Pinterest Says Goodbye To All Weight-Loss-Related Ads And Illustrations

 

Pinterest, the image-based social media platform that allows users to build and share mood boards, is the first major platform to ban all weight-loss-related advertisements, imagery, and language.

As the company joins a larger body-positivity movement, ads encouraging diets or slimming items will be removed from the platform. Any content that idealizes or disrespects certain body shapes falls into this category.

"Such advertising frequently proposes ways to ‘fix' one's body, implying that there is a problem with one's physical appearance. This affects their mental and emotional health."

For instance, depending on how the algorithm is set up, a new mom may be overwhelmed with weight-loss ads just after giving birth, negatively impacting her self-esteem at a sensitive time. Such advertisements promote a diet culture that is far more harmful than we realize.

On the platform, weight-loss testimonies are also disallowed. However, as long as the marketing of a healthy lifestyle, habits, and products does not “focus on weight loss,” the restriction does not apply. Pinterest users, sometimes known as "Pinners," will be able to search for topics including weight-loss guidance and healthy-eating ideas.

The change comes as more than 60% of Pinterest users are female, with many of them being directly affected by issues including eating disorders, diet culture, and body shaming.

Of course, Pinterest isn't the only company that has practices like this. In 2019, Instagram and Facebook also banned ads for "miracle" diets and weight-loss goods, while Snapchat's ad policy prohibits side-by-side, before-and-after photographs of specific body sections rather than the full body. Pinterest is the first platform to entirely prohibit these adverts.

Twitter, on the other hand, has no special ad policies for weight loss, dieting, or fitness.