Oprah Winfrey-backed WeightWatchers is going through backlash over its new Ozempic program.
Feb. 26 2024, Revealed 3:00 p.m. ET
Oprah Winfrey-backed WeightWatchers facesmajor backlash on-line over an influencer marketing campaign to advertise the model’s newest program based mostly round weight reduction injection medication, RadarOnline.com has realized.
Social media influencers declare WeightWatchers provided to pay them to advertise the GLP-1 Program to followers regardless of by no means having tried the product.
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Oprah has lengthy been a supporter of WeightWatchers and is a board member.
WeightWatchers kicked off their new program with the GLP-1 hype home and invited influencers to a glitzy Los Angeles mansion to again protein snacks, take selfies with outsized injector pen props, and gush about how Ozempic modified their lives.
The marketing campaign allegedly seeks to “assist bust the misconceptions and stigma round GLP-1 drugs” and “share that WW is right here to assist you,” in line with a WeightWatchers e mail that was reviewed by Bloomberg Information.
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WeightWatchers launched its new GLP-1 program pushing weight reduction injection medication.
Sadly for the burden loss firm, the marketing campaign has been overshadow by backlash on-line.
Months earlier than the marketing campaign launched, plus-sized influencers allegedly focused by the corporate as potential members condemned this system for pushing weight reduction injections.
Jennifer Witherspoon, who has 90,000 followers on TikTok, defined, “Typically it’s painful simply to listen to their title introduced up. They’ve left a variety of trauma, particularly in our neighborhood.”
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Influencers promoted this system at WeightWatchers’ GLP-1 Home in Los Angeles.
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Additional scrutiny has been raised over the ethics of the brand new WeightWatchers GLP-1 program. Alexis Clingenpeel, who shares her journey taking Mounjaro on TikTok, claimed the corporate “principally requested me to lie” to followers.
Clingenpeel claimed WeightWatchers provided her $750 per publish to speak about “the GLP-1 Program.”
“They requested me to advertise a product I’d by no means tried,” the content material creator defined. “They principally requested me to lie.”
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Influencers shared themselves making protein-packed snacks and gushed over injection medication.
The contract reportedly included a noncompete clause, prohibiting creators who signed as much as promote the GLP-1 program from working with different weight reduction corporations like Calibrate and Noom.
Influencers weren’t allowed to take part in diet applications just like the Keto Eating regimen or Whole30 for per week earlier than and after their contract dates, in addition to be featured on weight reduction competitors exhibits like The Largest Loser.
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Regardless of ignoring the primary supply, WeightWatchers continued to achieve out to Clingenpeel to entice her to affix their efforts. The corporate elevated their unique per publish supply to $1,200, which she declined.
Influencers branded WeightWatchers “out of contact” and mocked its marketing campaign in parody movies. WeightWatchers backlash follows criticism of Hollywood A-listers who’ve dropped important weight and been accused of utilizing injection medication to take action.
The newest Hollywood weight loss plan craze has been condemned for resulting in a scarcity of the remedy that is closely relied on by diabetics, lots of whom have been unable to fill their prescriptions.