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.

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, and now we’re going straight into their boardrooms. We need your help to make our voice louder as we call on the biggest culprit on our streets: McDonald’s.

Our latest report reveals McDonald’s is the biggest culprit for surrounding young people with ads — and almost all (97%) of its ads were for unhealthy products!

It’s time for change. Sign our petition, and tell McDonald’s: stop targeting junk food ads at young people. Help make the message too loud to ignore!

[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