Chelsea Hall decided to share her personal experience with chronic bloating online, encouraging other women to speak up and seek help if they were in pain or discomfort.
What she wasn't expecting was to see her videos being used to advertise pills that claim to fix bloating — pills she has never taken, promoted by a company she has never been a customer of.
Ms Hall said she was not approached by the company and had no knowledge she was being used as a poster-girl.
Ovira sells women's health products including electronic devices claiming to relieve period pain. The company used Ms Hall's videos in an Instagram advertisement for "Bloat Control" pills.
Loading...The advertisement featured videos and pictures of Ms Hall with accompanying text that read, "how I took my chronically bloated belly from this to this in just under three months", "this anti-bloating vitamin from the brand Ovira was the one that worked for me" and "if you want ur (sic) dream body head to ovira.com today".
"I have never tried Ovira's products before to treat my bloating," Ms Hall said.
"I've never bought from the company and they've never sent me anything. They've never even sent me a message."
The 21-year-old budding nurse, who was working at Sea World on the Gold Coast before taking time off to recover from injury, has suffered from chronic bloating for more than four years.
She struggled to get a diagnosis from several different medical professionals and underwent surgery and other invasive procedures to try to treat her severe bloating.
Ms Hall made a TikTok account to share her experience and recently discovered she had the condition Retrograde Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction (R-CPD).
She has started receiving treatment for R-CPD, which she says is making a difference.
Ms Hall said Ovira pills had not contributed to her recovery despite what was claimed by the company in their advertisement that appeared to show her giving them a glowing review.
Ms Hall was made aware of the advertisement by a follower in Germany, who said they had seen it pop up on Instagram several times.
"She said, 'I know your story and I've had a look and can't see that you're affiliated with them'," Ms Hall said.
"I responded in shock and disbelief that a company could do this."
Ms Hall posted the advertisement on her own Instagram story and contacted Ovira directly, but all her messages were left on read.
She decided to take the issue to TikTok, calling out Ovira for using her content.
The videos were removed by TikTok and Ms Hall's account was temporarily banned — it has since been restored.
Ms Hall said she is yet to receive a direct response from Ovira.
"It was a complete shock that a company that I've never had contact with has gone just and done this," she said.
The ABC has contacted Ovira multiple times for comment and hasn't received a response.
Small business devastated over 'scarred for life' claims
Helene Hill and Dominique Acciarito, co-founders of a Melbourne heat pack company, also tried to contact Ovira over advertising concerns.
They sent emails, messages and a letter of demand through a lawyer earlier this year after an Ovira advertisement featured one of their products, including its logo.
The advertising video posted by Ovira showed a model using their heat pack and revealing red burns on their abdomen, while a voice-over claimed heat packs, "torch my skin, leaving me pretty much scarred for life".
"Our wrap-around heat packs are very one-off, eye-catching, you know they're ours," Ms Hill said.
"We've never had any complaints ... no one has ever said anything to us about our heat packs causing that."
The pair said Ovira never responded to them directly but eventually tweaked the ad to remove their company logo, but still used its product to demonstrate burned skin.
"Our lawyer said it could be $40,000 to $50,000 to sue them," Ms Hill said.
"We don't have that kind of money, we're a small business."
Ms Acciarito said the company had a "big dip" in sales after Ovira's video was posted, and had feedback from would-be customers saying they were now fearful of using their product.
"It really impacted us," she said.
Misleading conduct 'unlawful' under consumer law
A spokesperson from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said information provided or claims made by businesses — including through social media influencers — about their products "must be accurate, truthful and based on reasonable grounds".
"The ACCC is currently prioritising manipulative or deceptive advertising and marketing practices in the digital economy," the spokesperson said.
"Under the Australian Consumer Law, it is unlawful for a business to engage in misleading or deceptive conduct.
"This includes misrepresentations that a product has a particular attribute, or has particular uses or benefits, or has an affiliation or approval."
The spokesperson could not comment on whether or not a specific business is under investigation by the ACCC.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) also couldn't comment on individual cases, but said in a statement that advertising therapeutic goods has to meet the requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code.
"The Code has specific requirements for using testimonials and endorsements in advertisements for therapeutic goods," the TGA said.
"For example, an advertisement about therapeutic goods must not contain a testimonial (describing a user's personal experience with using the good), unless the advertiser has verified the content of and identity of the person making the testimonial.
"Using a testimonial that is not genuine would not satisfy this requirement."
Associate Professor Timo Dietrich from Griffith Business School's Department of Marketing said online advertising moves quickly, and some advertisers can exploit loopholes in legislation.
"I think even the best security measures won't completely prevent ads that are making false claims," he said.
He said it was important for consumers to research who was selling the products and to remember ads were tailored to people's online presence.
"The algorithm is getting better and better at really understanding you as a person, so that means that there's increased capability to also serve you much better ads," he said.
"An ad is usually designed to tap into your emotion, and tap into a state where you're taken by this emotion and basically move you as efficiently as possible to the point of purchase."