REUTERS: Pinterest announced on Thursday that all ads containing weight reduction language and imagery, as well as ads that idealize or condemn certain body shapes, will be banned (Jul 1). The digital pinboard site also stated that ads including testimonials regarding weight loss or weight loss products, as well as those referencing the Body Mass Index (BMI) or equivalent indexes, would be prohibited.
“As a result of this stance, Pinterest is the only major site that prohibits any weight loss advertisements. It’s a step forward in our advertising policy, which have long outlawed body shaming and harmful weight-loss goods or promises “In a blog post published on Thursday, the business stated. If they don’t “focus on weight loss,” ads supporting healthy lifestyles, habits, or fitness services and goods are still allowed on the site. The policy was created with the help of the National Eating Disorders Association, according to the firm. In an interview, Pinterest’s head of policy, Sarah Bromma, said the rule change prioritized users’ “emotional and mental health and wellness, especially those directly impacted by eating disorders, diet culture, or body shaming.” Pinterest, which has long struggled to tackle pro-eating disorder content on its platform and has prohibited such searches and pointed users to expert organizations since 2015, already has policies in place prohibiting ads advocating weight reduction medicines or displaying before-and-after weight-loss pictures.
Tyi McCray, the business’s global head of inclusion and diversity, announced his departure this week after less than a year with the company. Protocol was the first to report about the relocation. Pinterest, which went public in 2019, has been embroiled in problems about diversity and inequality in the last year, including allegations of racial discrimination in the workplace by two former policy team employees./n
