Weight Watchers NYSE: WTW, founded in the 1960s by Jean Nidetch, is a company offering various dieting
products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance. It started as a discussion group for how to
best lose weight. It now operates in about 30 countries
around the world, generally under the
name "Weight Watchers" translated into
the local language. Weight Watchers
current spokesperson is
Jenny McCarthy. Perhaps its most prominent
celebrity endorser is
Sarah,
Duchess of
York. Before her,
Lynn Redgrave appeared in a series of
popular television advertisements for the packaged low calorie food division of the H.J. Heinz Company, then the
parent of Weight Watchers.
In some areas, including the
Philadelphia metropolitan
area in the
United States, Weight Watchers meetings are operated by a locally-franchised organization rather than by Weight Watchers
International.
; "WeightWatchers.ca")
