Description
Junk food advertising has been banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network since 25 February 2019, as a groundbreaking measure to help tackle child obesity in London. Food and drink brands, restaurants, takeaways and delivery services are only able to place adverts which promote their healthier products, rather than simply publicising their brands.
Ad ban reduces calory intake Londoners, study finds
According to research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the ban has since then led to a decrease in purchasing of 1,000 calories in consumers’ weekly household shopping, or the equivalent to every Londoner in the study buying about 1.5 fewer standard-size bars of milk chocolate each week. These figures highlight the effect of advertising on consumers' purchasing behavior.
A plain English summary of this research can be found here.
No revenue loss after ad ban
The Media Leader reports that the revenue of Transport for London did not drop after this policy was put in place: revenues had even gone up to £33m compared to £32m the previous year.