Fast-changing food rules: Life in the LHF world

What’s your all-time favourite food ad? McDonald’s Raise Your Arches from 2023, the cheeky Edgar Wright spot that made raised brows a tacit invitation to dine at the golden arches? 

The ban has ramifications for all advertisers.

Or maybe Cadbury’s Gorilla, 2007’s hirsute tribute to Phil Collins’s In The Air Tonight, directed by Juan Cabral? 

Well let’s have a gorilla-sized drum roll please: both of those films would be cleared to appear before 9pm under the new Less Healthy Food (LFH) restrictions. 

Above: Edgar Wright's McDonald's spot would still be permisable, despite the new rules around advertising 'less healthy foods'.  

Introduced to help curb childhood obesity, the restrictions came into effect on a voluntary basis on 1 October and will become law on 5 January 2026. The ban has ramifications for all advertisers because it affects any commercial where food or drink products are featured. The good news? Ads that brand-build or take a storytelling approach instead of promoting a specific product are acceptable pre–watershed. 

Ads that brand-build or take a storytelling approach instead of promoting a specific product are acceptable pre–watershed. 

“You could still have Gorilla or Raise Your Arches before 9pm,and a post-9pm version which could feature the product,” confirms Pete Bellas, Copy Development Manager at Clearcast. He oversees copy clearance to ensure compliance on behalf of UK broadcasters. If anyone knows what will and won’t fly in the LHF world, it’s Bellas. So, what are his recommendations? 

“Depict products that are not high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) or look at the 13 categories,” he advises. While this may sound straightforward, it’s not. "There are nuances around the exemptions and the 13 categories,” adds Bellas. For instance, some party food is exempt. So, if you notice Christmas ads awash with sausage rolls and mini quiches as opposed to Lindt’s master chocolatier assiduously shaping his truffle balls, that’s why.  

Above: “There are nuances around the exemptions," says Pete Bellas, which allows some party food to still be advertised pre-watershed. 

Prop or product?

“Brand ads that drive fame will still be there,” says Seb Lynch, Business Affairs Manager at Mother London. “And those ads need to do more work as we’re relying on them more.” Lynch has been interpreting the implications of the LHF ban for his colleagues, particularly those working with KFC, Uber Eats and Reese’s. 

Lynch’s expertise has also  been figuring out a few finer controversies, including a cake that featured in Mother’s ad for the Nationwide building society. The upshot? If a brand is unidentifiable and the cake is generic, it will be compliant. Lynch has christened this approach ‘prop or product’. 

"How would you nutritionally profile a prop? If it’s not identifiable as a product, it’s totally fine."

“You have to be able to nutritionally profile the item,” says Lynch, referring to the Nutrient Profiling Model that’s been in place since 2007 to reduce kids’ exposure to TV advertising of HFSS foods. “So, how would you nutritionally profile a prop? If it’s not identifiable as a product, it’s totally fine. I ask the teams at Mother to question ‘is it a prop or a product?’ to get them to see if it’s within the scope of the regulations.” 

Above: 'Prop or product?'. Mother London needed to make that distinction about a cake which appeared in a Nationwide commercial. 

This is an important exercise because there’s been some ambiguity which could have costly consequences. Lucy Rose, Senior Business Affairs Manager at creative operations platform XR, says: “Clarity will be an operational challenge. Brands and agencies need to understand exactly what qualifies as LHF under the new rules and, right now, that definition feels quite blurred. Clearcast will provide guidance but, in many cases, clarity only arrives once a script or storyboard has already been submitted. By that point, production and post might be well underway, which could mean extra rounds of edits or rework.”

“We’re already speaking with clients about building in more time for approvals and scenario planning."

She adds: “We’re already speaking with clients about building in more time for approvals and scenario planning. Our focus is on helping agencies and brands navigate the complexity efficiently so creative work isn’t compromised.” 

Changing channels

Also challenging is the blanket ban across all online ads. UK kids aged 8-14 spend three hours a day online, according to Ofcom. “Gen Z and Alpha are used to swiping and streaming, not flipping through broadcast TV channels,” says Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s Director of Market Intelligence. Ofcom’s research also confirms that the ‘family TV’ in the living room is now mostly tuned to YouTube. 

Does this mean media schedules will look different for food and drink brands? Claire Haddrill, Managing Partner at Ogilvy, thinks so. “More traditional marketers are looking at different channel strategies, shifting to owned and earned.” According to Haddrill, that may entail more immersive consumer events and experiences. 

Above: Ofcom’s research confirms that the ‘family TV’ in the living room is now mostly tuned to YouTube.

Outdoor and print are unaffected by the ban, so it could also mean that those channels are used more heavily for tactical work, particularly from fast food brands that already use billboards, especially when they’re placed near restaurants. Seasonal work is also likely to change. Halloween, Christmas and Easter are hugely significant for confectionery brands, particularly chocolate, but even IKEA’s Christmas work has been affected this year because the meatballs that originally featured in its festive ad are classed as LHF. 

“Brands need to go beyond compliance to make sure they’re slotting into societal norms and appreciating the context in which they’re operating."

Ogilvy’s Haddrill speculates: “There’s an opportunity for brands to focus on the role they play in the joy of the occasion.” She’s philosophical, framing this as an opportunity for food and drink brands to reassess their values and their wider societal role. “Brands need to go beyond compliance to make sure they’re slotting into societal norms and appreciating the context in which they’re operating. We’re positioning it as an opportunity to reconfigure how brands engage with consumers. It’s prompting a shift from product-centric into genuine strategic brand-building.” 

Emily Marr, Chief Production Officer at Leo Burnett, the long-term agency of McDonald’s, adds: “This kind of thinking has always been part of what we do at Leo’s. Our Fancy a McDonald’s? platform is built on human behaviour and ‘fan truths’ – like the subtle raise of an eyebrow that signals craving, or the joy people get from dipping fries into a milkshake – rather than focusing on selling the products themselves. In many ways, the HFSS restrictions will simply encourage more of the industry to prioritise this kind of brand storytelling, which is good news for us all.”