"Nutty nanny statism": Government plans to ban 'junk food' advertising online and after 9.00pm

In response to the Government maintaining plans to ban so-called ‘junk food’ from online advertising and before 9.00pm on television, the Adam Smith Institute’s Head of Research Matthew Lesh said:

“The ad ban plan is nutty nanny statism. It will do nothing to reduce obesity while savagely striking at struggling hospitality businesses and hurting the public.

“The measures will apply to a shockingly large array of foods. It will be illegal to advertise online British favourites like fish and chips, scotch eggs or even a Full English breakfast; takeaways would be unable to post images of their food online; descriptive words like ‘delicious’ will be banned. Thousands of restaurants, which have been kept alive thanks to online delivery, will no longer be able to advertise online to find new customers, hitting small businesses the hardest. 

“The ban will even make it harder for the public to discover new restaurants and food delivery services, taking joy out of our lives.

“It’s all pain for no gain. By the Government’s own calculations banning online advertising will reduce children’s calorie consumption by just 2.8 calories per day—having no impact on obesity.”

Click here to learn more about the ASI’s research on the Mad Ad Ban Plan.

For further comment or to arrange an interview, please contact Matt Kilcoyne via 07904099599 or email matt@adamsmith.org