First sugar-free Easter on UK TV as chocolate ads are pushed past 9pm | Advertising

The UK will have its first Easter without traditional TV adverts for chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, as a ban on junk food adverts transforms the sweetest tradition of the year into a sugar-free viewing experience.

New regulations that came into force at the beginning of this year prohibit the display of products high in fat, sugar and salt in TV commercials before 21:00 in the evening, as part of the fight against increasing childhood obesity.

This means this year the Cadbury Creme Egg (of which more than 200sq m is eaten in the “season” from Christmas to the end of Easter) will not appear in TV adverts before 9pm.

The UK advertising industry has chosen to voluntarily begin complying with the new rules from October, producing TV’s first “healthy” Christmas TV ads, and the impact on broadcasters’ advertising revenues has been huge.

TV advertising spend by confectionery and snack brands almost halved on a year-on-year basis between October and February, according to research conducted for the Guardian.

An analysis covering the vast majority of firms advertising all products falling under the government’s “less healthy foods” regulations shows that overall TV ad spend is down at least 15% year-on-year.

Industry bodies and broadcasters argued that the ban was political PR rather than effective policy. Carolyn McCall, ITV’s chief executive, and former Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon have previously pointed out that the government’s own research shows the number of calories saved would be 1.7 per day. About a third of Smartie.

“Advertising and marketing of products is one aspect that needs to be considered in the fight against childhood obesity,” said a spokesman for ISBA, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers. “But successive governments have treated bans or restrictions as a magic bullet… making laws based on headlines, not evidence.”

For health campaigners, the regulations do not go far enough after the food industry won the privilege to continue allowing “brand” advertising as long as the ads do not show an “identifiable” product that breaches junk food rules.

Advertisers like Lindt followed the rules by running ads Featuring Master ChocolatierPromoting its brand but not showing any of the 14 products in the Lindor line.

“The policy is full of loopholes that allow the industry to continue advertising branding for unhealthy products such as Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Caramel or McDonald’s McFlurries,” said Fran Bernhardt of campaign group Sustain. “Except for a few changes to advertising, this Easter will be much like previous Easters. The industry will continue more or less as usual.”

Campaigners argue that major food companies are compensating for the ban, which includes paid online advertising at any time of day, by increasing marketing budgets on other media channels.

Media agency sources say outdoor media such as billboards and poster sites, which are only subject to junk food advertising bans if they are within 100 meters of facilities such as schools or leisure centres, and radio have benefited significantly from the TV and online ban.

Although the new regulations have been in force for less than three months and the UK advertising watchdog is understood to have received only a small number of complaints which need to be assessed to determine whether any rules have actually been breached, a battle is already brewing over the issue. More restrictions will likely be imposed.

Current regulations are based on a nutrient profile model created in the early 2000s to assess whether a product is “junk food.” An updated model was developed in 2018 but was not introduced.

The government said on Wednesday it was likely to adopt the new model. launched a consultation This will result in a much wider range of products deemed to be too high in fat, salt and sugar being banned from next year.

The Food and Drink Federation said the updated model in its current form would ban advertising of products such as 100% fruit juices, many cereals including Kellogg’s Bran Flakes, Ambrosia rice pudding cups, the Mr Kipling Delicious and Light range and Doritos, which parent company PepsiCo has spent millions reformulating to make them healthier to comply with existing advertising rules.

An ISBA spokesman said: “The ingredients of our food are important, but the updated nutrient profile model threatens to deter investment from companies to change what we eat and drink. More products that are not considered ‘unhealthy’ will be banned.”

“A holistic plan will also consider how we encourage healthier eating and purchasing by consumers, promote food education, and create a more active population. Those are the things that will really move the dial, rather than always taking the easy way out of more restrictions on advertisers.”