Weight Watchers sues Jenny Craig
January 21, 2010
THESTAR.COM STAFF
Jenny Craig says it won’t back down from advertising claims that it’s better than Weight Watchers, despite a lawsuit to stop the comparison.
“We do not believe a head-to-head challenge is required to prove the effectiveness of the Jenny Craig Weight Loss Program,” CEO Patti Larchet said in a statement. “If Weight Watchers chose to pursue such a challenge, we would gladly welcome the opportunity to participate.”
Jenny Craig, with a strong presence in the United States and Canada, features actress Valerie Bertinelli in TV advertising with the claim that a “major clinical trial” has discovered that “Jenny Craig clients lost, on average, over twice as much weight as those on the largest weight-loss program,” a reference to industry leader Weight Watchers.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in New York this week, Weight Watchers said, “The Jenny Craig advertisements are false. Jenny Craig did not conduct a major clinical trial comparing its product with the Weight Watchers program.”
The campaign “is clearly unsupported by fact or science,” Weight Watchers chief executive David Kirchhoff said in a statement.
Jenny Craig used separate, rather than comparison, studies, Weight Watchers said. Jenny Craig argued it admits the studies are separate in its advertising.
January is “a critical time for weight-loss companies” Weight Watchers contends in its lawsuit.
Elizabeth Frank, managing director of Jenny Craig Canada, was unavailable for comment.