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Ads for weight loss supplement company Pruvit on the Instagram accounts of influencers Danielle Lloyd and Cheryl Johnston were banned for making unauthorized health claims and for suggesting that the product could treat illnesses.
Ads for Pruvit products, which were also seen on the Instagram accounts of Miss Ketones, a separate profile for reality TV star Lloyd, and Hey Keyto Mama, a separate profile for Johnston, drew four complaints, including one from Vale of Glamorgan Council Business Standards. , that they made health claims that were not allowed by EU or UK rules.
One complainant disputed whether an advertisement referred to a rate or amount of weight loss that was prohibited by the code, and another complained that the product claimed the product to decrease inflammation violates the rules under which food products cannot be advertised as treating, preventing or curing human disease.
Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Trade Standards challenged whether R-beta-hydroxybutyrate, which they understood to be one of the ingredients, had market authorization because they believed it was an unauthorized “novel food” which was not permitted to be advertised in the UK.
Pruvit said it was a US-based company and did not operate as a UK entity, and said the advertisements under investigation were prepared by independent third-party resellers.
Pruvit said they have contacted “Miss Ketones” and Cheryl Johnston to ask them to cease being investigated and have received confirmation that they have complied with the request and that they would remove their Instagram accounts from any further advertising for Pruvit’s products.
Lloyd told the Advertising Standards Authority that she was a member of the Pruvit team and worked as a brand promoter.
She said that a claim in one of the ads that she lost five pounds in the space of 10 days was a statement of fact and that she was unaware that such claims were prohibited by the Code.
She said she was also unaware that Pruvit’s products contained the new food R-beta-hydroxybutyrate.
Lloyd said she has now removed all posts related to the investigated allegations that refer to Pruvit products in general, from Miss Ketones’ account and from her personal Instagram account.
Cheryl Johnston said she deleted the relevant posts from her personal account and from her @heykeytomama account and would no longer post any similar complaints.
The ASA said it understands that Pruvit pays its promoters directly for sales made in their affiliate stores and that they receive a commission for all sales generated by Pruvit from purchases made in their stores.
She decided that the ads should no longer appear in the offending form.
ASA said: “We have told Pruvit Ventures, ketonesupplement.co.uk, Danielle Lloyd and Cheryl Johnston not to market any Pruvit product containing R-beta-hydroxybutyrate to UK consumers until it is cleared. as a novel food.
“We also told them to ensure that any specific health claims made in their future advertising were allowed on the GB registry and met the associated terms of use; that their advertising did not refer to a rate or amount of weight loss; and that their future advertisements did not state or imply that their dietary supplements could prevent, treat, or cure human disease.
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