Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on prescription-only medicines (POMs) used for weight loss. The ads were identified for investigation following intelligence gathering by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 9 July 2025, 17 December 2025 and 11 February 2026.
Ad description
Three Instagram posts and a TikTok video promoting the weight-loss injection, Mounjaro:
a. The first Instagram post, on the account mounjourneystartsnow, posted on 27 January 2025, stated, “Another great week. I will say I noticed my appetite has come back with a vengeance for the last 2 days. However, great loss of 2.5lbs. Remember, use code 1WD5NK FOR £40 of [sic] your first MedExpress purchase […] #medexpresscode #mounjaro #mounjarouk #mounjaroweightloss #mounjarotribe #mounjaroweightlossjourney #glp1 […] #glp1community #glp1weightloss”. The image accompanying the post stated “Week 7 Dose: 5mg (golden dose from a 2.5mg pen) […] Side effects: Huge appetite suppression for most of the week […] Weight loss: 2.5lbs Total loss: 16.5 lbs”.
b. The second Instagram post, on the account melanies_diary, dated 27 January 2025, featured text which stated, “Go here” with an arrow pointing to “MEDEXPRESS.CO.UK AND ENTER CODE YN3YD6 TO GET £40 OFF!!! #mounjarojourney” alongside the caption “www.medexoress.co.uk Enter code YN3YD6 Get £40 off your first order! #mounjarojourney #mounjaro #mounjarodicsountcode”.
c. The third Instagram post on the account mjwithmariyam, dated 31 January 2025, featured an image of three Mounjaro injection pens of different dosages, a sharps box, needles and pre-injection swabs alongside the caption “Time for my weekly jab! Onto the 7.5mg! @medexpress.uk Use my code GR9AAD for £40 off your first order!” accompanied by a heart emoji. Text beneath stated “#mounjaro #mounjaroweightloss #mounjarouk #mounjarojourney […] #ozempic #wegovyweightloss […]”.
d. A post on the @alicejudgex TikTok account, seen on 13 February 2025, featured a video of woman holding a box of Mounjaro pens with text which stated, “You don’t need to be buying mounjaro” alongside the caption “MedExpress £40 off use code 686855 I am beyond excited for this journey its been a long time coming!!! More posts pending…” accompanied by a laughing face emoji “[…] #mounjaro #mounjarojoiurney #weightloss”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether ads (a) to (e) breached the Code because they promoted prescription-only medicines (POMs) to the public.
Response
In relation to ads (a), (b), (c) and (d), MedExpress Enterprises Ltd t/a MedExpress said that whilst the individuals who posted the ads did receive reward credits, they had contacted all the individuals concerned notifying them that they were in breach of their terms and conditions/guidelines and had cancelled their reward credits.
They said they had not created or commissioned the posts under investigation via any commercial relationship with the individual users. They did not have any contracts or specific relationships with the users beyond the referral code programme. Those users were customers of their website who were using their standard “friends and family” referral codes which were made available to all customers after purchase.
They said it was a difficult task to monitor the use of referral codes shared via social media due to the volume of activity on social media platforms. They said they were committed to upholding MHRA advertising regulations. When they worked with partners to promote their services, they had strict guidelines in place and actively monitored all content to ensure it adhered to the CAP Code and MHRA Blue Guide.
They explained that their referral codes were for use against services across their website; they were not specific to weight-loss treatments or POMs. They said they provided clear guidelines and terms for their customers on their website and they provided a copy of those guidelines/terms.
They pointed out that they took several steps to aid customers in complying with advertising laws when using their referral codes. For example, they put customers on notice that they should not be promoting or ‘calling out’ POMs. In their ‘Dos and Don'ts’ guidance they told customers not to use the word “prescription” or other medical or diagnostic language, not to mention drug names like Mounjaro or GLP-1s, not to use imagery of the product and not to guarantee results. They said their terms stated “UK law prohibits advertising Prescription Only Medicines (POMs) to the public. Sharing referral codes publicly in ways that promote POMs may be considered a violation of these laws”. Their terms also included consequences for non-compliance where they stated “Customers who share referral codes in violation of these guidelines will lose any associated awards and may be removed from the referral programme” and “Depending on the severity of the breach, further action, including suspension from future programmes, may be taken.”
To further support compliance, they also had an annual cap on the number of referrals a customer could make, ensuring the programme remained fair and responsible.
In summary, they said they had processes in place to ensure that users of their referral codes understood the need to act in compliance with relevant advertising laws and not breach the prohibition on advertising POMs. Unfortunately, the individual users who had posted ads (a) – (d) had not acted in compliance with their guidelines, terms and conditions or the relevant advertising laws. They said they understood the ASA’s concerns and would continue to enforce their guidelines and terms, where such breaches came to their attention. They also said that following concerns raised by the ASA, they had taken steps to revise the terms of their referral programme to prohibit participants from sharing the referral codes online. They hoped that step would help participants to comply with their terms, which prohibited any promotion or advertisement of POMs.
In relation to ad (a), the Instagram account user, mounjourneystartsnow, said they apologised for the unintentional promotion of a POM. They said the content they shared was based on a referral scheme that was not clearly presenting as involving a prescription-only product. They provided a screenshot of an email from MedExpress which included their referral code and a “learn more” link. The user said they had not clicked through the link because they had seen many similar referral codes promoted online from other users and had assumed it was standard. They said that at no point was it made clear to them that the referral code involved a regulated medicine or that sharing it could breach advertising regulations. They said they fully acknowledged the importance of adhering to the advertising rules and took the matter seriously. They said they no longer used the Instagram account through which the post was shared.
In relation to ad (b), the Instagram account user, melanies_diary, said they were not familiar with affiliate schemes, that the code had been posted in good faith and they had had no idea that sharing the referral code online was in breach of any rules. They also provided a copy of the email they had received from MedExpress containing the referral code.
In relation to ad (c), the Instagram account user, mjwithmariyam, said they had already deleted the post and changed their Instagram handle after being told by MedExpress that it breached their guidelines. They said they would read the guidelines properly before posting anything further and apologised for the post.
In relation to ad (d), the TikTok account user, @alicejudgeX, said they would remove the post.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that prescription-only medicines (POMs) or prescription-only medical treatments must not be advertised to the public.
The ASA understood that MedExpress, an online pharmacy selling weight-loss medication including POMs, operated a ‘refer a friend’ scheme. Under the terms of that scheme, existing customers were given a unique discount code that they could share with friends. If the code was used by new customers to obtain a discount when placing their first order, the original customer would receive a discount credit to apply to their next order with MedExpress.
We understood that the posts were made from public accounts on Instagram and TikTok and therefore could be viewed by anyone, not just followers of the individual Instagram/TikTok users.
The ads all contained references to “mounjaro”. We understood that Mounjaro (tirzepatide) was classed as a POM. We therefore considered the references to “mounjaro” in the ads, whether or not such references were preceded by a hashtag or were part of larger references such as “mounjarojourney”, “mounjaroweightlossjourney”, “mounjarodiscountcode”, “mounjarotribe” or “mounjarouk” promoted POMs to the public. We also considered that the images of Mounjaro injection pens in ads (c) and (d) promoted POMs to the public.
Ad (a) also referred to “glp1”, “glp1community” and “glp1weightloss”. We understood that GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1) medication was a class of POMs. Therefore, we considered the references to “glp1” in ad (a) promoted POMs to the public.
Ad (c) also referred to “wegovy” and “ozempic”. We understood that Wegovy and Ozempic (both semaglutide) were classed as POMs. Therefore, we considered the references to “wegovy” and “ozempic” in ad (c) promoted POMs to the public.
Because ads (a) – (d) promoted POMs to the public, we concluded that they breached the Code.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 12.12 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told MedExpress Enterprises Ltd t/a MedExpress, and the account holders mounjourneystartsnow, melanies_diary, mjwithmariyam and @alicejudgex, not to promote POMs to the public in future.
