As this summer heats up, so does our fight against junk food advertising. In an incredible twist of timing, our massive anti-advertising campaign — launched about a fortnight ago, coincided with a crucial Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling against Just Eat.

The ASA recently upheld a complaint initiated by my friend and colleague — a 15-year-old activist from our Bite Back movement — citing that Just Eat failed to prevent ads for high-fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) products from reaching children on social media. This big win throws the spotlight on a harsh truth: our ad rules aren't cutting it, leaving kids wide open to endless junk food ads.

Serendipity? Not at all! This isn't just some wild coincidence; it's a loud wake-up call about how food companies are really going after our youngest and most impressionable.

In response, we rolled out massive billboards across the UK’s busiest spots, including major shopping hubs like Westfield London, where thousands of families hang out, especially during the summer holidays. From service stations to the iconic Bullring in Birmingham, and now the buzzing scenes at Westfield London and Stratford, our huge billboards have proven impossible to miss. We're shouting out loud: it’s time to kick the junk out of our lives. Our billboards haven’t just filled space; they have been about taking back the story on health and consumerism.

Making a splash in the media: the coverage we received for our billboard campaign!

But hey, why should young activists carry the burden of protecting kids? It’s just not fair and it's way too much for us to handle alone. It’s clear we can’t count on food giants to dial down the junk — they make too much cash off it. This is why we urgently call on the Government to step in and enforce stricter regulations and restrictions on junk food ads. These measures are crucial to shield us young people from manipulative marketing schemes that contribute to a growing public health crisis. Research shows that children in the UK are exposed to 15 billion junk food adverts online each year. [1] Studies also show that right now, nearly 1 in 3 young people face a future of food related ill health and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

To the big food companies, we say: “Step it up!”. The case with Just Eat is a stark reminder that relying solely on existing guidelines and half-measures like age-targeting is not enough. Companies must adopt more robust and honest advertising strategies that do not exploit loopholes at the expense of public health.

For the public, this is a call to action. Junk food ads are more than just an annoyance — they’re a real threat to our health, especially for us, the upcoming generation who are growing up in this digital, ad-filled world. We’ve got to rethink how we interact with these ads. Our campaign is your invite to dig deeper into the impact of junk food marketing and to stand with us demanding change.

Let’s crank up our collective voice so it echoes through the halls of power and down the corridors of big corporations. Together, we can safeguard our health and make sure every kid has the chance to grow up without being hunted by junk food ads.

Written by Bite Back activist Molly, 17

Department of Health & Social Care and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (2021) Introducing further advertising restrictions on TV and online for products high in fat, salt and sugar: government response