The end of WeightWatchers?
The diet brand has filed for bankruptcy in the US as it struggles to survive in era of weight-loss jabs

"It's a scene played out in community centres up and down the country," said The Independent. "A cluster of people, most of them women, inevitably, are nervously waiting to stand on the scales in front of their peers. Will they have lost or gained a few pounds since their last communal weigh-in?"
Set-ups like this were once a "defining part of diet culture", although they may soon seem like an "archaic throwback to another era". That's because WeightWatchers, the US company that has dominated the diet industry for more than six decades, has filed for bankruptcy, "reportedly in an attempt to eliminate $1.15 billion (£863 million) worth of debt".
WeightWatchers has said that there will be "no impact to members" and that it is not closing its doors. Its services will remain "fully operational" during the filing process, the company said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Comically old-fashioned'
The "most obvious culprit" behind the company's "dramatic change in fortunes" is the rise of Ozempic and similar drugs, which have "transformed" the way we approach weight loss. Ozempic has "turned the diet industry upside down, and left more traditional brands struggling to keep up".
Some of the advice dished out by the WeightWatchers diet plan now seems "comically old-fashioned", said Zing Tsjeng in The i Paper. Members agreed to adhere to a points-based system, where each food is assigned a score based on its nutritional value. Bananas, for example, "were believed to be too carb-heavy and high-calorie", according to a 1980s diet plan.
Admittedly, this numbers-based approach "did work for some people". A 2017 study published in The Lancet found that 57% of participants lost weight after a 52-week trial of the WeightWatchers programme. But for millions of others, it introduced the idea of food as something to be handled "like a radioactive substance".
A 'new wave' of diet culture
The decline of WeightWatchers is "more than just a business story", said Eva Wiseman in The Observer. It's a story about "what happens when dieting goes out of fashion, but being thin remains more important than ever".
Of course, today "we no longer say the word 'thin'". And "we don't say we're trying to lose weight, we say we want to 'get strong', or sometimes get 'lean'". The weight-loss methods and choices may change over time, "but it's the judgment attached to these choices that keeps diet culture comfortably ticking, and profitable, and dangerous". WeightWatchers may be falling out of fashion, "but that doesn’t mean the diet industry is on its knees".
Indeed, the decline of WeightWatchers isn't a "win" for those who rail against diet culture, said Glamour. It "marks the dominance of a new wave of diet culture", where "skinniness is more glorified than ever, and the ways of achieving it feel more in reach for the masses". "Diet culture has sharpened its teeth, and armed itself with a syringe; it no longer needs the henchmen of WeightWatchers".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
June 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's golden comb-over, brain drain in America, and a new TACO presidential seal.
-
5 cartoons about the TACO trade
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on America's tariffs, Vladimir Putin waiting for taco Tuesday, and a new presidential seal
-
A city of culture in the high Andes
The Week Recommends Cuenca is a must-visit for those keen to see the 'real Ecuador'
-
'Wrench attacks' are targeting wealthy crypto moguls
The Explainer The attacks are named for physical coercion that can be used to gain crypto passwords
-
Trump is trying to jump-start US manufacturing. Is it worth it?
Today's Big Question The jobs are good. The workers may not be there.
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Visa wants to let AI make credit card purchases for you
The Explainer The program will allow you to set a budget and let AI learn from your shopping preferences
-
A newly created gasoline giant in the Americas could change the industry landscape
The Explainer Sunoco and Parkland are two of the biggest fuel suppliers in the US and Canada, respectively
-
Discount stores were thriving. How did they stumble?
The Explainer Blame Walmart — and inflation
-
Could a private equity deal be the end of Walgreens?
Today's Big Question The pharmacy chain will be taken private in a $10 billion deal
-
Eggs too pricey? Rent a chicken.
Under the Radar The cost of eggs increased more than 15% in January