Slimming Advertisements
Weight control and slimming products will always have an appeal to consumers. Weight issues can be a source of vulnerability for some, and for this reason specific rules for the advertising of weight control products exist in the advertising codes to protect consumers from exaggerated claims in this area.
The rules
Ads for weight control treatments or products should be in line with good medical and dietary practice. It is generally accepted that in order for weight to be lost, less energy needs to be consumed than is used and current advice is that dieters should lose around 2 lbs a week.
The advertising codes, also state that ads for weight control and slimming products must not:
* be directed to, or appeal to, people under 18 years of age.
* offer to treat those deemed to be obese (those with a Body Mass Index of 30 and above) unless the treatment is to be carried out under medical supervision.
* suggest that it is desirable to be underweight (having a Body Mass Index of below 20).
* promise or predict specific amounts of weight loss or that weight can be lost from specific parts of the body.
Example rulings
Slimming World (July 2006)
This TV ad showed a woman eating pizza and carried the claim "Lose 10lbs in 21 days or your money back". The advertisers' competitor, Weight Watchers said the ad was irresponsible because the specified amount of weight loss was not compatible with accepted good medical and dietary practice. We agreed and told Slimming World not to broadcast the ad again.
Bristol Health (Dec 2005)
A national press ad for a SlimFly 2005, an electrical muscle stimulation device promised that the product would "tone and define the body without exercise or playing sport " and claimed "... you can even use ... SlimFly 2005 ... wherever you want to get the figure, bottom, breasts, tummy, thighs, arms and legs that you want". A professor had challenged whether the advertisers could prove the efficacy of the product and was also concerned that the ad was misleading in its suggestion that consumers could lose weight from specific areas of the body. The advertisers did not send any evidence to prove their claims so the complaint was upheld and the ad withdrawn.
IDMT (May 2005)
A television commercial for the Velform Sauna Belt, which claimed to aid weight loss, was identified as being potential misleading by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice during a monitoring exercise. The commercial made claims such as "the sauna belt dissolves the fat from your body and the sweat flushes it out of your system" and "the benefit of the Velform Sauna Belt is that we are able to target specific areas such as the abdomen, hips and thighs and sculpt their body as they would like it". The advertisers did not provide any substantiation for the claims they made, and as the ASA had yet to see evidence that saunas can help with permanent weight loss, they were told to cease making claims that the product could aid weight loss.
Home Shopping Selections (Sept 2005)
Three complaints were received about this ad for a product that claimed to "Burn belly fat into a rock-hard lean stomach ... IN JUST 7 SHORT MINUTES A DAY". The complainants challenged whether the advertisers could prove the efficacy of the product. We accepted the advertisers' assertion that the product was a piece of exercise equipment, but were concerned that they did not supply documentary proof for the claims stated in the ad. In the absence of substantiation, the advertisers were told not to repeat the claims.
USN (UK) Ltd (Oct 2004)
A complaint was received about an ad for a dietary supplement that was headlined "Diet System Stimulant Free Fat Burner" and claimed "USN's Diet System is an advanced very potent stimulant free fat burning formula that is deigned for optimum fat burning ... the ingredients ... have shown to assist in rapid fat loss during dieting and training". The advertisers did not provide any documentary evidence to prove the claims made in their ads so they were told by the ASA to consult with the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising dietary supplements again.
Atkins Nutritionals Inc (June 2005)
A complaint was received about an ad for a range of Atkins branded food which stated "ATKINS THE ORIGINAL LOW CARB LIFESTYLE". A complainant challenged the advertisers' claim "enjoy a healthier lifestyle" as she believed the Atkins diet had been criticised as being an unhealthy way to lose weight. The ASA noted that the Atkins diet was contrary to the advice issued by the UK Government that diets should be low fat and high fibre, containing five portions of fruit and vegetable a day and about one-third of which should be made up of starchy foods. Though the advertisers supplied us with studies to demonstrate the efficacy of the dietary approach, we considered that the period of time under which the studies taken place were too short term (only one was conducted over a 22 month period, three took place over a year, and the rest took place over a period of a few weeks or months) to support the long-term claim that was made in the ad. Also, because the diet conflicted with the Government's advice on achieving a balanced diet, and the advertisers had not demonstrated that their plan was nutritionally well-balanced, we told them that they could only advise their products on an availability-only basis.
H.B.R.I Institute (Mar 2004)
A complaint was received about a mailing for a weight loss method that claimed "this method ... provides long-lasting, permanent results" and "... this method ... can guarantee a minimum loss of at least 4 pounds per week without any strenuous exercise". The mailing went on to list the amounts of weight that users of the product could expect to lose if they were 25 or 50 pounds overweight. We considered that the ad suggested that the product could be used to treat obesity and the weight losses stated were not in line with sound nutritional advice. The advertisers had said they would not distribute the mailing again, and they were advised to consult with the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising their weight loss method again.