Facebook diet ad fronted by Loose Women star banned for depiction of ‘unhealthy’ weight loss
A diet ad fronted by Loose Women star Denise Welch has suffered the ignominy of being banned by the Advertising Standards Authority – over concerns that its depiction of two stone weight loss in two months exceeded medical advice.
The social media campaign for LighterLife used Facebook images of Welch before and after commencing her weight loss regimen, sparking a complaint that the rate of weight reduction was too rapid to be safe.
The former Coronation Street actress, now an ambassador for the firm, has come out fighting however, who has been berating ASA officials and telling them they need to ‘get out more’.
In its adjudication the ASA said: “'We understood that Denise Welch had been classed as overweight when her weight loss programme began and also that her waist circumference was very high, which put her at high risk of health problems,' the ruling said.
“However, the code specified that for those who were normally overweight, a rate of weight loss greater than 2lb a week was unlikely to be compatible with good medical and nutritional practice.”
But Welch railed: “How can that be right, when the Foodpacks comply with all the nutritional rules, including Trading Standards, and I did exactly what I was supposed to do with them.
“I felt better than I had for ages, and those are genuine before and after pictures.”
As a result of the ruling LighterLife has been banned from replicating the advert in the same form again.