Food brands increased their outdoor advertising spend by 28% between 2021 and 2024, according to new data.

Out-of-home advertising does not fall under the scope of new legislation, coming into effect 5 January 2026, which bans ads for foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) on TV pre-9pm and online. Plans were first shared by the government in July 2020.

The increase in outdoor investment is reported by the Food Foundation, a charity working to change food policy, in its The State of the Nation’s Food Industry report for 2025. It analysed data published by Outsmart, the UK’s trade body for the out-of-home advertising industry.

Its analysis finds that outdoor advertising by food brands accounted for 12.2% of total out-of-home advertising in 2024, up from 9.5% in 2021. This means food brands have increased their spend on outdoor advertising by more than a quarter (28%) since the incoming restrictions were announced.

The analysis also looks at the biggest spenders in the outdoor advertising category. Of the top 20 outdoor advertisers by spend in 2024, almost half (45%) were food brands.

McDonald’s increased its spend on outdoor advertising by almost three-quarters (71%) between the announcement of the incoming rules (2021) and 2024. It is the biggest out-of-home advertising spender in the UK, spending £86.32m in 2024. That is significantly more than the second-biggest out of home spender, National Lottery operator Allwyn Entertainment, which spent £62.18m in 2024.

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Indeed, of the top 20 outdoor advertisers by spend in 2024, almost half (45%) were food companies. Unilever, which owns food brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, and Hellmann’s, as well as non-food brands such as Sure and Dove, was the third biggest outdoor advertising spender in the UK in 2024. It spent £54.85bn.

Tesco is the fourth biggest spender (£43.63m), while Walkers and Pepsi owner PepsiCo is sixth (£37.43m).

The growth in food advertisers using out-of-home after the announcement of the incoming HFSS advertising rules may be an attempt to rebalance media mixes ahead of the laws coming into place. Out-of-home does not fall under the scope of these rules; however, there are other rules governing how HFSS products can be advertised on this channel.

For example, rules ban HFSS ads from strongly appealing to children. This includes where outdoor ads for HFSS products are placed, such as if these ads are placed close to schools.

The rules ban less healthy food and drink (LHF) from being shown in advertising on TV pre-9pm and online altogether.

The law was originally meant to come into play from October 2025; however, the government agreed to a delay in order to give time to write into law a brand advertising exemption. This exemption allows HFSS brands to continue to advertise on the restricted channels, provided the ad didn’t contain actual products. The government had intended to write in this exemption, but the legislation was originally worded in such a way that this was unclear.

The industry has agreed to act as though the rules did come into play from October, striking a voluntarily agreement with the government stating brands will ensure ads are compliant. That means that, for all intents and purposes, brands are acting as though the law came into force from 1 October.