WW International, Inc., formerly Weight Watchers International, Inc., is a global company headquartered in the U.S. that offers

weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat ( adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other co ...

and maintenance, fitness, and mindset services such as the Weight Watchers comprehensive diet program."What is Weight Watchers Diet?"
'' U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved May 21, 2018. Founded in 1963 by

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

homemaker

Jean Nidetch Jean Evelyn Nidetch (née Slutsky, October 12, 1923 – April 29, 2015) was an American business entrepreneur who was the founder of the Weight Watchers organization. Early life Jean Nidetch was born on October 12, 1923 in the New York City boro ...

, WW's program has three options as of 2019: online via its mobile app and website, coaching online or by phone, or in-person meetings. In 2018, the company rebranded to "WW" to reflect "its development from focusing on weight loss to overall health and wellness."Hope, Katie
"Weight Watchers drops 'weight' from name"
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

''. September 24, 2018.

Company history

Inception

Weight Watchers was conceived by

, a housewife and mother living in

, who had been overweight most of her life and had tried pills,

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

, and numerous fad diets, all of which only led to regained weight. In 1961, at the age of 38, she weighed 214 pounds and an acquaintance mistook her for being pregnant. She entered a free 10-week weight-loss program sponsored by the

New York City Board of Health The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaurant inspection and enforce ...

's obesity clinic.Allan, Vicky
"The Fat Controllers"
'' The Herald''. January 7, 2006. The program was called the "Prudent Diet" and had been developed in the 1950s by Dr. Norman Jolliffe, head of the board's Bureau of Nutrition.Goetz, Thomas
''The Decision Tree: How to Make Better Choices and Take Control of Your Health''
Rodale, Inc., 2011. pp. 70–71.Ben-Yehuda, Ayala
"Little Neck neighbors saw beginnings of diet empire"
'' TimesLedger''. July 31, 2003. The plan included the dictums "No skipping meals. Fish five times a week. Two pieces of bread and two glasses of skim milk a day. More fruits and vegetables."Cohan, Peter
"Weight Watchers Winning $61 Billion War On Fat"
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

''. November 14, 2012. and eating liver once a week.Bockmann, Rich
"Weight Watchers' humble origins began in Deepdale"
'' TimesLedger''. November 6, 2011. It prohibited alcohol, sweets, and fatty foods, included a list of allowed foods and the quantities allowed, and encouraged weighing portions.Horwell, Veronica
"Jean Nidetch obituary"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''. May 1, 2015. Although Nidetch lost 20 pounds on the ten-week program, she did not like the way the clinic's leader imparted information at the weekly meetings. Discussion was discouraged;Sedensky, Matt
"Weight Watchers founder Jean Nidetch dies at age 91"
''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

. April 29, 2015. in addition, Nidetch's motivation was threatened by her urge to binge on

Mallomar Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats also known as Chocolate teacakes are confections consisting of a biscuit base topped with marshmallow-like filling and then coated in a hard shell of chocolate. They were invented in Denmark in the 19th centu ...

cookies.McFadden, Robert D
"Jean Nidetch, a Founder of Weight Watchers, Dies at 91"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. April 29, 2015. She therefore began a weekly

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

in her apartment, initially inviting six overweight friends,"Jean Nidetch, founder of Weight Watchers, dies"
''

''. April 29, 2015.Yager, Susan
''The Hundred Year Diet: America's Voracious Appetite for Losing Weight''
Rodale, Inc., 2010. pp. 76–77. which within two months grew to 40 women each week. She introduced the "Prudent Diet", a single page from the New York City Board of Health, to her fellow weight-loss seekers, and the group provided empathy, rapport, mutual understanding, support, and sharing of stories and ideas.Kanner, Bernice
"Return to Slender"
''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

''. February 7, 1994. pp. 16–17. The meetings also included a weekly weigh-in,"Jean Nidetch"
''

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

''. October 10, 2008. and Nidetch developed a rewards system including prizes for weight-loss milestones. In October 1962, Nidetch achieved her target weight of 142 pounds, and maintained the weight loss; according to her she never exceeded 150 pounds thereafter. As interest grew, Nidetch coached groups in other neighborhoods. One group was at the home of Al and Felice Lippert, and after the Lipperts successfully lost weight, Al, who was a businessman in the garment industry, talked Nidetch into making a business out of her endeavor.

Launch, IPO, and sale to Heinz

Nidetch and the Lipperts launched Weight Watchers Inc. in Queens in 1963 with Nidetch as president and evangelist. They rented public meeting venues and charged participants $2 per weekly meeting;Ickeringill, Nan
"Weight Watchers, Inc.: They Talk Their Way Out of Obesity"
''

''. March 20, 1967."Annual Report 2006"
Weight Watchers International. February 28, 2007. p. 9.Van der Gelder, Lawrence

''

''. March 25, 1979. the first official meeting, in May 1963, attracted 400 attendees. Nidetch led groups and trained others to lead groups as well.Smith, Andrew F
''Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine''

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

, 2011. pp. 245–250. Al Lippert, in charge of the business end of the company, franchised it in 1964, using a razor/razorblade model of an inexpensive franchise fee offered to graduates from the company's programs who had kept the weight off, Gunther, Max
''Instant Millionaires: The Secrets of Overnight Success''
Harriman House Limited, 2010. pp. 42–45. with 10% of gross earnings as royalties to the parent company.Pederson, Jay P. (ed)

St. James Press Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...

, 2005. pp. 379–383. By 1967, the company was international, with 102 franchises in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, and Israel. Felice Lippert was in charge of recipe development, nutrition, and food research; the first Weight Watchers cookbook, published in 1966, sold more than 1.5 million copies. By January 1968, the company had more than one million members worldwide, and ''Weight Watchers Magazine'' was launched, publishing 300,000 copies of its first issue. By 1968, the company had 91 franchises in 43 states, and to expand further overseas Al Lippert took the company public as Weight Watchers International Inc.; the initial 225,000 shares, offered at $11.25 a share, began trading enthusiastically, rising to over $30 by the end of the first day.Metz, Robert
"Stock Weighs In And Price Soars"
''

''. September 20, 1968. Lippert also initiated lines of Weight Watchers prepared food, spas, camps for overweight kids, and weight-loss products such as scales and travel kits.Fallon, Ivan
''Luck of O'Reilly: A Biography of Tony O'Reilly''

Grand Central Publishing Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hache ...

, 2009. Nidetch, with her slim, well-dressed image, charisma, and flair for motivational speaking, remained the public face of the company. In 1970 she published ''The Memoir of a Successful Loser: The Story of Weight Watchers'', which documented the original Weight Watchers plan. In 1973 she resigned as president of the company to devote herself to public relations – traveling, being interviewed, and speaking to large audiences about the program's success.Lambert, Emily
"Long Island's Diet Doyenne"
''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''. October 31, 1999. In the mid 1970s, the company moved away from simply dieting and more toward "eating management", developing tailored options to meet the varying needs of its members, including a specialized food plan for the management of weight-loss plateaus, and a maintenance plan. By the late 1970s, the company and its operations and divisions had grown too large and complex for Lippert to manage, and it was sold, along with its food licensees, to the

H. J. Heinz Company The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

in 1978 for $72 million.Thomas, Robert McG. Jr
"Albert Lippert, 72, a Founder Of Weight Watchers, Is Dead"
''

''. March 3, 1998. Lippert remained chairman and signed on to remain CEO for a few years, and Nidetch remained in her role as consultant. In the late 1980s, the company's three divisions – support-group meetings division, food line, and publications and media – were still increasingly profitable year-over-year.

Private-equity acquisition and second IPO

In 1990, with competition from Jenny Craig,

Slim-Fast SlimFast is an American company headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida that markets an eponymous brand of shakes, bars, snacks, packaged meals, and other dietary supplement foods sold in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, ...

Healthy Choice Healthy Choice is the name of a brand of refrigerated and frozen foods owned by ConAgra Foods. According to ConAgra's official corporate history, it came into being after then-ConAgra CEO Charles "Mike" Harper suffered a heart attack in 1985. Fo ...

, and Nutrisystem, earnings began to decline. The Heinz parent company competed by introducing newly developed Weight Watchers "Smart Ones" frozen meals. In 1997, to replace its previous system of counting and weighing food, Weight Watchers introduced the POINTS system, an algorithmic formula which quantifies a food portion for the purposes of healthy weight loss based on carbohydrates, fat, and fiber content.Belluz, Julia
"Oprah just invested millions in Weight Watchers. But does the program even work?"
'' Vox''. October 21, 2015. In 1999, Heinz, while retaining the rights to the Weight Watchers name for use in certain food categories,"Weight Watchers"
''Invus''. Retrieved May 21, 2018. sold the company to the

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm Artal Luxembourg, for $735 million in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

led by the Invus Group, which manages Artal and which is run by Raymond Debbane.Vardi, Nathan
"The Mystery Man Behind Weight Watchers And The Private Equity Deal Of The Century"
''

''. September 4, 2012. Artal put up $224 million and Weight Watchers financed the rest of the buyout with debt. Debbane became chairman of Weight Watchers. In 2001 Debbane organized an initial public offering for Weight Watchers and took it public again. As of 2018, Artal remains the company's largest shareholder. In 2000, the new owners reacquired the license to publish ''Weight Watchers Magazine'' from Time Inc., where Heinz had offloaded it in 1996 and where it had performed poorly; circulation recovered quickly, and the magazine was redesigned in 2003. In 2001, the company launched WeightWatchers.com."Weight Watchers Celebrates 50th Anniversary By Honoring Its Founder - Jean Nidetch - With A Flagship Center Dedication"
''

PR Newswire PR Newswire is a distributor of press releases headquartered in Chicago. The service was created in 1954 to allow companies to electronically send press releases to news organizations, using teleprinters at first. The founder, Herbert Muschel, ...

''. March 25, 2013. In 2007, it launched Weight Watchers Online for Men.Smith, Andrew F
''Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover's Companion to New York City''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 2015. pp. 638–639. In late 2010 Weight Watchers overhauled its POINTS system and replaced it with PointsPlus (ProPoints outside the U.S.);Harcombe, Zoë
"Weight Watchers ProPoints plan – what's it all about?"
''ZoeHarcombe.com''. November 1, 2010.Barclay, Eliza
"WeightWatchers Points Plan Stretching To Help Splurgers"
''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

''. November 4, 2010. under the new system, fruits and non-starchy vegetables were zero points, and processed foods had higher points than they did before.Gootman, Elissa
"Weight Watchers Upends Its Points System"
''

''. December 3, 2010.O'Brien, Jeffrey M
"Weight Watchers Revamps Its Magic Formula"
''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

''. December 16, 2011.Farnham, Alan
"Diets, New and Improved"
''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

''. January 12, 2011.Black, Rosemary; Goldwert, Lindsay
"Weight Watchers new Points Plus weight loss system has dieters losing their minds"
''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

''. December 7, 2010.Nordqvist, Christian
"Weight Watchers Finally Accepts Where Calories Come From Matters Too"
''

Medical News Today ''Medical News Today'' is a web-based outlet for medical information and news, targeted at both the general public and physicians. All posted content is available online (>250,000 articles as of January 2014), and the earliest available article ...

''. November 30, 2010.Huget, Jennifer LaRue
"Weight Watchers allows 'free' fruit, but reservations persist"
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

''. December 21, 2010. From 2012 to 2015, although it had its own app and e-tools since 2009, the company faced stiff competition from free smartphone fitness apps, many of which included a social-media group-support system, and from wearable fitness monitors such as Fitbit.Kepos, Paula (ed). ''International Directory of Company Histories'', Volume 192.

, 2017. pp. 465–470.DePillis, Lydia
"Internet killed the dieting star: Why Weight Watchers is floundering."
''

''. August 4, 2013.

2014-18

In April of 2014, Tech Crunch leaked Weight Watchers was in talks to acquire virtual fitness training startup Wello. Weight Watchers confirmed the acquisition the following month, which spurred a series of acquisitions in the

digital therapeutics Digital therapeutics, a subset of digital health, are evidence-based therapeutic interventions driven by high quality software programs to prevent, manage, or treat a medical disorder or disease. Digital therapeutic companies should publish trial r ...

space. One year later, in April and May of 2015, Weight Watchers also acquired 5 minute fitness app Hot 5 and the online community and "selfie startup" Weilos. Features of Weilos would later be relaunched as Weight Watcher's Connect product, an online community in-app and on the web. In October 2015,

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

partnered with Weight Watchers. Winfrey bought a 10% stake in the company, became its spokesperson, joined its board of directors, and lost weight on the program,Picker, Leslie
"Shares of Weight Watchers Jump as Oprah Winfrey Takes a Stake"
''

''. October 19, 2015. plus she helped launch a new holistic lifestyle and fitness program called "Beyond the Scale".Amidor, Toby
"3 Diets That Aren't What You Think They Are"
'' U.S. News & World Report''. January 22, 2016.Sifferlin, Alexandra
"Every Change Weight Watchers Just Made: Explained"
''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

''. December 8, 2015.Comstock, Jonah
"Weight Watchers' reinvented program Beyond the Scale includes FitBreak app"
''MobiHealthNews''. December 7, 2015. The late-2015

Oprah effect Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

did not prevent a subsequent downward trend in 2016, largely attributed to challenges from Nutrisystem and the proliferation of free apps and websites aimed at helping people manage their weight, but linked also by some, to a faulty initial tech rollout of the new program's app.Marsh, Julia
"Customer says Weight Watchers app is a huge mess"
''

''. January 8, 2016. CEO James Chambers resigned on September 30, 2016.Wattles, Jackie
"Weight Watchers CEO calling it quits after tumultuous year"
''

CNN Money CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's ''Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Tim ...

''. September 13, 2016. He was replaced as CEO in July 2017 by Mindy Grossman, who had played a role in growing digital sales revenue for HSN.Manning, Margie
"What Oprah says about hiring HSN CEO Mindy Grossman to lead Weight Watchers"
''

Tampa Bay Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...

''. April 27, 2017. In December 2017, the company introduced WW Freestyle (called WW Flex outside the U.S.),McKinnon, Martha
"Weight Watchers New Freestyle Program 2018"
''Simple Nourished Living''. November 15, 2017. which allows people to carry over unused "SmartPoints" through the week, and lists more than 200 zero-points foods, including various lean proteins, that do not need to be tracked.
''

Yahoo! Finance Yahoo! Finance is a media property that is part of the Yahoo! network. It provides financial news, data and commentary including stock quotes, press releases, financial reports, and original content. It also offers some online tools for perso ...

''. December 4, 2017.Brodwin, Erin
"Weight Watchers' new program has 200 'zero-point' foods you can eat as much as you want — including eggs"
''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

''. April 2, 2018.Asp, Karen
"Weight Watchers"
''

WebMD WebMD is an American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. The site includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites. It was fou ...

''. January 10, 2018.Turner, Nick; Giammona, Craig
"Weight Watchers Jumps as New Freestyle Program Fuels Growth"
''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

''. February 27, 2018. In February 2018 CEO Grossman announced a new direction and purpose for the company: to move beyond mere dieting to being a "partner in health and wellness" and inspiring healthy habits for real life. Subscriptions to Weight Watchers rebounded significantly by mid 2018, credited to Winfrey's influence and to Grossman's tri-fold efforts of revamping the program, improving tech offerings, and giving the company a more broad-based appeal. In September 2018, the company re-branded itself WW International, Inc., as it shifted its focus more broadly to overall health and wellness, including fitness.Maidenberg, Micah
"Weight Watchers Changes Name as It Shifts Mission"
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. September 24, 2018. It adopted a new tagline, "Wellness that Works". The company stopped requiring users to have a weight loss goal in order to join and renamed its in-person meetings to Wellness Workshops.Wischhover, Cheryl
"As 'dieting' becomes more taboo, Weight Watchers is changing its name"
'' Vox''. September 24, 2018. As part of the rebrand, WW introduced a new program, WellnessWins, that rewarded members for behaviors that encourage healthier habits, which were redeemable for products, services, and experiences."Weight Watchers to change its name, offer new programs"
'' 6 ABC''. September 29, 2018.Butler, Sarah
"Weight Watchers plans tech rebrand to take on wellness industry"
''

''. September 24, 2018. The company also announced Connect, a digital community, which would include micro-community Groups.Reese, Ashley
"Weight Watchers Is Pivoting to Wellness"
''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

''. September 24, 2018.Ferris, Robert; LaVito, Angelica
"Weight Watchers renames itself to 'WW' as consumers want to be well, not to diet"
''

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...

''. September 24, 2018.MacKenzie, Macaela
"The New Weight Watchers Doesn't Want To Talk About Weight -- WW Is All About Wellness"
''

''. September 26, 2018. In August 2018, the company acquired Kurbo, Inc, rebranding the free mobile app directed at children and teenagers as ''Kurbo by WW''. WW's app was configured to help people track health-related goals.Copelan, Christine
"Weight Watchers Changes Name "
''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

''. September 24, 2018. Its FitPoints system has been marketed as allowing individuals to choose activities which have the biggest impact on their health. The updated WW app is also integrated with

Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio ...

and

Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike t ...

. The company has partnered with the meditation app Headspace to offer customized mindfulness content for members.

Business model

Weight Watchers' business model is one of a subscription-based program of support,Saaim, Palwasha
"WTW Stock: Don't Bet On Weight Watchers International, Inc."
''ProfitConfidential.com''. October 20, 2015. plus a variety of purchasable products, media, services, and technologies. Its brand identity has been framed around Weight Watchers being a community,Lauchlan, Stuart
"In pursuit of health and wellness – Fitbit, Weight Watchers digitally disrupt their business models"
''Diginomica''. March 13, 2018. and its website is intrinsic to its effectiveness.Gobe, Marc
''Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People''

Skyhorse Publishing Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. is an American independent book publishing company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, with a satellite office in Brattleboro, Vermont. History The current president and publisher is founder Tony Ly ...

, 2010. p. 232. Particularly in the 21st century, the company has increasingly marketed itself as a health and wellness brand rather than a weight-loss brand,Garcia, Tonya
"Weight Watchers is shifting from weight loss to wellness as 'healthy is the new skinny'"
''

MarketWatch MarketWatch is a website that provides financial information, business news, analysis, and stock market data. Along with ''The Wall Street Journal'' and '' Barron's'', it is a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, a property of News Corp. Histo ...

''. March 4, 2018.Raphael, Rina
"Here's why Weight Watchers changed its name"
''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

''. September 24, 2018. and its dietary plans emphasize fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and foods high in whole grains and low in trans fats. Also in the 21st century, the company has increasingly tried to effectively and competitively balance its digital and offline offerings. As of 2019, the program offered weight-loss support via the app and website, in-person workshops and personal coaching.

Products and services

Weight Watchers' primary sources of income are subscriptions to the program.Form 10-K: Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2017
Weight Watchers International, Inc. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 28, 2018.Wahba, Phil
"Weight Watchers Changes Name to 'WW' in Big Bet on Wellness"
''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

''. September 24, 2018. The company provides a weight-management program (myWW+) and a food plan (SmartPoints); customers can participate in the program via in-person group meetings and/or digitally, and are provided with individualized information, support, and coaching. It also receives income from Weight Watchers–branded services and products, which include publications such as ''Weight Watchers'' magazines, Weight Watchers cookbooks, and food guides and restaurant guides with points values."Company Overview of Weight Watchers International, Inc."
''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

''. Retrieved May 21, 2018. It sells its own bars and snacks, and licenses the Weight Watchers trademark to a variety of prepared foods, beverages, and other products and services.

Weight-loss plans and formats

The original Weight Watchers dietary plan in the 1960s was roughly based on the "Prudent Diet", developed by Dr. Norman Jolliffe at the New York City Board of Health. It was based around lean meat, fish, skim milk, and fruits and vegetables, and it banned alcohol, sweets, and fatty foods. It had lists of allowed and prohibited foods,McKinnon, Martha.
"What Was The Old Weight Watchers Plan Like In The 1960s?"
''Simple Nourished Living''. January 17, 2013. and was more structured than subsequent versions of the Weight Watchers program.Barnett, Megan
"Chapter 8: The Weight Watchers Diet"
In: Apovian, Caroline; Brouillard, Elizabeth; Young, Lorraine (eds). ''Clinical Guide to Popular Diets''.

CRC Press The CRC Press, LLC is an American publishing group that specializes in producing technical books. Many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics. Their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information techn ...

, 2018. pp. 113–124. It recommended weighing food portions, and prohibited skipping meals or counting calories. The company has regularly changed and updated its diet plans and formats, to reflect current nutritional and obesity science and to accommodate consumer awareness and demand. *In 1979 Weight Watchers introduced PepStep (or Personal Exercise Plan), a walking or stair-climbing exercise program to benefit members' weight loss, developed by a doctor specializing in exercise and cardiac rehabilitation.Blumenthal, Deborah
"Taking Fitness in Stride"
''

''. November 27, 1983. With this additional element Weight Watchers became the one of the first weight-loss companies, along with the Pritikin program, to promote the importance of regular exercise. *By 1980, the company expanded its dietary plan to allow for substitutions and more flexibility. It introduced three routines: a "full choice" plan with the most options; a "limited choice" plan with fewer options and less leeway; and a "no choice" plan with no substitutions and no options, which was the most calorie-restrictive and was to be followed for no more than two weeks. *In 1984 the company added Quick Start, which was a more spartan, temporary eating plan designed to produce faster, motivation-boosting weight loss in the first few weeks of the program. It was the company's first exchange-based diet, where foods within categories could be exchanged for each other. This was expanded in 1986 to Quick Start Plus, with higher-fat options and Personal Choice options. * In 1984 Weight Watchers also launched its At Work program, held for groups of 15 or more in office places, for people who were otherwise unable to attend community meetings. The meetings are held either before work, during the lunch break, or after work,"Weight Watchers International, Inc. Corporate Backgrounder"
''Weight Watchers''. Retrieved May 21, 2018. and the fees are usually subsidized by the employer. *In 1988, Weight Watchers launched the Quick Success program, a plan that was easier and more flexible, particularly for working women. It also allowed for a

lacto-ovo-vegetarian Lacto-ovo vegetarianism or ovo-lacto vegetarianism is a type of vegetarianism which forbids animal flesh but allows the consumption of animal products such as dairy and eggs. Unlike pescetarianism, it does not include fish or other seafood. A ...

diet, and increased the minimum daily vegetable intake from two to three. * In 1997 Weight Watchers completely replaced its exchange-based diets with the POINTS system (also originally called 1-2-3 Success), a proprietary algorithmic formula which quantifies a food portion for the purposes of healthy weight loss based on carbohydrates, fat, and fiber content. *In 2000 the company rolled out Winning Points, a more personalized version of the POINTS system, which encompassed self-observation,

behavior modification Behavior modification is an early approach that used respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior. Based on methodological behaviorism, overt behavior was modified with consequences, including positive and negative reinforcement conti ...

, and fitness and activity, and which did not have any food exclusions. *In 2004, Weight Watchers launched the Turn Around program, which gave people two plans to choose from, and aimed to teach participants how to eat normal food, in sensible portions, and to increase their exercise. The Flex Plan option allowed dieters to eat anything they wanted as long as they stayed within their points allowance; activity points could be earned by exercise.Scott, Jennifer R
"When Did Weight Watchers Start?"
''VeryWellFit.com''. May 26, 2017.Barnett, Suzanne; Barnett, Jennifer; West, Bev; Lesman, Jennifer Barnett; Barnett, Amy
''3 Fat Chicks on a Diet: How Three Ordinary Women Battle the Bulge — and How You Can Too!''

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 2008. p. 77. The Core Plan option (later known as "Simply Filling") dispensed with points entirely and included a list of foods that could be eaten "until satisfied", and a list of foods to be avoided. *In December 2008, Weight Watchers eliminated the Core Plan and introduced the Momentum Plan, designed to help members understand how consuming certain filling foods helped them to eat less and prevent overeating. *In late 2010 Weight Watchers overhauled its POINTS system and replaced it with PointsPlus (ProPoints outside the U.S.); under the new system, fruits and non-starchy vegetables are zero points, and processed foods have higher points than they did before. * In December 2012 the company rolled out Weight Watchers 360, which did not change its PointsPlus plan but added behavioral modification and support, mindfulness, control of and planning for one's eating environment, and new apps, and also added an optional wearable fitness monitor to purchase called ActiveLink. *In September 2014, Weight Watchers began syncing its apps with wearable fitness monitors such as Fitbit and Jawbone, so that the activity of members who own those devices is instantly uploaded and tracked and converted to points. *In December 2014, Weight Watchers launched two new services: Personal Coaching and 24/7 Expert Chat. Personal Coaching provides individuals with a Weight Watchers-certified coach who helps them develop an individualized weight management plan and is available via phone, text, and email for subsequent consultations. 24/7 Expert Chat allows members all-hours access to Weight Watchers-certified coaches who can offer instant advice when users encounter weight-loss or dieting crises.Huddleston Jr., Tom
"Weight Watchers rolls out new online services, coaching for the holiday season"
''

''. December 15, 2014.Hallett, Vicky
"Weight Watchers gets personal with new coaching program"
''

''. December 16, 2014. *In December 2015 the company rolled out a new holistic lifestyle and fitness program called "Beyond the Scale". The program uses SmartPoints, an updating of the points system which takes into consideration the nutritional value of a food, and helps steer people away from junk foods, sugar, and saturated fat. That same month, the company launched Connect, a social-media platform via its app where members receive support from other members. *In December 2017, Weight Watchers introduced WW Freestyle (called WW Flex outside the U.S.), which allows people to carry over unused points through the week, and lists more than 200 zero-points foods, including various lean proteins, that do not need to be tracked. *In November 2021, WW introduced a new program called PersonalPoints which now uses AI to adjust your points and zero-point food list based on individual preferences. In addition, extra points can now be earned for drinking at least 60 fl oz of water daily and for every cup of non-starchy vegetables.

Reception

As of July 2018, Weight Watchers was the most widely used commercial diet in the world. In addition to the U.S., as of 2018 it had operations in countries including Canada, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. Its main long-term competitors in the commercial weight-loss company genre are Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem. Weight Watchers has been included in '' U.S. News & World Report''s rankings for 40 most popular diets and has also been listed as No.1 for weight loss and best commercial diets. For Weight Watchers customers who choose to attend meetings, in addition to supplying information and lifestyle tips, meetings operate as

s that provide empathy, rapport, and mutual understanding, as well as

positive reinforcement In behavioral psychology, reinforcement is a consequence applied that will strengthen an organism's future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus. This strengthening effect may be measured as a higher fr ...

. Some therapists have said that focusing on counting calories or points, as promoted by WW, can lead to a disordered relationship with food and hunger. Previously the company's prepared foods had been criticized as containing preservatives and other additives; as of late 2018 Weight Watchers has removed all artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, and preservatives from products carrying the company's name, and dropped or reformulated most of the food products it once produced. In August 2019, WW released ''Kurbo by WW'', a weight management and health app directed at children and teenagers. It has been criticized by some experts on nutrition and eating disorders for encouraging dieting in children as young as 8. Christy Harrison, a registered dietician, wrote in the New York Times, "programs like this are fertile ground for disordered eating" and that efforts to lose weight "are especially troubling when imposed on children who aren't in a position to make their own choices and who haven't had the opportunity to develop a peaceful relationship with food and their bodies." However, an article in the journal ''Childhood Obesity'' concluded that it could be "part of the piece of the puzzle to improving health in youth", despite the authors' concerns with the marketing of the app emphasizing weight loss. An uncontrolled three-month study of the app used by children between 8 and 17 said that it was "highly effective" based on an average reduction in of 0.26, and a survey of weight management apps published in JMIR mHealth and noted that of their list, only Kurbo involved health care professionals in its development. As a result of the release of ''Kurbo by WW'', WW's corporate headquarters in New York City were protested on September 13, 2019, and as of September 2019 a change.org petition asking Weight Watchers to "remove your weight loss app for kids" had over 110,000 signatures.

Leadership and spokespersons

Corporate governance

Weight Watchers' founder

was the company's President from 1963–1973. Al Lippert was CEO of Weight Watchers from 1963–1981. From 1978–1999, Weight Watchers was a subsidiary of Heinz.

Charles M. Berger Charles Martin Berger (1936–2008) was a business executive who created several well-known advertising campaigns for Heinz ketchup. He worked for Heinz for 32 years before moving on to become CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Berger died in 2008 ...

was CEO of Weight Watchers from 1982–1994,''Princeton Alumni Weekly''
May 3, 1982. pp. 59–60. having previously been its President. Since 1999, the CEOs of Weight Watchers have been: Linda Huett 2000–2006; David Kirchhoff 2007–2013; Jim Chambers 2013–2016; and Mindy Grossman 2017–present. Grossman also serves as President and on the board of directors. Since 1999, the chairman of the company has been

Raymond Debbane Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

, co-founder and CEO of The Invus Group. In 2015,

purchased a 10 percent ownership stake in WW International and serves as a member of the board of directors.

Spokespersons

Founder

was the company's public face and spokesperson from its launch in 1963 through 1983. Subsequent spokespersons have included:

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...

(1983–1992), Kathleen Sullivan (1994–1995),

Sarah, Duchess of York Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a member of the British royal family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles III ...

(1997–2007),

Greg Grunberg Gregory Phillip Grunberg (born July 11, 1966) is an American film and television actor best known for starring as Eric Weiss in the ABC series ''Alias'', Matt Parkman in the NBC series ''Heroes'', Temmin "Snap" Wexley in '' Star Wars: The Force ...

(2007), Tamela Mann (2008–present)

Jenny McCarthy Jennifer McCarthy Wahlberg (' Jennifer Ann McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, and television personality. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named their Playmate of ...

(2009), Jennifer Hudson (2010–2014),

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Nati ...

(2011–2014),Horovitz, Bruce
"Weight Watchers: Butts are in for 2015"
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. December 26, 2014.

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, ''Swee ...

(2012–2014),

Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born May 4, 1967) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's '' Suburgatory,'' TBS's ''People of Earth'', NBC's ...

(2013),

(2015–present),

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

(2018–present), Kate Hudson (2018–present),

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

(2018–present),Kuperinsky, Amy
"Kevin Smith, down 32 pounds, becomes a Weight Watchers ambassador"
'' NJ.com''. April 23, 2018. and James Corden (2021–present). Russell Grant (1985-Present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies listed on the Nasdaq Brand name diet products American companies established in 1963 1978 mergers and acquisitions 1999 mergers and acquisitions 1960s initial public offerings 2001 initial public offerings Franchises Weight loss companies Companies based in New York City 1963 establishments in New York City