The news: Some 35 state attorneys general are pushing Meta for tighter enforcement of its advertising policies amid a “surge of misleading marketing for weight loss products” on Facebook and Instagram.
Digging into the details: A letter from the AGs to Meta’s chief legal officer states that users on Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta platforms “are being inundated with [weight loss drug] promotions that feature misleading claims, obscure risks and side effects, and deceive viewers with AI-generated content. The letter cites “dozens of companies” using Meta’s advertising tools to run “thousands of ads promoting GLP-1s,” noting that most are selling unapproved compounded weight loss drug products. Among the dozens called out in the letter are some notable telehealth players in the GLP-1 space, including Hims & Hers and Noom.
The AGs offered some examples of weight loss drug ads they found problematic:
- One ad from Willow on Facebook says, “Hey girly. It’s time to drop 2 pant sizes before summer.”
- An ad from Medvi on Instagram guarantees “no side effects, just real results.”
- A Mochi Health ad on Facebook features a spokeswoman claiming her clothes fit looser after two weeks and that she hasn’t eaten all day because she wasn’t hungry.
- AI-generated Facebook ads (that have since been taken down) feature fabricated testimonials from people posing as pharmacists, nurses, and law enforcement officials.
Why it matters: Many of the ads cited in the letter appear to directly violate Meta’s advertising policies.
The FDA bars prescription drug ads from promoting off-label uses (e.g., marketing weight loss drugs for cosmetic purposes), exaggerating claims such as pounds lost, or omitting major and common side effects. But these rules broadly apply to drugmakers, not telehealth companies that don’t manufacture drugs. Ads for compounded GLP-1s are another gray area—these drugs can be prescribed if they’re not exact copies of brand-name forms, but they can’t be marketed as equivalent to FDA-approved versions.
Implications for social media companies and advertising platforms: Online healthcare ads have been difficult to police, but surging GLP-1 use and rising worries about AI-generated campaigns are forcing a change. The state AGs are urging Meta to restrict all compounded weight loss drug ads on its platforms—but a practical near-term approach is tougher enforcement of transparency disclosures on AI-generated ads while closely reviewing all weight loss drug promotions, given the risks of misleading claims and unrealistic expectations.
Implications for telehealth companies offering GLP-1 prescriptions: We predicted that regulators would start to crack down on online healthcare players marketing weight loss drugs for unapproved purposes. The state AGs’ letter will surely get the attention of the FDA, meaning telehealth marketers must ensure they aren’t specifically promoting GLP-1s to people who don’t meet the clinical criteria or using messaging that body shames. They must also strip compounded GLP-1 ads of any brand-name product references or claims suggesting the two medications are the same.
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