The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld that the advertisements posted by an online pharmacy on Facebook have breached the norms by promoting prescription-only medicines.
The advertisement watchdog said the Bolt Pharmacy has been told that its two paid-for Facebook ads must not appear again, and they should not promote such ads in future.
The first Facebook ad was seen on 16 February 2026, and the second on 3 March 2026.
Bolt Pharmacy said one version of the ad referred to “prescription treatments” and conceded that the wording was unsuitable for a public-facing ad, and withdrew it.
They said they would carry out a wider review of ad copy to ensure compliance across their advertising.
ASA said the landing pages accessed from both ads included comparisons between “Wegovy” and “Mounjaro”, alongside images of Wegovy and Mounjaro branded injection pens, and they are prescription-only medicines.
Bolt Pharmacy accepted the ruling and said they were updating their user journeys so that users would complete a clinical consultation before any prescription only medicines were shown.
ASA had also sought advice from the MHRA and they expressed concern that the advertisement was likely to lead to the use of a prescription-only medicine.
