Anyone who has an Instagram account, especially women, will tell you that they can't browse through their feed without seeing an advertisement for weight loss supplements. The most popular one, however, seems to be Fit Tea, a detoxification tea that claims to boost energy, support metabolism, and promote weight loss. Its popularity among Instagram models and celebrities creates a hype that falls extremely short of the reality of all detox teas: they are unhealthy and ineffective.
On a daily basis, I'll look at my Instagram feed about four times, and each time I'll see at least one Fit Tea ad. Usually, I'll scroll right past it and think nothing of it. A few days ago, however, I began to notice these ads more and more as they appeared on my feed and decided to do some research on the product itself to see if it actually fulfilled all of its outrageous claims.
First, I visited Fit Tea's Instagram account and scrolled through several posts that pictured fit, toned women posing with a mug of tea and the Fit Tea packaging in the background. Pictures like this were the bulk of their advertisements, which didn't actually prove that their product worked to begin with. Then, I did a quick Google search and found these two articles that debunk diet teas and even Fit Tea specifically as effective weight loss techniques. The only things proven to occur when drinking diet teas is the loss of water weight, and since Fit Tea is marketed as a dietary supplement they do not have to prove any of their other claims either. The fact that the company can't even prove that their product really works is extremely concerning in itself. Not to mention the harmful side effects that Fit Tea has been shown to cause.
What inspired me to write this article, however, was the type of ads used by Fit Tea and other weight loss companies and their exploitation of women's insecurities. This company employs two of the most common advertising techniques: association and bandwagon. By showing fit, thin women who appear to be using Fit Tea regularly in order to maintain their shape insinuates the idea that if you drink their product then you will lose weight and look just like them. Then, they recruit and pay celebrities such as the Kardashians, for example, to post pictures of themselves using Fit Tea to encourage people to buy their product. When we examine these advertising strategies it's easy to see right through them, but these ads are also remarkably effective. Most people don't take the time to research products and their ingredients and end up buying a product that doesn't work.
A side effect of seeing these ads daily on social media is the rise in insecurities about body image. When women are surrounded by images of "the perfect body" in the media, and they don't have that specific body type, it causes them to lose their self-confidence and makes them believe that they aren't beautiful because they look different from the models commonly used to advertise products that women often purchase. It's a blatant exploitation of the frankly impossible standards that society expects women to meet, and the lengths to which women will go in order to meet those standards. There are so many different body types, and all of them should be celebrated and portrayed as beautiful. Products like Fit Tea, that don't work, shouldn't even exist to begin with.
