Big food companies spend millions every year on marketing designed to do one simple thing — ensure their products are centre stage in our minds.

As a result, our streets are flooded with junk food ads. When young people walk to school, get on the bus, wait at a station, or just spend time in the town centre, they are surrounded. It’s inescapable.

Well, we’ve had enough — and we're fighting back.

MAJOR CAMPAIGN UPDATE

After the huge success of our campaign, including an award win at the Sheila McKechnie Awards, we've been told by two of the biggest advertising companies in the UK that they will not let us run our billboard ad again. Even though, according to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), we’ve broken no rules.

GIVE KIDS A COMMERCIAL BREAK

We’ve flipped the script on the industry that’s flooded our world with junk by taking over hundreds of billboards carrying one bold message:

We bought this ad space so the junk food giants couldn’t — we’re giving kids a commercial break.

Farid's Story

Farid is 17, from Manchester, and he’s written about his experience:

"Since the day I was born, I’ve been targeted. There are three schools near me, and there’s a road that wraps around them — it is swamped with ads for unhealthy food and drinks. Practically all the bus stops where I live are covered in junk food adverts.

The truth is, this isn’t normal. It isn’t normal to feel trapped and surrounded by junk food ads. And it isn’t normal for my younger brother to have Big Food’s slogans embedded in his memory — he hasn’t even reached his teens yet."

Read Farid's latest blog here.

THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

Our latest research reveals how deep junk food advertising is embedded in our streets — and how it hits the poorest communities the hardest. [1]

We found that in just the past year (2024), food and drink companies spent over £400 million on street advertising. The top 10 spenders included McDonald’s, PepsiCo, KFC, Coca-Cola, Mars, Mondelez and Red Bull. [2]

In partnership with the University of Liverpool, we surveyed four areas — Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and Southwark — and found that over half (57%) of all the food and drink ads were for unhealthy products. [1]

Worse yet, our research found that unhealthy advertising is heavily targeting underserved communities. Junk food ads are six times more likely to appear in these areas than in the wealthiest areas.

Newcastle stood out as one of the worst hit — a city where ads for burgers, crisps and milkshakes dominated, and three quarters (77%) of all food and drink ads were for unhealthy products.

These graphs from our report show the rate of junk food adverts by quintile of deprivation across each location (most deprived = IMD Q1; least deprived = IMD Q5).

WHAT WE’RE FIGHTING FOR

We’re not stopping at billboards. Bite Back and our partners at Impact on Urban Health are urging the government to follow the good practice evidenced by local leaders and end junk food advertising outdoors.

It’s time to break the cycle of poor health caused by relentless, unhealthy marketing and give power back to communities.

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US

We’ve taken over Big Food’s ad spaces, shown up in their boardrooms, and they didn’t budge. Now, the two biggest advertising companies in the UK will no longer run our billboards, yet Big Food is allowed to continue plastering our streets with junk food ads.

The system is rigged against us, and it’s time for change.

Their attempts to silence us say a lot. But so do our voices, and we are not going away. Help us make the message too loud to ignore! Share this story on social:

[1] Read more in our full report: Advertising. Are food giants bombarding young people on our streets?

[2] Nielsen (2025) Out of Home Advertising Spend Analysis