Weight loss company Jenny Craig has been ordered to pay a penalty of $37,800 for false advertising and misleading customers.
The ACCC said the company failed to clearly communicate that people would need to purchase additional food as part of the program to achieve the advertised results.
The ads, which ran on TV in the last year from December to February, claimed that people could lose upto 10kgs for $10, without highlighting the fine print that food was supposed to be purchased at an extra cost.
“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,” ACCC commissioner Sarah Court said.
One of the ads in the series
Jenny Craig also failed to disclose that a person featured in an online testimonial video for its services was one of its employees.
“If a product fails to meet the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law, people are automatically entitled to a remedy, even if they did not comply with the notice and return requirements in the contract,” Court said.
“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."
Jenny Craig has co-operated with the ACCC and taken measures to rectify the issue.
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