Teatox- How Millennials are Being Targeted for Weight Loss Products

I recently stumbled across a very interesting phenomenon revolving around tea. What's so special about tea you ask? Well for starters, I happen to love tea. I claim to be something of a tea connoisseur. I cozy up to all kinds of teas- black tea, green tea, oolong, white tea, red tea- you name it. Each kind of tea has its own healing properties and special taste. Nowadays though tea has become the hottest new dieting fad. How are brands marketing their newest weight loss tea? The answer: Instagram.

Companies are reaching out to popular Instagram users to pose with their products and comment positive reviews.  Of the many I looked at, most Instagram sponsored users emphasized that they didn't change anything about their eating habits or exercise. This ensures that their thousands, to even millions of followers are enticed to try the tea program. 

Most programs are purchased as 14 or 28 day sets. Their marketing stressed that the programs were extremely easy to follow since the consumer did not have to change their already existing routines. All one has to do is drink the tea 30 minutes before each meal. The hope is that the tea will suppress hunger and "burn fat."

Perhaps most influential of all the Instagram publicity is still celebrity "testimonial." For instance, Kylie Jenner posted about her teatox diet. 

Companies like Byron Body Tea are even using Instagram photos for the their testimonial pages on their website. Which is quite dishonest if you ask me because the users used for the testimonials have all been paid/sponsored- meaning they couldn't say anything negative about the tea, even if they believed it to be so. Perhaps more credible would be a blog post or YouTube review (see below).

As someone who values healthy eating and lifestyle choices, I don't find this new teatox craze to be effective. Although some of the teas may work to suppress hunger, they are not a sustainable ways to attain and maintain weight loss. Also the markup for the tea is exponential and similar tea products could easily be bought at the grocery store for a quarter of the price. 

I will say though, I almost bought into the Byron Body Tea program last week. A fashion blogger friend of mine posted about it and I took her word for it. (The photo is above- the one with the sushi and tiny man in the tea cup). After doing research however, I found it to not be worth the investment. It goes to show you how tricky companies can be with their marketing. I think that Instagram as a platform tends to comes across as the most relatable and authentic out of all the channels. I'm thinking this had to do with how impressionable I was looking at my friend's photo.