[Anchor]
As the obesity treatment injection Wegovy gains popularity, there is an overflow of so-called oral Wegovy advertisements on social media.
Claims that one can lose up to 7 kilograms in a month are being posted as if they are personal testimonials.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has referred the representatives of five companies to the prosecution for suspected false advertising.
Reporter Kim Seong-soo has the details.
[Report]
These days, social media is flooded with testimonials claiming to have personally experienced weight loss supplements.
They claim that, similar to the recently popular Wegovy, consuming it suppresses appetite by acting on hormones in the body, leading to weight loss.
["The explosive appetite disappears so I naturally lost 7kg in a month."]
We contacted the sales company for a direct consultation.
[Sales Company Representative/Voice Altered: "(Is there actual weight-loss effect?) Yes, because it’s a product that acts like an enzyme. If you take it consistently, your appetite will decreases a bit, and that is the effect."]
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's investigation, it was a fake Wegovy with unproven weight-loss effects.
Representatives from five companies have been referred to the prosecution for allegedly marketing ordinary food products as obesity treatments.
These companies had requested advertising agencies to include keywords like "lose 7kg in a month," and influencers created and posted videos as if they had personally used the product.
Sales from these products have exceeded 32 billion won from January of last year to the present.
While it is illegal for companies to make false advertisements for sales purposes, they exploited a loophole where consumer testimonials cannot be regulated.
[Kim Young-jo/Head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's Dangerous Substance Investigation Team: "We could not confirm that there is a weight-loss effect. It is important to accurately verify whether a product is being sold as a drug and to make purchasing decisions accordingly."]
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has announced plans to strengthen regulations on illegal advertising, especially by celebrities using testimonial-style posts on social media.
This is KBS News, Kim Seong-soo.
As the obesity treatment injection Wegovy gains popularity, there is an overflow of so-called oral Wegovy advertisements on social media.
Claims that one can lose up to 7 kilograms in a month are being posted as if they are personal testimonials.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has referred the representatives of five companies to the prosecution for suspected false advertising.
Reporter Kim Seong-soo has the details.
[Report]
These days, social media is flooded with testimonials claiming to have personally experienced weight loss supplements.
They claim that, similar to the recently popular Wegovy, consuming it suppresses appetite by acting on hormones in the body, leading to weight loss.
["The explosive appetite disappears so I naturally lost 7kg in a month."]
We contacted the sales company for a direct consultation.
[Sales Company Representative/Voice Altered: "(Is there actual weight-loss effect?) Yes, because it’s a product that acts like an enzyme. If you take it consistently, your appetite will decreases a bit, and that is the effect."]
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's investigation, it was a fake Wegovy with unproven weight-loss effects.
Representatives from five companies have been referred to the prosecution for allegedly marketing ordinary food products as obesity treatments.
These companies had requested advertising agencies to include keywords like "lose 7kg in a month," and influencers created and posted videos as if they had personally used the product.
Sales from these products have exceeded 32 billion won from January of last year to the present.
While it is illegal for companies to make false advertisements for sales purposes, they exploited a loophole where consumer testimonials cannot be regulated.
[Kim Young-jo/Head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's Dangerous Substance Investigation Team: "We could not confirm that there is a weight-loss effect. It is important to accurately verify whether a product is being sold as a drug and to make purchasing decisions accordingly."]
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has announced plans to strengthen regulations on illegal advertising, especially by celebrities using testimonial-style posts on social media.
This is KBS News, Kim Seong-soo.
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- “Oral Wegovy” debunked
-
- 입력 2025-08-21 17:58:35
[Anchor]
As the obesity treatment injection Wegovy gains popularity, there is an overflow of so-called oral Wegovy advertisements on social media.
Claims that one can lose up to 7 kilograms in a month are being posted as if they are personal testimonials.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has referred the representatives of five companies to the prosecution for suspected false advertising.
Reporter Kim Seong-soo has the details.
[Report]
These days, social media is flooded with testimonials claiming to have personally experienced weight loss supplements.
They claim that, similar to the recently popular Wegovy, consuming it suppresses appetite by acting on hormones in the body, leading to weight loss.
["The explosive appetite disappears so I naturally lost 7kg in a month."]
We contacted the sales company for a direct consultation.
[Sales Company Representative/Voice Altered: "(Is there actual weight-loss effect?) Yes, because it’s a product that acts like an enzyme. If you take it consistently, your appetite will decreases a bit, and that is the effect."]
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's investigation, it was a fake Wegovy with unproven weight-loss effects.
Representatives from five companies have been referred to the prosecution for allegedly marketing ordinary food products as obesity treatments.
These companies had requested advertising agencies to include keywords like "lose 7kg in a month," and influencers created and posted videos as if they had personally used the product.
Sales from these products have exceeded 32 billion won from January of last year to the present.
While it is illegal for companies to make false advertisements for sales purposes, they exploited a loophole where consumer testimonials cannot be regulated.
[Kim Young-jo/Head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's Dangerous Substance Investigation Team: "We could not confirm that there is a weight-loss effect. It is important to accurately verify whether a product is being sold as a drug and to make purchasing decisions accordingly."]
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has announced plans to strengthen regulations on illegal advertising, especially by celebrities using testimonial-style posts on social media.
This is KBS News, Kim Seong-soo.
As the obesity treatment injection Wegovy gains popularity, there is an overflow of so-called oral Wegovy advertisements on social media.
Claims that one can lose up to 7 kilograms in a month are being posted as if they are personal testimonials.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has referred the representatives of five companies to the prosecution for suspected false advertising.
Reporter Kim Seong-soo has the details.
[Report]
These days, social media is flooded with testimonials claiming to have personally experienced weight loss supplements.
They claim that, similar to the recently popular Wegovy, consuming it suppresses appetite by acting on hormones in the body, leading to weight loss.
["The explosive appetite disappears so I naturally lost 7kg in a month."]
We contacted the sales company for a direct consultation.
[Sales Company Representative/Voice Altered: "(Is there actual weight-loss effect?) Yes, because it’s a product that acts like an enzyme. If you take it consistently, your appetite will decreases a bit, and that is the effect."]
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's investigation, it was a fake Wegovy with unproven weight-loss effects.
Representatives from five companies have been referred to the prosecution for allegedly marketing ordinary food products as obesity treatments.
These companies had requested advertising agencies to include keywords like "lose 7kg in a month," and influencers created and posted videos as if they had personally used the product.
Sales from these products have exceeded 32 billion won from January of last year to the present.
While it is illegal for companies to make false advertisements for sales purposes, they exploited a loophole where consumer testimonials cannot be regulated.
[Kim Young-jo/Head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's Dangerous Substance Investigation Team: "We could not confirm that there is a weight-loss effect. It is important to accurately verify whether a product is being sold as a drug and to make purchasing decisions accordingly."]
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has announced plans to strengthen regulations on illegal advertising, especially by celebrities using testimonial-style posts on social media.
This is KBS News, Kim Seong-soo.
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김성수 기자 ssoo@kbs.co.kr
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