ACCC fines Jenny Craig over misleading promotional campaign

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined weight loss group Jenny Craig $37,800 for allegedly making false or misleading representations in its ‘10kg for $10′ campaign - run earlier this year featuring former Spice Girl Mel B.

Running between December 2017 to February 2018, the company advertised a $10 program claiming people could lose 10 kilograms of weight, without adequately disclosing customers also had to purchase food at an additional cost.

Explaining the ruling, ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court advised “we were concerned that Jenny Craig’s advertisements may have misled consumers into thinking they could participate in a Jenny Craig program and lose 10kg for $10, when in reality customers would have had to spend far more than that.”

The ACCC was also concerned over a failure to disclose one of the campaign’s online testimonials as having come from a Jenny Craig employee and that the contract misrepresented customer’s rights to return unsatisfactory products under Australian Consumer Law.

Court added “businesses need to be transparent about any relationships with people providing a testimonial. Consumers must be informed when a testimonial is given by someone who is employed by the business, and is not an independent reviewer.”

In a statement, the ACCC advised that Jenny Craig had co-operated with the ACCC’s investigation and took steps to rectify the conduct.

In response, a Jenny Craig spokesperson advised “Jenny Craig is committed to ensuring all its advertising and promotions are completely transparent and easy to understand.

“The company has always disclosed the fact that the cost of food is additional to any program fee in all its communications.

“The cost of Jenny Craig food has always been disclosed on the website and in its digital advertising. The voice-overs in the television commercials have always clearly stated food is additional.

“Jenny Craig Australia has valued the opportunity to work collaboratively with the ACCC. This has given Jenny Craig the opportunity to continue working towards establishing best practices.

“While Jenny Craig already had in place stringent review and compliance mechanisms, it has used the ACCC examination of its processes to evolve these efforts even further.” 

Image: Former Spice Girl Mel B is a Jenny Craig ambassador.

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