Nixol diet pills — fake Dragons' Den endorsement ads on Facebook and Instagram

Nixol is a weight-loss pill sold through Facebook and Instagram ads that falsely present it as a Dragons' Den success story. Which? searched Meta's own Ad Library in July 2025 and found 62 ads selling Nixol that either carried Dragons' Den logos, were posted from accounts called 'Dragons' Den', or used Dragon Deborah Meaden's image. Clicks led to sites impersonating Dragons' Den and a spoofed Daily Mail article — one claiming Nixol 'naturally burns fat' and won 'the biggest deal in Dragons' Den history', illustrated with an AI-generated image of the Dragons holding Nixol boxes — and on to a retail page charging £55 a month, which Which? warned is likely to be a subscription trap. Which? could not reach anyone behind it: no reply by email, a phone number that did not connect, and a registered address belonging to an unrelated company that had never heard of Nixol.

Brand impersonation · advertising since 2025 · Meta told Which? it removed the ads it was shown, but further Nixol promotions were still appearing; the seller could not be reached on any of its listed contacts.

“A fake-endorsement funnel running on Meta's ad platform: the show, the broadcasters and the Dragons never endorsed anything, Which? assesses the £55-a-month checkout as likely to be a subscription trap, and nobody behind Nixol could be reached on any contact it published.”

Our opinion, based on the public evidence below, as of 28 Jul 2026. How we work & right of reply →

The evidence — every signal, shown

Identity & legitimacy

Seller unreachable; listed address belongs to an unrelated firm
Which? reported it got no reply from the email address on the site, that the listed phone number did not connect, and that the registered business address appeared to belong to a different company that had never heard of Nixol.
Fake Daily Mail site registered to a Reykjavik address Which? had seen before
Which? reported that the fake Daily Mail website was registered to the same location in Reykjavik, Iceland where it had found several scam websites registered the previous year while investigating a global financial scam.
Dragons' Den, the broadcasters and the Dragons are impersonated victims, not accused
Nobody connected to the programme endorsed Nixol. Dragons' Den and the CBC (the Canadian production) published a standing statement that the inclusion of any person, organisation, product or service appearing on Dragons' Den does not constitute or imply endorsement or recommendation by Dragons' Den or CBC. Deborah Meaden has posted a public scam alert telling followers to treat any ads for slimming pills, bitcoin or health supplements claiming her endorsement with extreme caution. Sara Davies, whose image has been used in diet-pill ads, said in January 2025 that she was working with BBC legal teams to get them taken down and told followers: 'I can 100% guarantee any that you see with me in are DEFINITELY a scam!' — her warning is about weight-loss ads generally and does not name Nixol. The accusation here attaches to whoever is advertising Nixol, not to the programme, the BBC, the CBC or any Dragon.
The Daily Mail is also an impersonated victim; Meta is the platform abused
The Daily Mail and its publisher did not write, publish or authorise the article the funnel imitates — Which? describes the page as a website impersonating a Daily Mail news story. Meta appears here as the advertising platform the operation abused; Which? reported that Meta removed the ads it was shown.
Not to be confused with NIXOL industrial polyols
NIXOL is also a live registered trademark of KPX Chemical Co., Ltd. (South Korea, founded 1974) for a range of industrial polyether polyols (NIXOL-R-9100, -9150 and -9500) used in car-interior foam manufacturing. That chemical product line is entirely unrelated to the diet-pill advertising described here, and this entry makes no claim about it.

Payment

£55 a month, flagged as a likely subscription trap
Which? reported the funnel ends at a retail website selling Nixol for £55 per month and said it is likely that buying it will lead to a subscription trap.

Ad behavior

62 Nixol ads in Meta's own Ad Library
Which? searched Meta's Ad Library in July 2025 and counted 62 ads selling Nixol that either included Dragons' Den logos, were posted from accounts called 'Dragons' Den', or used the image of Dragon Deborah Meaden.
Spoofed Dragons' Den and Daily Mail landing pages with an AI-generated image
Which? found the ads led to websites impersonating Dragons' Den and a Daily Mail news story — one claiming Nixol 'naturally burns fat' and won 'the biggest deal in Dragons' Den history', illustrated with an AI-generated image of the Dragons holding boxes of Nixol.
Impossible weight-loss claims in the adverts
Which? reported the ads promised 12kg of weight loss in two weeks from a pill described as '100% natural' with no side effects and 'clinically tested by more than 29,000 women and men'.
Removals did not stop it, and the ASA logged the same pattern
Which? reported that Meta removed the flagged ads but that further Nixol promotions were still appearing. Separately, the ASA's 2025 Scam Ad Alert update recorded 169 alerts arising from 2,589 scam reports and described in-app ads promoting weight-loss pills that used a reputable pharmacy's logo and fake references to Dragons' Den — the ASA does not name Nixol, so this corroborates the pattern rather than this specific seller.

Review authenticity

Trustpilot buyers: pills did nothing, refunds refused, questionnaire called a healthy-BMI reviewer obese
Which? reported Trustpilot reviewers complaining that the pills did not work, that they could not obtain a refund, and that they had found the product via the fake Daily Mail report; one reviewer said an on-site questionnaire told them they were obese despite their having a healthy BMI.

Sources

Reader reports — verified purchases only

Every report below came with an order confirmation or receipt we checked by hand. This is separate from our editorial verdict above — testimony from real buyers, not a star-rating that anyone can botch or buy.

Been burned by Nixol diet pills — fake Dragons' Den endorsement ads on Facebook and Instagram?

File a report with proof of purchase. We verify it, then it stands here as evidence for the next person who checks this ad.

This verdict is our opinion, based on the public evidence shown above, as of the date published. If you represent this company and believe something here is wrong, we want to hear it — request a correction.