NBC News (1/27, Matsakis) reports, “Meta and TikTok pulled advertisements from” Cerebral, “a major mental healthcare startup, this week after receiving inquiries from NBC News.” The two “social media platforms found the ads promoted negative body images and contained misleading health claims.” Some “experts have raised concerns about the advertising tactics mental health care startups have been using to attract patients they do believe are appropriate candidates for their services.” John Torous, MD, MBI, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association’s Mental Health IT committee, said, “When you see ads like this, you kind of worry about their marketing, who they want to reach, and how they’re reaching people.” Due to the fact that mental healthcare “startups are often backed by venture capital, they may have a mandate to grow as quickly as possible in order to provide a return to investors, he said.”
Related Links:
— “Instagram and TikTok pull ads from startup Cerebral linking ADHD to obesity “Louise Matsakis, NBC News, January 27, 2022