As you might know, Kim Kardashian may be one of the wealthiest and most well-known celebrities out there, but that has never stopped the reality television star from posting sponsored content on her social media pages. It wouldn’t be a big deal if the brands she was advertising were harmless – like, say, a clothing or a watch company – but that usually isn’t the case. Kim has actually come to be known for promoting some seriously questionable items, like waist trainers in order to lose weight, gummy bears to make your hair grow faster, and teeth whitening kits. For the most part, there’s no proof that the products work, and they always seem to come out of left field.
But the worst thing she promotes on a pretty consistent basis has to be Flat Tummy Co., a line of diet shakes and teas. For years now, Kim has continued to push the line onto her 124 million followers, many of whom are young teenagers, despite the fact that they send an unhealthy message. And now, only a few days into 2019, Kim is in trouble for promoting these dangerous shakes yet again. This time, her fans aren’t afraid to call her out for her behavior, and we honestly can’t blame them.
This past week, Kim posted an Instagram photo of herself holding a few meal replacement shakes from the brand Flat Tummy Co, along with a long caption about how they were helping her get healthy after the holiday season.
Fans immediately took to the comments to let her know they weren’t feeling the #sponcon. One user wrote, “yawwwwwn we don’t need this crap.” Another user wrote, “I have been a massive fan of yours for years, but wow, what possesses you to promote this to young girls who look up you. It’s a load of junk and I bet you’ve never even touched one yourself. Surely you don’t need the money.”
Fans even took to Twitter to complain about the post.
Surely Kim kardashian has enough money to not have to promote those bullshit flat tummy meal replacement shakes which impressionable young people will buy purley cos an “influential” person tells them it’s a quick fix
— Ellie mae Boniface (@Elliemae_bx) January 3, 2019
Many people are frustrated because it seems like Kim is acting like her weight loss and fit body is due to the Flat Tummy shakes and tea, when it’s pretty obvious that the star dedicates a lot of time (and money) to working out and eating healthy.
Kim Kardashian’s is a multi millionaire with a personal trainer and nutritionist does she really need to be out here promoting flat tummy tea
— h o l l s (@k1ngh0lly) January 3, 2019
Flat Tummy Co. claims to help women “cleanse and detox” their bodies so they can get rid of bloat and unwanted fat. But nutritionists insist that there is very little evidence out there to support the idea that these kinds of products actually work. One nutritionist told Allure, “People should rather save their money for fruits and vegetables. It really is that simple.”
And on top of the fact that there’s no proof Flat Tummy shakes work, many feel that they also send an unhealthy message to followers. Many feel they promote diet culture, but also that they make young fans believe all they have to do is drink a shake to lose weight, when that’s definitely not true.
As someone who has lost weight (a lot of it) I think flat tummy teas and shakes should’ve been left behind in 2015 it’s really sad to think four years later there are companies that are still taking advantage of people that want to lose weight desperately.
— talv ♑️ (@talvv__) January 4, 2019
A lot of people also hate the idea that Kim is profiting off of people’s insecurities.
Still, this certainly isn’t the first time Kim has promoted the brand. She has posted about it many times, despite the frustration from her fans:
And she’s not the only Kardashian-Jenner posting about Flat Tummy Co. Only a day after Kim’s recent post, her sister Kourtney Kardashian posted almost the same thing, also sparking outrage:
Khloe Kardashian has also attributed some of her weight loss to Flat Tummy shakes.
The youngest of the clan, Kylie Jenner, often promotes a similar product called Team I Blends, which is a detox program.
Even other celebrities are sick of hearing about the product. In November, actress Jameela Jamil started an internet feud with Cardi B when she spoke out against the fit tea and Flat Tummy ads.
At this point, we can only hope that Kim starts listening to her fans. Because in the end, we have to agree with this:
Come on, Kim. Be better than this!
