Historical Comparison

Historical Comparison. To develop a perspective on how weight-loss advertising has
changed over time, this report also compares advertisements appearing in a sample of magazines
published in 2001 with ads in the same magazines in 1992. Compared to 1992, readers in 2001
saw more diet ads, more often, and for more products. Specifically,
. The frequency of weight-loss advertisements in these magazines more than doubled,
and
. The number of separate and distinct advertisements tripled.
Moreover, the type of weight-loss products and services advertised dramatically shifted from “meal
replacements” (57%), in 1992 to dietary supplements (66%), in 2001. Meal replacement products
typically facilitate the reduction of caloric intake by replacing high-calorie foods with lower-calorie substitutes, whereas dietary supplements are commonly marketed (55%) with claims that reducing
caloric intake or increasing physical activity is unnecessary.
The considerable changes in the methods used to promote weight-loss products are the
most revealing indication of the downward spiral to deception in weight-loss advertising. The 2001
advertisements were much more likely than the 1992 ads to use dramatic consumer testimonials and
before-and-after photos, promise permanent weight loss, guarantee weight-loss success, claim that
weight loss can be achieved without diet or exercise, claim that results can be achieved quickly,
claim that the product is all natural, and make express or implied claims that the product is safe.
Finally, although both the 1992 and 2001 examples include unobjectionable representations, as well
as almost certainly false claims, the 2001 advertisements appear much more likely to make specific
performance promises that are misleading.
Conclusion. The use of false or misleading claims in weight-loss advertising is rampant.
Nearly 40% of the ads in our sample made at least one representation that almost certainly is false
and 55% of the ads made at least one representation that is very likely to be false or, at the very
least, lacks adequate substantiation. The proliferation of such ads has proceeded in the face of, and
in spite of, an unprecedented level of FTC enforcement activity, including the filing of more than 80
cases during the last decade. The need for critical evaluation seems readily apparent. Government
agencies with oversight over weight-loss advertising must continually reassess the effectiveness of
enforcement and consumer and business education strategies. Trade associations and self regulatory
groups must do a better job of educating their members about standards for truthful
advertising and enforcing those standards. The media must be encouraged to adopt meaningful
clearance standards that weed out facially deceptive or misleading weight-loss claims. The past
efforts of the FTC and the others to encourage the adoption of media screening standards have been
largely unsuccessful. Nevertheless, as this report demonstrates, the adoption and enforcement of
standards would reduce the amount of blatantly deceptive advertising disseminated to consumers
and efforts to encourage the adoption of such standards should continue. Finally, individual
consumers must become more knowledgeable about the importance of achieving and maintaining
healthy weight, more informed about how to shop for weight-loss products and services, and more
skeptical of ads promising quick-fixes.

Celery to lose weight

Craving Celery

Weight Loss Study (continued)

Rapid Weight-loss Claims. Rapid weight-loss claims were made in 57% of the
advertisements in the sample. In some cases, the falsity of such claims is obvious, as in the ad that
claimed that users could lose up to 8 to 10 pounds per week while using the advertised product.

No Diet or Exercise Required. Despite the well-accepted prescription of diet and
exercise for successful weight management, 42% of all of the ads reviewed promote an array of
quick-fix pills, patches, potions, and programs for effortless weight loss and 64% of those ads also
promised fast results. The ads claim that results can be achieved without reducing caloric intake or
increasing physical activity. Some even go so far as to tell consumers “you can eat as much as you
want and still lose weight.”

Long-term/Permanent Weight-loss Claims. “Take it off and keep it off” (longterm/permanent weight loss) claims were used in 41% of the ads in the sample. In fact, the publiclyix
available scientific research contains very little that would substantiate long-term or permanent
weight-loss claims for most of today’s popular diet products. Accordingly, long-term or permanent
weight-loss claims are inherently suspect.

Clinically Proven/Doctor Approved Claims. Clinically proven and doctor approved
claims are also fairly common in weight-loss advertisements, the former occurring in 40% and the
latter in 25% of the ads in the sample. Some of the specific claims are virtually meaningless. For
example, a representation such as, “Clinical studies show people lost 300% more weight even
without dieting,” may cause consumers to conclude mistakenly that the clinically proven benefits are
substantial, whereas, in fact, the difference between use of the product and dieting alone could be
quite small (1.5 lbs. vs. .5 lbs.). These claims do little to inform consumers and most ads fail to
provide consumers with sufficient information to allow them to verify the advertisers’
representations. Moreover, the Federal Trade Commission, in past law enforcement actions, has
evaluated the available scientific evidence for many of the ingredients expressly advertised as
clinically proven, and challenged the weight-loss efficacy claims for these ingredients.
Natural/Safe Weight-loss Claims. Safety claims are also prevalent in weight-loss
advertising. Nearly half of all the ads in the sample (42%) contained specific claims that the
advertised products or services are safe and 71% of those ads also claimed that the products were
“all natural.”
Safety claims can be difficult to evaluate, especially when so many ads fail to disclose the
active ingredients in the product. On the other hand, some advertisements disclose ingredients, e.g.,
ephedra alkaloids, that make unqualified safety claims misleading. Nevertheless, marketers in almost
half (48%) of the ads that identified ephedra as a product ingredient made safety claims. Only 30%
of the ads that identified ephedra as an ingredient included a specific health warning about its
potential adverse effects.

Consumer Testimonials; Before/After Photos.

The headline proclaimed: “I lost 46 lbs
in 30 days.” Another blared, “How I lost 54 pounds without dieting or medication in less than 6
weeks!” The use of consumer testimonials is pervasive in weight-loss advertising. One hundred and
ninety-five (65%) of the advertisements in the sample used consumer testimonials and 42%
contained before-and-after pictures. These testimonials and photos rarely portrayed realistic weight
loss. The average for the largest amount of weight loss reported in each of the 195 advertisements
was 71 pounds. Fifty-seven ads reported weight loss exceeding 70 pounds, and 38 ads reported
weight loss exceeding 100 pounds. The advertised weight loss ranges are, in all likelihood, simply
not achievable for the products being promoted. Thirty-six ads used 71 different testimonials
claiming weight loss of nearly a pound a day for time periods of 13 days or more.

Empower yourself to eat healthy and lose weight.

WEIGHT-LOSS ADVERTISING: An Analysis of Current Trends

Executive Summary
This report attempts to take a comprehensive look at weight loss advertising. The need to
do so is compelling. In the last decade, the number of FTC law enforcement cases involving weight
loss products or services equaled those filed in the previous seven decades. Consumers spend
billions of dollars a year on weight loss products and services, money wasted if spent on worthless
remedies. This report highlights the scope of the problem facing consumers as they consider the
thousands of purported remedies on the market, as well as the serious challenge facing law
enforcement agencies attempting to prevent deceptive advertising.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, overweight and obesity have reached epidemic
proportions, afflicting 6 out of every 10 Americans. Overweight and obesity constitute the second
leading cause of preventable death, after smoking, resulting in an estimated 300,000 deaths per
year. The costs, direct and indirect, associated with overweight and obesity are estimated to exceed
$100 billion a year.
At the same time, survey data suggest that millions of Americans are trying to lose weight.
The marketplace has responded with a proliferating array of products and services, many promising
miraculous, quick-fix remedies. Tens of millions of consumers have turned to over-the-counter
remedies, spending billions of dollars on products and services that purport to promote weight loss.
In the end, these quick-fixes do nothing to address the nation’s or the individual’s weight problem,
and, if anything, may contribute to an already serious health crisis.
Once the province of supermarket tabloids and the back sections of certain magazines,
over-the-top weight loss advertisements promising quick, easy weight loss are now pervasive in
almost all media forms. At least that is the impression. But are the obviously deceptive
advertisements really as widespread as they might appear watching late night television or leafing
through magazines at the local newsstand? To answer this and other questions, we collected and
analyzed a nonrandom sample of 300 advertisements, mostly disseminated during the first half of
2001, from broadcast and cable television, infomercials, radio, magazines, newspapers,
supermarket tabloids, direct mail, commercial e-mail (spam), and Internet websites. In addition, to
evaluate how weight-loss advertising has changed over the past decade, we collected ads
disseminated in 1992 in eight national magazines to compare with ads appearing in 2001 in the same
publications.
We conclude that false or misleading claims are common in weight-loss advertising, and,
based on our comparison of 1992 magazine ads with magazines ads for 2001, the number of
products and the amount of advertising, much of it deceptive, appears to have increased
dramatically over the last decade.
Of particular concern in ads in 2001 are grossly exaggerated or clearly unsubstantiated
viii
performance claims. Although we did not evaluate the substantiation for specific products and
advertising claims as part of this report, many of the claims we reviewed are so contrary to existing
scientific evidence, or so clearly unsupported by the available evidence, that there is little doubt that
they are false or deceptive. In addition to the obviously false claims, many other advertisements
contain claims that appear likely to be misleading or unsubstantiated.
Falling into the too-good-to-be-true category are claims that: the user can lose a pound a
day or more over extended periods of time; that substantial weight loss (without surgery) can be
achieved without diet or exercise; and that users can lose weight regardless of how much they eat.
Also falling into this category are claims that a diet pill can cause weight loss in selective parts of the
body or block absorption of all fat in the diet. These types of claims are simply inconsistent with
existing scientific knowledge.
This report catalogues the most common marketing techniques used in 300 weight loss
advertisements. Nearly all of the ads reviewed used at least one and sometimes several of the
following techniques, many of which should raise red flags about the veracity of the claims.