YouTube star Meghan Tonjes calls out weight loss clinic which illegally used her photo in ad

You know those ads that you see online about losing weight or bulking up? The ones with stories and photos that just don’t seem real?

It’s fair to assume that these click-baiting tales of drastic body change are anything but authentic, yet Meghan Tonjes no longer needs to make that assumption. The YouTube star with more than 700 videos under her belt is taking a company to task over using her image on one of these ads without her consent.

Over the years, Tonjes has amassed a loyal following of nearly 240,000 YouTube subscribers. One of those subscribers recently sent Tonjes a message with a link to a weight loss ad she had apparently lent her name to, but Tonjes was in shock. She had never been contacted by the company.

“So here’s the thing, you can’t do that,” Tonjes said in a video she’s posted reacting to what she saw.

The ad, which was was for a medical weight loss company in Georgia, featured a photo of Tonjes above a story about how she’d miraculously shed almost 40 pounds after giving birth to a child. Snapthin offers to help clients drop pounds by using fat-burning injections and drops, according to the company’s web site.

In Tonjes’ video she calls the company’s office to anonymously ask about the person in the ad.

“That’s incredible,” Tonjes tells the lady on the phone after she tells her how much weight the fake Tonjes had lost.

She then asked to speak to a manager, before leaving a message for the doctor peddling the product, informing him she’d be contacting her lawyer.

“This business is selling a dream of meaningful or long-term weight loss through injections and special drops,” Tonjes told Upworthy. “Now, I’m not a doctor but…”

Before the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages went dark after Tonjes’ video was uploaded, Snapthin offered a comment on the story, according to The Daily Mail.

“Before/after photos on our website are all of actual clients with written permission for use of their photos,” a Facebook post from the company read. “Any other website images are paid stock photos with rights to use.”

This isn’t the first time a company has gotten in hot water over controversial stock image selections.

A dating web site quickly found itself in a jam when an image or Rehtaeh Parsons appeared in one of its ads. Parsons’ story made national headlines two years ago; the Nova Scotia teen died following a suicide attempt after she was allegedly raped at a party, with pictures of her posted online.

Facebook banned that dating site from advertizing on the social network, calling it a gross violation of their ad policies, according to a CTV report.

Despite threatening to sue Snapthin, Tonjes reportedly thinks what’s most important right now is having a conversation about using photos of people in ads without their consent.

“Be critical of businesses using photos like this,” She told Upworthy. “Be critical of any business that sells you a dream of overnight change. Protect your brand and your work.”