#MadAdBanPlan

The Government wants to ban your local chippy from tweeting about its food - and nobody is talking about it.

In November 2020, the Government unveiled plans for a total ban on all online advertising of so-called ‘junk food’.

It would include family favourites from sausage rolls and fish fingers to mustard and marmite.

If implemented, it would cover all social media, all commercial websites, personal business websites, emails and text messages.

The Adam Smith Institute has consistently opposed this and similar advertising crackdowns. They hurt consumers, burden British businesses and do nothing to reduce the UK’s obesity rate.

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There are a number of compelling reasons to oppose the mad ad ban plan:

It hurts consumers.

We might find some online ads annoying, but they benefit consumers in important ways. Have you ever found out about a local restaurant or takeaway online? Or perhaps ordered a cake from a local bakery you came across on Facebook? Advertising saves us time and reduces the "search costs" of finding new places to eat or drink. There's also compelling evidence that advertising tends to reduce prices, boost competition and increase product quality.

The Government’s Impact Assessment fails to mention any of these costs to consumers. They simply haven’t thought this through.

It burdens British businesses—at the worst possible time.

The proposed ban will have huge ramifications for the food and advertising industries. This is particularly true for small businesses that increasingly rely on online ads and are facing huge pressures from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Research from the Internet Advertising Bureau found 69% of SMEs use online advertising (both free and paid). Of that, 64% believe digital advertising is now more important to the future of their business in recovering from the pandemic.

Up to 45% of the UK’s total digital ad spend comes from SME spend, coming in at over £7bn in 2019.

There were approximately 7,130 SMEs in the food and drink sector with turnover of around £21 billion and 135,000 employees in 2019. In the food sector (excluding beverages) SMEs accounted for 79% of businesses, 27% of employment and 17% of turnover.

It’s poorly targeted.

The Government's definition of 'junk food' used for the proposed ban is laughable.

Numerous everyday foods would be caught by the ban: everything from jam and yoghurt to Cornish pasties and mustard. Takeaways would be unable to post images of their food online. Small, independent coffee shops would also be prevented from using social media to show off their products.

The proposals are also in direct opposition to the Government’s own strategy. DEFRA’s “Food is Great” campaign promotes British salmon, cream tea and whisky, all of which would not be able to be advertised online under current proposals.

Further, it flies in the face of the Government’s regional ‘levelling up’ agenda. Not only will established classics from Scotland’s Walker’s shortbread to Birmingham’s Cadbury be affected. Smaller, independent producers, from Kent to the North East will see their outreach curbed. Even London’s famous greasy spoons will not be able to advertise their Full English online.

What can we do about it?

The Government thinks that everyone is perfectly happy for them to ruin their local restaurants, pubs and cafés. That’s where you come in. We need to spread the word. You can take action against the ad ban by:

1. Responding to the Government’s consultation.
   You can make your thoughts on the ad ban clear to the Government by responding to its consultation here.

2. Writing to your MP.
   You can find out how to contact your local MP here.

3. Spreading the word on social media using #ScrapTheAdBan.