In 1983, a Melbourne couple with a burgeoning business took out a full-page ad in The Age to spruik the opening of their nine weight loss centres across the city. “This is the last weight loss program you will ever need to go on,” wrote the business founded by Jenny Craig and her husband, Sidney. “No injections, drugs and pills.”

Over the decades, millions of overweight people trusted Craig’s promises as they paid to weigh in, pick up meals and slim down at what became more than 700 stores in four countries. But last month, after a string of owners, Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres Australia hit the end of the road. The demise of its US parent company had pushed it into administration, and no buyer was willing to acquire the whole business.