Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW), the global leader in weight-management services, today announced it has settled its legal dispute with Jenny Craig, Inc. ("Jenny Craig"). Under the terms of the settlement, Jenny Craig has permanently agreed to terminate its advertising campaign, which made false and misleading claims about the success of their program versus the Weight Watchers program.
On January 19, 2010, Weight Watchers filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York charging that Jenny Craig's advertising campaign featured false and misleading claims. The Court granted Weight Watchers' request for a temporary restraining order prohibiting Jenny Craig from broadcasting, publishing or disseminating its deceptive advertisements.
"We are pleased that Jenny Craig will no longer be allowed to continue using this false and misleading advertising, now and in the future, and to put this situation behind us," said David Kirchhoff, Weight Watchers President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Kirchhoff continued, "The settlement serves the public's interest by working to ensure the accuracy of weight-loss advertising, which is especially important today given that obesity has become such a major health threat in the United States. With nearly 70% of adult Americans currently classified as obese or overweight, we strongly believe that our unique lifestyle approach, which focuses on helping our members achieve healthy and sustainable weight loss through our focus on education, behavior change, exercise and support, can be helpful in addressing this national crisis."