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Carli Fleisher - TikTok's Rebranding of Diet Culture

My op-ed is about Tik Tok’s attempt to rebrand weight loss products as wellness. Their attempt includes verbiage to describe weight loss enhancers as “self-care, balance, better health”..etc.. These terms are often and most associated with products that augment appearance, specifically weight which in turn, create a toxic environment and unrealistic standards. 

Scroll through TikTok and you are most likely to be bombarded by influencers marketing supplements that suppress appetite, decrease bloating, lower cortisol, or boost metabolism. They are marked under the topic of “self-care or “holistic health”. However, many of these supplements and trends are no different from the diet pills and fad products of previous decades that were under heat for encouraging unhealthy body standards resulting in insecurities. 

The trick lies within TikTok’s nature of making these messages relatable or even “empowering”. Neoliberal approaches have exemplified how the term empowerment has lost its meaning and become vaguer in recent times. Zakaria illustrates this and critiques how this neoliberalism view reshapes empowerment with capitalist goals. “In its original iterations, empowerment was understood as something notably different from its relative meaning lessness today” (Zakaria, 2021). She explains empowerment on TikTok is associated with goods or services that are promoted as tools for self-improvement such as wellness trends and "girl boss" culture. These have been commodified resulting in the façade of health and wellness while reinforcing individualistic success rather than promoting systemic change.

TikTok’s promotion of diet trends like supplements are creating a toxic environment resulting in negative effects on its users. The algorithmic mechanism in addition to TikTok shop makes users more likely to see these types of videos. These supplements, which are frequently presented as methods to "feel better" or "boost energy," serve to further society’s fixation of body control and thinness. 

A prime result of this causality of influencing weight loss has created a feedback loop through social surveillance. This has created an unhealthy culture of comparison and peer pressure to conform to certain societal standards that are deemed “worthy”. As Drenton mentions (2022) “Such deep-diving into people’s private lives for public entertainment is a function of social surveillance only further accelerated by the interactive features of TikTok.” The features encouraging this behavior is embedded in the algorithm. Where weight-loss narratives have been rewarded with likes, comments, and shares. This has drastically increased visibility and virality of the content, encouraging other users to replicate it. Users are more likely to buy the promoted supplements, post their own journey, and/or critiquing others’ choices. 

User @agnessashealth posted a video where she quotes, “She was swollen keeping that extra fat until she started taking this supplement and she saw the craziest results…all she did was fix her gut and digestion.” (Kosogon, 2024). She was engaging with social surveillance, posting a video about her peers’ weight. Additionally, this language of promoting healthiness as weight loss is a direct example of how TikTok is rebranding the promotion of diet supplements, many of which have long been found to be dangerous in and most which lack of FDA approval. Even more detrimental, their advertising and promotion perpetuates negative body image norms, such as the idea that being slim is the same as being healthy or deserving.

However, these narratives only serve to commodify empowerment as explained by Zakaria (2021). Empowerment is now marketed as a product that you can purchase and highlight as "self-improvement" regardless of the authentic motives behind one’s “rejuvenated” self. 

Weight-loss supplements, which are frequently promoted as "essential" for attaining wellness or social approval, create an echo chamber where individuals surveille one another filled with judgement. Users are simultaneously watchers and watched, pressured to conform to idealized standards of beauty or risk social backlash and judgment.

In addition to the promotion of wellness through weight loss, users engage in before and after pics, what I eat in a day videos, and weight loss challenges that also contribute to a toxic culture and unrealistic standards of beauty.  Tik Tok attempted to “remove content about drugs like Ozempic, extended fasting and more form the “For You” feed” (Minsberg, 2024). This effort excludes the videos of supplements that are branded as “nature’s Ozempic” and other weight loss methods. 

TikTok's rebranding of diet culture as wellness is far from empowering its audience but perpetuates harmful beauty standards which result in vulnerabilities and encouraging comparison. All of this is for financial gain as confirmed by the “creator earns commission” on the bottom of the posts. Additionally, this toxic culture creates a larger problem of mental and physical health illness. Although millions of people can be influenced and trends and norms can be shaped by Tik Tok's platform, it must be held responsible for encouraging detrimental behaviors and maintaining unrealistic standards. We must critically assess the content we interact with as consumers.


Works Cited

Drenton, J. (2022). West Elm Caleb and the rise of the TikTok tabloid. The Conversation Download The Conversation.

Kosogon, A. [@agnessashealth]. (2024, July 29) Is anyone else happier now that they’re skinnier? [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYYdLNFR/

Minsberg, T. (2024, May 17). Tiktok attempts to rein in weight loss posts. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/17/well/live/tiktok-diet-weight-loss.html 

Zakaria, R. (2021). Against white feminism. Penguin. EXCERPT: Chapter 3 Download EXCERPT: Chapter 3.


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