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Lots of developments in ad land this month, with the long-awaited junk food ad ban coming into force on TV and online, and the excellent news that Amsterdam has banned fossil fuel and meat advertising in public spaces. Read on for our take on these, as well as great actions from allies, and opportunities to take action yourself this month.
Amster-ban: end of high carbon ads in Dutch Capital
Amsterdam has set a new gold standard by banning polluting advertising by local law. Ads for everything from fossil fuels to flights to petrol and diesel vehicles, gas heating contracts, and even meat products can, from May 1st, no longer be displayed in public spaces or on the city’s public transport network.
Last year, fellow Dutch cities The Hague, Delft, Nijmegen and Utrecht banned fossil fuel adverts via local ordinance, a kind of local law. By following suit, Amsterdam becomes the first global capital city to take this action.
Here in the UK, Edinburgh and Sheffield have gone furthest to restrict fossil fuel advertising, with other councils including Cambridgeshire, Coventry and Medway having agreed some restrictions. However, all of these are council policies; under Amsterdam’s ban (and that of other Dutch cities) restrictions are written into local law, meaning that violations can be punished by a fine to the advertiser.
Notably, the ban contrasts with UK examples in that it covers private ad spaces, not just those owned by the council. Conversely, the ban covers product advertising – i.e. ads for specific products – but brand advertising will still be permitted. This is similar to the UK’s new restrictions on junk food advertising (more on this below).
The road was not easy. Even up to the final vote, outdoor media company JCDecaux, who control much of the advertising space in Amsterdam, was warning city councillors of “far-reaching financial and legal consequences” of the proposed ban. It’s a line we’ve heard before. The outdoor media industry’s response to Transport for London’s 2019 junk food ad ban painted an apocalyptic picture of collapsing revenue. In the event, TfL actually saw an increase in ad revenue in subsequent years.
Interestingly, over 100 ad industry insiders backed the ban, signing a letter addressed to the council showing their support. This isn’t the only sign of dissent in ad land (see below for more).
Already the ban is having a ripple effect. One investor advice website reports: “the move could shift ad budgets, change creative strategy, and pressure margins if copycat rules spread…the signal is clear: policy risk is rising for out-of-home advertising.” Whether more UK councils will take inspiration from Amsterdam remains to be seen; pressure continues to build on TfL, the UK’s largest outdoor advertising estate, to ban fossil fuel ads.
We’re forever grateful to Dutch campaigners Reclame Fossielvrij for supporting Amsterdam and other Dutch cities to ban polluting ads.
Responsible advertising?
The ad industry likes to claim it simply mirrors social trends, but in a time of interlinking social, political, economic and climate crises, merely “reflecting” the world can become complicity.
This week, coordinated by Inside Track, senior executives from the biggest advertising firms have released an explosive anonymous memo lambasting the ‘vacuum of responsible leadership’ within the industry. The memo criticises the UK ad industry for losing independence to US politics, refusing to act on DEI, climate change and hate speech, being compromised by funding from big tech, and failing to protect jobs from AI.
Last year, Badvertising reported WPP, the world’s largest advertising holding company at the time, to the OECD over breaches of corporate responsibility on climate and human rights. Stay tuned for news on this very soon…
Junk food ad ban needs to go further
On January 5th, long-awaited restrictions on junk food advertising on TV and online came into legal force. Whilst this is great news, we can’t help but highlight the obvious loophole that the restrictions don’t cover outdoor advertising. That means we will all, and especially children, still be exposed to ads for unhealthy foods when we walk down our local high streets.
And food companies are exploiting this. In the run-up to the new restrictions, food companies increased spending on outdoor advertising by 28%, and McDonald’s by 71%. A recent study found that over half of all food and drink adverts in the city of Liverpool were promoting meat, and almost half of those adverts were for one single brand: McDonald’s.
Adfree’s Nicola attended the Oxford Real Farming conference this month, to talk about the how advertising affects our food choices and the changes we need to see to shift our food system to something that prioritises health and sustainability over corporate profit.
Take action on gambling advertising
The Campaign to End Gambling Advertising (CEGA) has launched a brilliant new campaign video, featuring Christopher Ecclestone, and are asking members of the public to write to their MP calling for action to stop gambling advertising. The gambling industry is exploitative and predatory and one of the most prolific advertisers across all forms of media.
In 2025 polling conducted for CEGA by More in Common found that 70% of Britons want gambling advertising to be banned or restricted. If you’re one of them, take action now.
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