Promotion of service and medicinal products for weight loss by Menwell Ltd trading as Voy – December 2025
Published 9 January 2026
© Crown copyright 2026
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advertising-investigations-december-2025/promotion-of-service-and-medicinal-products-for-weight-loss-by-menwell-ltd-trading-as-voy-december-2025
Menwell Ltd (trading as Voy) has agreed to amend its marketing practices following MHRA review of a sponsored social media advertisement.
The advertisement promoted Orlos (orlistat) 60 mg hard capsules as identified by inclusion of the statutory information required for advertisement of an over-the-counter medicinal product. Orlos is a P (Pharmacy) medicine indicated for weight loss in eligible adults who are overweight. The advertisement included statements such as: “They raised prices unexpectedly — we lowered ours on purpose” and “Start from £94 a month for the same medication”. It also displayed an image and the illustrated signature of Voy’s Chief Medical Officer, alongside links labelled “See more”, “Start your journey” and “Learn more”. These links contained promotional information about 2 specific Prescription-Only Medicines (POMs) indicated for weight loss in eligible adults. The advertising Regulations prohibit the publication of an advertisement to the public that is likely to lead to the use of a POM.
The MHRA carefully reviewed the advertisement, the related links, and the company’s explanation about the advertisement. It was MHRA’s view that the advertisement did not fully comply with the requirements set out in the Human Medicines Regulations and in the MHRA Blue Guide for the promotion of an over-the-counter product. MHRA was concerned that references in the sponsored advertisement to prices were misleading and did not appear to relate to the product being advertised (Orlos); there was also concern that there was implied endorsement of the product by a healthcare professional in contravention of the Regulations.
Furthermore, the MHRA was concerned that the links in the advertisement, in effect, presented consumers with promotional information about POMs. It was thought that the price references in the sponsored advertisement were likely to be recognised by consumers, who would probably have been aware of the recent well-known price increases for a particular weight-loss POM that the links in the advertisement were discussing.
Menwell Ltd disagreed with the MHRA’s assessment and stated that the advertisement promoted a weight-loss service. However, they confirmed that the advertisement had been withdrawn. The company also acknowledged that future advertising of their clinical service or any medicinal products that may be offered as part of this service would be in compliance with the Human Medicines Regulations and MHRA published guidance.