Voxly Vision
What you will learn from this post
- Can you advertise weight-loss injections or tablets in the UK?
- Why did the ASA ban ads that never named a medicine?
- What does the MHRA Blue Guide say, and how do you stay compliant?
The one rule behind every ruling
Mounjaro (tirzepatide), Wegovy (semaglutide) and the new GLP-1 tablets are prescription-only medicines (POMs). UK law says POMs can't be advertised to the public. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) explains that law in its MHRA Blue Guide.
The ASA applies the same rule through CAP Code rule 12.12. The ads in this post looked very different, but the ASA asked the same question each time: would people reading this think it's promoting a prescription weight-loss drug?
If you're new to how the two regulators split the work, start with our explainer on advertising compliance, the ASA and the MHRA Blue Guide.
Ruling 1: the ad didn't name a drug (Juniper, July 2025)
A Google search ad offered a "GLP-1 weekly weight loss injection" for £135, with a picture of a plain, unbranded injection pen. No brand name. The ASA said that didn't matter. "GLP-1", "weight loss injection" and the pen all pointed to a prescription medicine. The landing page also featured Wegovy, at the same discounted price.
Lesson: you don't have to name the medicine to advertise it.
Ruling 2: the posts came through referral schemes (UK Meds Direct, MedExpress and Zava, February 2026)
These weren't paid ads. They were public social media posts sharing discount codes, some showing Mounjaro pens and using hashtags like #mounjaro and #mounjarojourney. MedExpress and Zava's posts were by customers in refer-a-friend schemes. UK Meds Direct's were by influencers in its affiliate programme.
The pharmacies said they hadn't commissioned the posts. The ASA still held them responsible. If you run the scheme and control how codes are shared, the posts it generates are your advertising, and a ban in your terms and conditions isn't enough.
Lesson: if you incentivise it, you're responsible for it.
Ruling 3: the landing page gave it away (Morrisons Clinic, July 2026)
A Facebook ad promoted a "weight loss service" from £79 a month and asked "Why pay more for weight loss?" The ad itself named no medicine. But the "Start today" button led to pages that named Mounjaro and Wegovy.
The ASA ruled that the ad promoted POMs to the public.
Lesson: your landing page is part of your ad.
Ruling 4: it described what the drug does (MedExpress, October 2026)
A Facebook ad showed a woman taking a slim box from a pile of vegetables. The text said the treatment "helps silence food noise", "controls your cravings" and helps you "feel fuller for longer". Again, no drug name, and again, the landing pages named Mounjaro and Wegovy.
The ASA upheld the complaint.
Lesson: describing the drug can be as risky as naming it.
Ruling 5: the pill wasn't even licensed yet (Simple Online Pharmacy and Pharmacy Online, October 2026)
These were the first bans on ads for weight-loss tablets. On 1 June 2026, Simple Online Pharmacy ran an Instagram ad saying "No needle. Coming soon", with an invitation to "join the waitlist". The Wegovy tablet wasn't licensed in the UK until 11 June. Promoting a medicine before it has a licence broke the rules on unauthorised products.
Pharmacy Online ran a website pop-up announcing that the Wegovy pill had been approved, with a "pre-order now" button and £30 off. By then the tablet was licensed, but as a prescription-only medicine, so the pop-up broke rule 12.12 instead.
Lesson: new formats don't mean new rules.
What the MHRA Blue Guide adds
The MHRA Blue Guide is the MHRA's official guidance on advertising medicines. For weight-loss treatments, three points matter most:
- No POM ads to the public, in any form. That applies to social posts, search ads, influencer content and website pop-ups.
- No promotion before a licence. Waitlists, "coming soon" teasers and pre-orders for an unlicensed medicine are off-limits.
- An ad is wider than you think. Websites, social media and affiliate content can all count as advertising.
The regulators are working on this together. In September 2025, CAP, the MHRA and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) issued a joint enforcement notice on advertising weight-loss POMs. It covers injections and tablets, and warns that images like injection pens can make an ad unlawful. CAP actively scans for ads that break it.
Ignore the ASA, and the MHRA can step in with legal powers, including prosecution.
So what can you advertise?
The ASA's advice is to promote the consultation, not the medicine. You can advertise a weight-management service, as long as the ad and every page it links to don't promote a prescription-only medicine. That means:
- no drug names, brand names or ingredient names;
- no terms like "GLP-1", "weight-loss injection" or "weight-loss pen";
- no injection pens, vials, tablet packs or before-and-after photos;
- no descriptions of what a drug does, like "silences food noise";
- no discounts or offers that only apply to a medicine;
- no pathway from the ad to a page that names a POM.
Advertising compliance checklist for weight-loss medicines
- Check the whole journey: ad, landing page, pop-ups and checkout.
- Remove drug names, pens, tablet packs and "how it works" claims from anything public.
- Review affiliate, referral and discount-code schemes. If you control the scheme, you're responsible for the posts.
- Don't run waitlists or pre-orders for medicines that aren't licensed yet.
- Brief influencers and agencies on CAP Code rule 12.12 before they post.
- Monitor your brand on social media, not just your own channels.
The ASA has now banned weight-loss ads in five different ways, and it's still actively looking. Good advertising compliance here means checking every place your brand appears, not just the ads you paid for.
