Social media posts sharing discount codes for online pharmacies that sell weight loss jabs have been banned by the advertising watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned 13 social media posts for using discount codes and referral links for the online pharmacies Voy, Zava, MedExpress and the online prescribing service UK Meds Direct.
It is illegal to promote prescription-only medications, such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, to the general public. Social media posts were found to promote the drugs by naming brands, using hashtags, showing images of injection pens and encouraging followers to start their own weight-loss “‘journey”, alongside offering discounts or incentives.
One ad, on the account stephenwilliamhair, posted on 25 December 2024, showed an image of a man with overlaid text stating, “A year ago today I was fat”. The caption encouraged people to message for a 25 per cent off voucher for Voy.
Other Instagram posts, which have been banned, showed before and after images from taking Mounjaro with text pointing others towards the Voy website.
Affiliate or referral schemes typically allow individuals to share links or discount codes, earning a reward or benefit if someone else uses them. In practice, this can mean members of the public promoting prescription medicines to friends, family, followers and the public, sometimes without realising that their posts may be ads or that strict rules apply.
ASA has stressed “affiliate marketing is not a loophole” and that both brands and individuals are responsible for sticking to the advertising rules, even if the company did not request the post to be made.
Catherine Drewett, investigations manager at the ASA, said: “Promoting prescription medicines through social media, whether as a brand, influencer or customer, is against the law and our rules. We’ll continue to take swift action in this area to make sure the rules are followed and that people are protected from harmful and irresponsible ads.”
Voy operated a “refer a friend” scheme, offering a discount to new customers and the original customer.
The watchdog claimed Voy was in control of the discount codes and had the power to stipulate how the referral codes were to be shared. This meant they were also responsible for making sure the advertising rules were followed.
It told the pharmacy the adverts must not appear again and told the Instagram users not to promote prescription-only medications to the public in future.
Instagram user stephenwilliamhair apologised for the content causing concern and said they had removed the post in question and intended to make changes to their future content.
However, Voy argued that the law applied to ads on companies’ websites or in non-paid-for space online under their control, adding that the posts in question were not under their control.
An Instagram post, a TikTok post and a Facebook post promoting Mounjaro, by sharing voucher codes for the company Zava, were also banned by the watchdog.
One anonymous post on the Lipoedema Information UK Public Group Facebook page stated: “Hey, just started my mounjaro journey and I have a 25% code if anyone would like it, It’s for Zavamed.com. There’s no better gift than the gift of good health. Use my code and you’ll get 25% off your first order at ZAVA: REFPSK6ETG Maximum discount value: £40.”
But Zava said they had no commercial relationship with the social media users behind the posts and said it was out of their control.
Zava said they did not run an affiliate scheme and, when contacted by social media users seeking commercial sponsorship, their policy was not to engage. They added that their discount codes did not just apply to prescription-only medication.
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Three Instagram posts and a TikTok video, with hashtags including Mounjaro, were also banned for offering voucher codes to get £40 off online pharmacy MedExpress.
The company said it had processes in place to ensure that users of their referral codes understood relevant advertising laws, and that the individual users who had posted the ads had not acted within their guidelines, terms and conditions or the relevant advertising laws.
Instagram user mounjourneystartsno said they apologised “for the unintentional promotion” of a prescription-only medication, and that they no longer use the account through which the post was shared.
Two TikTok ads, which have since also been banned by the ASA, promoted Mounjaro by offering vouchers for money off UK Meds Direct.
UK Meds Direct said that the influencers involved with the banned posts were engaged in their now-discontinued affiliate programme. The company acknowledged that the ads could have been interpreted to promote prescription-only medications and that when ASA made them aware of the investigation, they asked the influencers to remove the ads.
Julian Beach, interim executive director of healthcare quality and access at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said: “Prescription-only weight-loss medicines carry real risks and must only be prescribed following a proper clinical assessment.
“The promotion of these medicines through affiliate schemes and social media circumvents important safeguards that exist to protect patients. We will continue to work closely with the ASA and General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to take action against those who break the rules and put people’s health at risk.”
Voy, Zava, MedExpress and UK Meds Direct have all been contacted by the Independent for a comment.
