Companies who sell weight loss products sometimes play fast and loose with the facts, particularly when they site studies and claims about the effectiveness of their product. And, that’s exactly what Weight Watchers is saying Jenny Craig did in a a recent television commercial.
In a recent TV ad, Jenny Craig claims that their clients “on average lost over twice as much weight as those on the largest weight loss program.” Code for Weight Watchers.
The problem is, Weight Watchers says that no study exists to back Jenny Craig’s claims, and decided to take legal action. They won round one of the dispute. This week, a U.S. District Court in New York granted the company’s wishes and ordered a temporary restraining order on Jenny Craig, which prohibits them from publishing or broadcasting claims that they are superior to Weight Watchers.
“It is outrageous that Jenny Craig is trying to trick and fool consumers through this blatantly misleading advertising campaign, which makes clearly false and unsupported claims,” said David Kirchhoff, Weight Watchers President and CEO.
Jenny Craig, a unit of Switzerland’s Nestle AG, has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
You can see the ad in question here, featuring star spokeswoman Valerie Bertinelli:
(via: MSNBC)