Christmas ads put on a diet as UK ban on TV junk food advertising bites | Food & drink industry

TThe festive season is traditionally a time of national culinary overindulgence, but eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that this year’s big-budget Christmas TV adverts are decidedly fat- and sugar-free.

The UK’s biggest proponents of over-the-top festive food marketing, from Tesco and Waitrose to Marks & Spencer and Asda, have put their Christmas ads on a diet to comply with new regulations banning junk food products from appearing in TV adverts before 9pm.

The UK advertising watchdog will officially begin cracking down on adverts featuring junk food on TV and in paid online ads at any time of day from 5am. Fireplace. But the UK advertising industry has voluntarily chosen to start complying with the new rules from October, making this TV’s first low-fat, low-sugar and low-salt Christmas.

While Christmas puddings and sweet treats are a thing of the past, healthy products have made a notable appearance. Advertisers had to cleverly market a wide range of other foods to comply with complex new rules.

At the climax of Waitrose’s romantic Christmas advert, Keira Knightley buys a homemade pie, while in Lidl a young girl picks apples for a last-minute addition to the family’s festive shop.

Meanwhile, Asda used its fresh fruit and veg section for the Grinch to make a grand entrance into one of its supermarkets, and Morrisons opted not to display any products.

Regulation quirks prevent festive adverts from showing gravy at the roasted meat centerpiece of the traditional Christmas dish. However, “marinating, glazing, sauce, spice rub or similar accompaniment” will keep the advertising observer away. according to the government’s new rules.

“Advertisers need to be very strategic,” said Richard Exon, co-founder of advertising agency Joint. “Creativity has an advantage here. More than products, it’s about brands, messaging and adhering to the spirit and letter of the legislation. Mainstream premium brands will be very careful not to breach regulations. A huge amount of common sense will be needed in the first quarter of next year.”

While on-screen viewers enjoyed a merry Christmas, off-screen the road to enforcement of the rules became a bitter battle between health campaigners and the food industry.

In 2020, Boris Johnson’s government promised to enforce the ban on products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) online and on TV before 9pm, and said the ban would come into force in 2023.

It was estimated that the ban would affect hundreds of millions of pounds of advertising expenditure. The original proposals meant that healthy foods such as avocados would be banned, but items such as McDonald’s chicken nuggets and some fries passed the HFSS nutritional profile test.

In a reworking of the plan, the government’s attempt to combat rising childhood obesity has been translated into restrictions on “less healthy foods”.

There are 13 categories of prohibited products; However, if it is possible for a food company to reformulate ingredients to meet HFSS testing, these can be displayed on the screen and there is an extensive list of often incompatible exclusions and warnings.

Many items perceived to be less healthy, such as bacon, cheese, savory pastries such as sausage rolls, Pot Noodles and Nutella, are not subject to any restrictions. “Party snacks” are also allowed to appear and so feature heavily in some advertisers’ Christmas campaigns this year.

Conversely, the regulations restrict products generally perceived to be healthier, such as “sandwiches of all kinds”, bagels and “all items commonly found in the cereal aisle” (including porridge and muesli).

Some products that have been reformulated to meet junk food nutrition guidelines are still banned because they are perceived to contribute to the problem of obesity, such as certain varieties of crisps, fries and pizza.

“Are we ready? Yes,” said an executive at one of the major food retailers. “But it’s very complicated. There will be a long period in which the advertising watchdog will have to work through complaints from those looking for products that may break the rules.”

Earlier this year, health campaigners were outraged when the government allowed junk food companies such as McDonald’s or Cadbury to run branded ads as long as they did not show an “identifiable” product.

This comes after the food industry threatened to take legal action against the proposed blanket ban. Allowing brand advertising would mean Cadbury could run its famous drumming gorilla ad before the watershed, as long as it doesn’t feature images of chocolate bars.

“This government promised to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, but ignored the evidence, instead pursuing a policy that essentially enabled business as usual,” said Fran Bernhardt of the campaign group Sustain. “Industry will celebrate yet another ruined health policy while the UK’s children are once again let down.”

Earlier this month the Food Foundation published its annual report revealing that food companies were shifting advertising spend to other media before the ban on TV and online advertising.

Food companies’ spending on outdoor media such as billboards and poster sites, which are subject to a ban on junk food advertising only if they are within 100 meters of facilities such as schools or leisure centres, increased by 28% between 2021 and 2024.

The report revealed that McDonald’s increased its outdoor advertising expenditures by the largest percentage in the three-year period.

While viewers are unlikely to be advertising fixers this Christmas, they may find out come Easter: Chocolate eggs are banned, as are the best hot cross buns, unless food companies can produce a version aimed at healthy eating.

“Advertising agencies are problem solvers,” said Paul Bainsfair, chief executive of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners. “They had to adapt and use their creativity to find solutions for their customers, which is something they have always been very good at.”