What Does Weight Watchers’ New Name Mean for Its Meal Plans?
The diet formerly known as Weight Watchers is getting a new name as part of a general rebranding effort. With women moving away from traditional diets in favor of overall wellness, the company that has long been touted as one of the best diets for quick weight loss is changing its focus from whittling wasitlines to helping customers create a healthy lifestyle.
With that goal in mind, Weight Watchers has slimmed their name to just “WW,” a moniker that’s “rooted in the familiar, but reimagined to welcome everyone who seeks to be healthier, not just manage their weight,” WW explained in an email to their subscribers. Their new tagline? “Wellness that Works.”
As part of its rebrand, WW has promised to remove all artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and sweeteners from its popular meal products by January. The company has also increased its tech push, with plans to release a specialized app that will allow members to connect with each other and share their weight-loss experiences and goals. Plus, it will partner with Headspace, a brand that teaches meditation through its mobile app. Additionally, members will be able to ask Amazon Alexa or Google assistant to check the points values of their food thanks to a beta version of a voice integration system. (On top of that, a new rewards program called WellnessWins is launching on October 4, aimed at enticing users to engage in healthier habits.)
“People really need a partner to help them get healthy,” WW CEO Mindy Grossman told CNBC. “And what we want to do is help give them the tools, give them the community, give them the motivation and inspiration to be able to do that. And it’s very important we can do that for all people. So not only will you be able to have a weight focus, if you want, you will be able to have a healthy-habits focus and be able to get all the assets of support in how you want to live your healthiest life.”
Last year, WW introduced Freestyle, a flexible program that added hundreds of zero-point options to make adhering to WW’s point system more doable. (WW assigns “points” to different foods, and dieters lose weight by staying within their daily point target.) This rebrand, like Freestyle, is just another part of the company’s pivot to healthy eating and overall wellness, as opposed to strict dieting.
“From the moment I chose to invest in the company and join the Board, I have believed that the role WW can play in people’s lives goes far beyond a number on the scale,” Oprah Winfrey, the company’s most visible success story and cheerleader, said in a statement. “As Weight Watchers becomes WW, I believe we will continue to inspire people not only to eat well, but to move more, connect with others and continue to experience the joys of a healthy life.”
You can read more about the name change and browse the company’s full meal plans at their website.
