Anyone who's spent a little time on Instagram has likely encountered some kind of ad pushing tea that promises to detoxify your body and help you shed a few pounds to boot. Maybe Flat Tummy Tea or Lyfe Tea or My Beauty Tea or Fit Tea, or ... and on and on. That's because this particular niche is booming, and "promoting teatoxes has become one of the fastest growing businesses on Instagram," writes Chavie Lieber at Racked. The article takes a look at both the health claims (be wary) and the business side of things. On the latter, the CEO of a company that lands celeb endorsements says the pay scale can run up to $250,000 per post, and while he named no names, Lieber writes that it's a safe bet someone such as Kylie Jenner commands such a price given her 59 million followers.
Among mere mortals, one 24-year-old LA model with 45,000 followers says she was offered $700 for three posts on Instagram. More commonly, those who plug the products do so for free samples—along with the clout that comes with pitching a product, which could in turn lead to more contracts. As for the health claims, one thing to note is that the active ingredient in many of these teas is senna, the same plant used in Ex-Lax, not that these teas are loudly pronouncing themselves as laxatives. "While senna isn't necessarily harmful for one-off use, health experts say it's not a substance people should be consuming on a regular basis, let alone for two weeks straight as an attempt to drop a few pounds," writes Lieber. Another thing to keep in mind: The teas are pitched as dietary supplements and thus aren't formally regulated by the FDA. Click to read the full article. (More tea stories.)
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