UK Government Exploring Ban For HFSS Foods In Advertising

For years, food advertising has been one of the true pleasures of the TV. Curiously just before lunch and dinner times for the average person, the TV is littered with fast food adverts, as well as restaurant adverts. These are delectable looking and give you that glorious taste for something. A pizza. A burger. A falafel. Whatever it is you enjoy as your ‘guilty pleasure’, TV advertising is more than happy to show it to you. That’s why talk of a potential UK government ban on advertising of foods which are deemed to be high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) could happen sooner than we might expect. While the ban would simply push these foods to beyond the UK 9PM watershed, it would also minimise their ability to be advertised with such continuity. And it is true – look around yourself the next time you go out to a high street or busy shopping area, and see the advertisements. Count the next twenty adverts you see on TV; at least three or four will involve food. Research is being done into just how impactful advertising online and on TV and around us in everyday life can have on our consumption of foods. Can seeing enough ads on your jaunt around the internet really dictate the kind of foods that we eat? Are all of those little social media clues about food and little sidebar ads on websites more powerful than we give them credit for?

 What would the UK Government ban achieve?

When undergoing such discussions, bans as this usually come with absurdly optimistic statistics to try and promote the change. For example, government estimates could suggest an improvement in the UK’s quality adjusted life years by some 127,000 across a 25-year spell. This comes as governments and other bodies are beginning to realize that people are spending more time than ever on the internet and surrounded by digital media. Of course, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has at least a part to play in that. Indeed, advertising analysis shows us that many younger users of the web spend more time looking at and browsing food advertisements online for unhealthy foods than they do for healthy altrernatives. They are more likely to talk about these on social media, too, share them with friends, and interact with those posts. They also are believed to find it easier to recall brand names for unhealthy brands compared to healthier, more natural alternatives. Add in the vast influence of, well, influencers in the food industry, and there is more interaction and opportunity for advertisement than ever before. Today, many online users trust influencers and other quasi-celebrity voices and authorities in the food niche to recommend them food they would enjoy. So, that is another way that our food can be advertised to us directly as opposed to through indirect ads. While people might see an influencer tagging their post with a hashtag making clear it is a promotion, they don’t care. It looks good, and if the person they like, or even trust, recommends it, they’ll happily try it.

Countering the advertising

The easiest way, many recommend, to try and beat subliminal advertising for unhealthy foods is to change the cycle yourself. Actively look up a host of healthy foods; the next recommended items and the majority of targeted ads will instead focus on showing you the ‘right’ foods to eat. If you wish to avoid being told what to eat by a search engine, it might be time to think about countering the advertising programs used today. By actively searching for healthier foods, you show the advertising algorithms online what you are searching for.