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Gemma Collins has been ordered to remove an Instagram post after the Advertising Standards Agency (ASD) determined that one of her sponsored posts breached their guidelines.
The 43-year-old former The Only Way Is Essex star, who currently boasts 2.2 million followers on Instagram and has been open in the past about her own troubles with mental health, shared a post promoting a pulsating headset to fight depression.
In May 2023, the reality TV star shared a video of herself online wearing the £400 Flow Neuroscience AB device.
The device is said to send mild electrical impulses to the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for regulating and maintaining our mood.
It also claimed to “reduce depression in 88 percent of people”, according to Flow's data.
In the clip, Collins - who refers to herself as ‘The GC’ - could be heard discussing the benefits of using the device and encouraging her fans to take their health into their own hands instead of seeking medical help, the UK watchdog ruled.
Her accompanying caption read: “I am one week into using my Flow Neuroscience device. When I tell you it is amazing – it is literally amazing. Even after one week of use I’m feeling lighter, I’m feeling brighter, I am loving life now I’m off of my depression tablets and this has been a real game changer for me.
"It’s like having your own therapist in the comfort of your own home. You’re fully in control of your own treatment.”
Collins added that if people were not able to access other treatments such as therapy in their area and didn’t want to try medication, they could consider trying this new option, which could be purchased directly without a prescription.
While she did caveat this with a warning that they should consult their GP first, the ASA ruled that this was insufficient.
According to current guidelines, marketing must not “discourage essential treatment for which medical supervision should be sought”, and as a result, the ASA said the post violated its code.
They argued that simply telling people to “consult” a doctor only encouraged a preliminary appointment and didn’t reinforce the need for "ongoing supervision”.
As a result of their findings, Collins was ordered to remove the advert and the post has since been deleted.
"The implication was that people who started to use the device would be able to stop their medication shortly after and without medical supervision," the ASA, which acknowledged Collins had stopped taking medication before starting to use Flow, said.
"We considered that the ad trivialised the decision to come off antidepressants or not take them at all and encouraged people to take their treatment into their own hands.
“We considered that the claims were targeted at both those consumers who were weighing up treatment options at an early point in their illness and those who were currently receiving conventional medication or therapy for depression.
"We considered that the reference to buying the device directly from the website added to the impression that consumers could bypass the medical consultation route. We concluded that the ad discouraged essential treatment for a condition for which medical supervision should be sought and therefore breached the Code."
The Standard has contacted Gemma Collins for comment.
