The health and wellness giant has hit a new low in their fall from grace. With 62 years in the industry, they’ve had a hell of a run and are planning to make another run for the throne once they secure new investors to pay off their current debt.
You might ask, How much debt do they have? According to the Wall Street Journal, Weight Watchers is attempting to unload at least a billion dollars of its total 1.6 billion-dollar debt.
Although I’ve never been the CEO of a billion-dollar company, I feel confident in identifying blatant mismanagement. While only employed by Weight Watchers for less than three years, the company suffered three major blows from which it couldn’t recover.
Although the former CEO, Sima Sistani, completely butchered the company, it was truly the nail in the coffin for a company that is a shell of its former self.
These are the three biggest missteps I see for this heartless health entity
- Rebranding from Weight Watchers to WW
- Losing Oprah on the board, and her endorsement, which ends this year
- Acquiring a telehealth medical company to push weight loss drugs
Acquiring a telehealth medical company to push weight loss drugs
As a 30-year-old Man living in Phoenix, AZ, Weight Watchers was at its pop culture peak during my late teens. Once Oprah gave the company her stamp of approval, it was as much of a proven commodity as any other company. Over time, the excitement and hype die as it passes its zenith of popularity.
What I find off preposterous about this news headline is that “All Natural” eating is on the rise, people are exercising more, giving more attention to whole foods, and moving away from highly processed junk foods.
There’s no shortage of fitness influencers born every day; countless influencers are dying to tell you how aggressively mediocre their meals are while trying to convince you to act like them.
When Weight Watchers purchased Sequence, the telehealth company, they ultimately sealed their own coffin shut by selling weight loss drugs like Ozempic. They ensured their customers wouldn’t need them for long, and the company ultimately began cannibalizing itself.
It makes no sense for the company to deem ‘Ozempic’ and other craving curbing drugs as competition while also trying to sell said drugs.
Losing Oprah on the board, and her endorsement, which ends this year
Clearly, these are thoughts and opinions coming from out-of-touch board members.
Next point!
Losing your most popular board member—the queen herself, Oprah—is a tragedy. Is it any coincidence that the company files for bankruptcy the same year as Oprah’s endorsement contract ends?
I think not.
Rebranding from Weight Watchers to WW
Lastly, rebranding from Weight Watchers to WW was a horrendous idea, given that Weight Watchers is a trusted name in the Health and Wellness space, which is hard to come by these days.
It fit their transition into pushing drugs like a neighborhood drug dealer. Discreet and willing to sell you anything. A rebrand was needed, but instead of catching up with the times and finding their place in the modern health and wellness space, they opted to dance with the Devil.
Big Pharma!
Instead of taking a trip down to Georgia to see what Lucifer had in store for them, they could’ve gone all in on partnership collaborations with fitness influencers and podcasters and found a new model for personal connection that fits people’s current lifestyle. Unfortunately, people have less time to go to meetings than they did 50 years ago, and nutritional information is accessible and abundant.
