It's no secret to most that social media doesn't just serve as a platform to connect with others across the globe, but also a place for companies to advertise products. From sponsored ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, to ad pop-ups between Snapchat stories, to celebrity endorsements on all forms of social media, advertising seems to be everywhere, and can frankly be quite annoying at times. However, some of this advertising can also be dangerous, as actress Jameela Jamil has pointed out.
Jamil, who plays the character of Tahani on NBC's The Good Place, has taken to Twitter over the past week, cautioning her audience about the dangers of celebrities who advertise for companies selling weight loss products.
Jamil's tweets started last week after seeing celebrity after celebrity, including Khloe Kardashian, Cardi B, and Iggy Azalea, promote Flat Tummy Co, which is a diet company geared towards women that specializes in detox teas, shakes, and lollipops. Her initial tweet read, "Oh my god you guys! This product that must also come with a personal trainer, a dietician and a plastic surgeon is on sale! All those things in one case of non FDA approved dog shit! fabulous!"
Since then, Jamil has been actively and persistently speaking out against Flat Tummy Co and detox teas/shakes in general, with many of her tweets (like the one below) urging her followers not to listen to the messages of these celebrities or Flat Tummy Co, and to instead speak to a professional if they'd like to consider being healthier or losing weight:
What's particularly interesting about Jameela Jamil's tweets about Flat Tummy Co and celebrities who promote it is that, even if she doesn't explicitly state it, what Jamil is doing here is pointing out a fallacy. In particular, Jamil is pointing out that these celebrity endorsements are a classic case of Argumentum Ad Verecundiam, which is a fallacy that relies on a person with little to no expertise in support of a claim. In this case, Jamil is pointing out that celebrities have no expertise in the area of nutrition, or even in "basic advertising ethics," so they shouldn't be promoting the use of diet products, especially ones that they have probably never used themselves.
Additionally, Jameela Jamil isn't just pointing out a fallacy, but she's also doing exactly what I talk about in my research as being one of the main reasons that people should learn about fallacies--to learn to deconstruct sneaky and manipulative rhetoric, and to take back agency. In this case, Jamil uses her knowledge of fallacious reasoning (even though she doesn't explicitly state the name of the fallacy, but rather uses the content of it) to combat the selling of harmful, non-FDA-approved diet products to an audience of young women.