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Channel 4 warns of unintended consequences of junk food TV ad ban

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 28, 2018 | 2 min read

Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon has come out fighting against a proposed junk food TV ban, warning that any such initiative, no matter how well intentioned, could backfire with unintended consequences.

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Channel 4 warns of unintended consequences of junk food TV ad ban

MPs are deliberating over whether to impose a blanket ban on advertising foods with low nutritional value prior to the 21:00 watershed in an effort to contain spiraling levels of obesity. Far from achieving the desired objective however Mahon believes advertisers will simply migrate to alternative channels such as YouTube and Facebook.

Addressing the digital, culture, media and sport select committee Mahon said: “Young people are often watching on digital platforms now, where they are hyper-targeted,” she told the digital, culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday. “From an advertiser perspective, they might just put that [TV advertising] money into the digital platforms where that can really, really target young people. The government needs to make sure changes don’t have consequences that are worse than the current situation.”

A raft of additional measures are also being considered including a ban on ‘two for one’ junk food ads, removing sweets from supermarket checkouts and the sale of energy drinks to children.

It is estimated that advertisers promoting products high in fat, salt and sugar spend around £200m per year on UK television, with Channel 4 accounting for £40m of that spend.

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