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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against an online pharmacy that posted advertisements on a Facebook page titled ‘UK Weight Loss Reviews’ without making “sufficiently clear” that the page was run by the company.

In a ruling published today (July 29), the ASA found that two ads posted by Bolt Pharmacy on the page in April 2026 had breached advertising regulations.

The first ad had a caption that included the statement: “Why overpay for weight loss treatments? Bolt Pharmacy offers genuine weight loss treatments at rock-bottom prices.”

It featured a video with a voice-over stating:  “UK’s best-price weight loss treatment, didn’t think it could get better. Most weight loss programmes charge hundreds per month, and that’s exactly how they want it.

“The industry profits by keeping you subscribed, not by helping you succeed. That’s why Bolt offers the UK’s best pricing, with transparent costs, no hidden fees, no monthly traps.”

The video showed a price comparison chart with one cash emoji above a white bar labelled ‘Bolt’ and three cash emojis above a black bar labelled ‘Others’. 

The second ad also featured a video, this time with a woman saying she had chosen Bolt’s weight loss services based on price and that she had also “got my mum started on it”.

The advertising regulator raised concerns that the ads “falsely implied that the marketer was acting for purposes outside its business and did not make clear their commercial intent”. 

When approached by the ASA, Bolt Pharmacy confirmed that it operated the UK Weight Loss Reviews Facebook page and acknowledged that “the presentation of the page did not make sufficiently clear its commercial relationship with Bolt Pharmacy,” which “may have misled consumers”.

The company told the ASA that it had removed all ads from the page and was considering whether to stop using the page in future.

The ASA also found that these two ads, as well as a further two posted by Bolt Pharmacy on Facebook in February this year, had breached the CAP code by promoting prescription medicines to the public.

The ASA found that the ads took customers to a landing page that included promotional text for Wegovy and Mounjaro “as opposed to information about particular conditions and diseases,” and that one of the February ads had included a reference to “prescription treatments”.

Bolt Pharmacy told the ASA it accepted that the reference to prescription drugs was inappropriate for a consumer-facing ad and that it was updating its user journey so that people accessing the site would “complete a clinical consultation before any POMs were shown”.

Bolt Pharmacy has been approached for comment.

Related: Don’t promote weight loss drugs to the public, ASA warns Phlo

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