As India's weight management market expands, misleading ads risk rises

A week before semaglutide's patent expiry, the CDSCO issued an advisory warning pharma companies against promoting prescription weight-loss drugs, banned by law

India’s buzzing weight-management market is busier than ever. After tea, powders, supplements and pills, weight-loss injections are the hottest thing. With semaglutide, the active ingredient in slimming drugs,  having gone off-patent on March 20 in India, over a dozen domestic firms are jostling to launch affordable versions of the drug. 

 

That’s not surprising: According to market research firm IMARC, India’s weight-management market was valued at $27.4 bn in 2025 and demand for products is growing. That’s because nearly one in every four adults in the country is obese. And according to the World Obesity Atlas 2026, India now ranks second in terms of overweight and obese children. Another reason is ads that make dubious claims to slimming. The advertising industry is walking a tightrope between promoting awareness and making exaggerated claims. 

 

“Writing for weight-loss (ads) in India sits at the intersection of aspiration, insecurity, regulation, and cultural truth. It’s one of the most sensitive categories to handle,” said Ujjwal Anand, managing partner - North, Dentsu Creative Webchutney, a Mumbai-based creative agency.

 

A week before semaglutide's patent expiry, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization issued an advisory warning pharma companies against promoting prescription weight-loss drugs, banned by law.

 

Alarm bells

 

“It has been brought to the notice that certain pharmaceutical companies may be engaging in direct or indirect (surrogate) promotional activities, including disease awareness campaigns, digital media outreach, and other communications, relating to GLP-1 receptor agonists and similar prescription drugs indicated for obesity and metabolic disorders,” CDSCO noted in an advisory issued on March 11.  GLP-1 receptor agonists are a class of medicines used to treat diabetes and obesity.

 

Even before the formal advisory, medical professionals were warning against the influence of advertisements for such products. 

 

“In just a year or so, these injections have taken over the market as some ‘magical drug’ and the information about their usage is still limited among the general public. No advertisement says that it requires strict diet, exercise, and monitoring,” said Dr Atul Peters, a Delhi-based bariatric surgeon. “Nearly 50 per cent of the patients, who should ideally opt for surgeries — due to extreme obesity — are asking us to prescribe these drugs.”

 

Promotion of prescription drugs is prohibited under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs Rules, 1945. While conventional media like print and television refrain from making specific claims about weight loss, digital and influencer marketing platforms often exploit what is described as a grey area. 

 

“Influencing happens to the extent that people who have gone through surgery are making videos saying that they used XY or Z injections for the transformation. This is not direct advertising but these are fraudulent claims and can influence people,” said Peters. 

 

The side-effects of unsupervised consumption of these drugs could start with gastroenteritis, including vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain, and could turn severe in some cases, impacting vital organs like the pancreas and eyes. 

 

Globally, Novo Nordisk — the makers of popular weight loss injections Ozempic and Wegovy — is fighting more than 1,800 lawsuits filed by users who developed stomach paralysis, vomiting and even loss of vision, allegedly as a side-effect. The potential hit could cross $2 billion. 

 

“Sometimes, the prescription is made by doctors who are not even qualified to handle obesity or diabetes cases,” Peters said. 

 

The big claim story

 

While these injections are still new in the Indian market, over-the-counter products promoting weight loss have long been around, as have concerns over false claims.

 

According to the Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci)’s half-yearly report for April-September 2025, 81.6 per cent of the 332 cases it dealt with in the healthcare sector were found to violate the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. 

 

Healthcare remains the third-most violative sector in advertising after betting and personal care, it said. 

 

“Non-prescription products are often marketed as food, herbal or wellness products but sometimes may make therapeutic or disease-related claims,” said Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer and secretary general of Asci. 

 

In August 2025, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) fined wellness firm VLCC ~3 lakh for publishing misleading advertisements regarding treatments through the use of US Food and Drug Agency-approved ‘CoolSculpting’ fat-freezing procedure/machine. CCPA also fined Mumbai-based beauty clinic Kaya Ltd for making similar claims of weight loss.

 

Interestingly, the rise of digital advertising means the cost and speed of bringing down a misleading ad now is less. If a claim is proven to be misleading, the brand can remove the post quickly. 

 

“During print and television, this was not as easy, which is why more neutral language like ‘weight management’ was used instead of guaranteed results,” said Ashish Chakravarty, partner and chief creative officer at Mumbai-based Garage Worldwide. 

 

According to Dentsu’s Anand, the real challenge lies in taking on quick-fix promises, celebrity-led endorsements, and alternative therapies with questionable claims.

 

While all of this remains alarming, the continued growth of the weight management market has prompted advertisers to try and navigate their way around.  

 

“Writing weight-loss advertising is not just copywriting – it’s behavioural science plus regulation and storytelling,” said Anand. Ad agencies, he said, have to do a balancing act between authenticity and exaggeration by dramatizing the outcome, but not falsifying the claim – using aspiration without promising miracles. 

 

“Today, smarter brands are moving from ‘lose 10 kg in 10 days’ to ‘sustainable, science-backed transformation’,” Anand said. Recently, weight-loss drugmaker Eli Lilly put out an ad that touched upon the sensitivity of the topic by showing how a person with obesity accepts the criticism without understanding that it is a disease that requires medical intervention. 

 

“They are asking people to consider obesity as a disease and not just a lifestyle problem,” Anand said.   

 

Gatekeepers at work    

 

The claims and complaints have kept regulators like  CCPA and ASCI on their toes. “When complaints are received and adequate substantiation for claims made is not provided, ASCI typically asks the advertiser to modify or withdraw the advertisement,” said Kapoor. 

 

However, in some cases, if the ads are thought to violate statutory provisions such as the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, ASCI refers them to the relevant regulator, including the Ministry of AYUSH or other concerned departments.

 

To be sure, attempts to deal with false claims can start as early as the product going for clearance to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

 

“For any nutraceutical product, the process starts with a team of 9 experts, a few FSSAI members and a chair. All claims and aspects of the product are studied before having another meeting with a specialist like an endocrinologist or diabetologist – depending on the claim made,” said a nutritional scientist at FSSAI. 

 

She said the next step includes sending all queries to the makers who have to respond to a team of 21 experts and five external members. The final steps include sending the sample to the health secretariat and putting the draft on the website for comments.

 

“In most cases, it is a rigorous process of 10-12 steps.” She said the number of weight-loss products coming for clearance has seen a large spike over the years.  

 

Advertisers also claim to take on some of the responsibility — they say there are discussions with the brand before any claim is added to the ad script.

 

“We do ask about the clinical trials, ingredient level proof, advisory board, etc. This becomes the claim playground—what is legally and scientifically defendable,” said Anand. 

 

The ultimate responsibility of the content lies with the advertiser, he said, admitting that a credible agency would not blindly parrot a claim. “They will push back on unrealistic claims, recommend defensible language and insist on disclaimers wherever required.”

 

According to experts, there is a risk-and-impact trade-off where the honest way is to pick dull but safe lines — like ‘product supports weight management’ instead of the ‘transform your body in weeks’.

 

The growth of the weight loss product industry means the advertising sector is a collaborator. With India preparing to address obesity-related health challenges amid a range of new products entering the market, the number of misleading claims and surrogate advertisements is expected to rise. And that in turn will  require regulators to keep a hawk eye on dubious claims.