Christmas ads put on a diet as UK ban on TV junk food advertising bites

Sat, 20 Dec 2025

Gone are shots of puddings and sweets as advertisers try to market other foods to stay within rules coming into force on 5 January

The festive season is traditionally a time of national culinary overindulgence but eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that this year’s crop of big-budget Christmas TV ads have been decidedly lean and sugar-free.

From Tesco and Waitrose to Marks & Spencer and Asda, the UK’s biggest exponents of extravagant festive food marketing have put their Christmas ads on a diet to comply with new regulations banning junk food products from appearing in TV ads before 9pm.