The leaders of the Advertising Association (AA), the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) have published a joint statement outlining their position on the proposals, the consultation process and the wider social and economic context surrounding the ban. The signatories recognise that obesity is a complex problem, but say that the proposal to completely outlaw online advertising of certain food and drink is “a severe and disproportionate measure that goes far beyond the Government’s objective of protecting children”. In the signatories’ view, it will instead “do untold harm to the UK’s vitally important creative sector and food & drink businesses at an economically precarious time”.

The signatories emphasise the importance of the advertising sector to the UK economy and urge the Government “not to damage the jobs and tax revenue it creates”. They state also that the UK’s “world-leading advertising sector also underpins the success of the food and drink industry”, which is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector.

The signatories say that the Government is “setting out headline-grabbing proposals”, but that they are “far from convinced that they have made the case, or set out the evidence for, a heavy-handed intervention of this kind”. The industry urges Ministers to “start engaging meaningfully with industry now, and to develop evidenced solutions that are targeted at the problem they wish to address, appropriate to digital media and fit for the 21st century”. The statement warns that if the policy of an outright ban goes ahead, it will “deal a huge blow to UK advertising at a time when it is reeling from the impact of Covid-19”.

The statement concludes by saying “[t]o borrow the Prime Minister’s language, this is not an ‘oven ready’ policy; it is not even half-baked. But it does have all the ingredients of a kick in the teeth for our industry from a Government which we believed was interested in prioritising economic growth alongside targeted interventions to support health and wellbeing”. To read the statement in full, click here.