaging are only ever intended to share information about Yazen’s holistic and responsible approach to weight loss”.
“We respect the ASA’s ruling and are open to taking guidance from the ASA in our future marketing efforts for the UK,” he added.
And a spokesperson for Juniper stressed that it takes the ASA’s findings “seriously” and remains “committed to maintaining high standards” in its advertising by continuing to “strengthen” its internal review systems and engaging “constructively” with the regulator.
The ad in question was withdrawn in early September 2024, following its “own internal review and ahead of receiving ASA correspondence”, they said.
GPhC “carefully reviewing”
Meanwhile, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) said that it will be “carefully reviewing the ASA rulings” for the six pharmacies registered with it to consider whether it needs to “take any further enforcement action in these cases”.
GPhC chief enforcement officer Dionne Spence added that the regulator will highlight the ASA rulings to pharmacy owners and superintendent pharmacists so they “can make sure their adverts comply with the law and rules going forward”.
Read more: Weight loss: GPhC online pharmacy crackdown has ‘full’ DH support
It comes after ASA chief executive Guy Parker told C+D last month that he is “confident” the regulator will “get on top of” the advertising of POMs such as weight loss drugs online and via social media.
Speaking at a Westminster Media Forum conference on the future of UK online advertising, he stressed that “it’s not a question of how you advertise them - you’re just not allowed to because they’re POMs”.
