How Will Dubai’s Metaverse Sector Contribute To Its Economy By 2030?
The Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced earlier this month that Dubai’s metaverse sector will contribute $4 billion to the emirate’s economy by 2030.
Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai have now directed the formation of a task force to track the latest developments in the digital economy, including technology and metaverse trends. As quoted by Arabian Marketer, Sheikh Hamdan said,
The directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to form a higher committee to supervise Dubai’s future technological developments reflect the importance of facing the future with an open mind. The move will help us fully understand reality and explore unique ideas that will shape a brighter future for Dubai and the UAE, maximising future business opportunities.
.@HamdanMohammed, @MaktoumMohammed review vital technology trends in the metaverse and issued directives to form a task force to track the latest developments in the digital economy. #Dubai https://t.co/oY819Rs5MU pic.twitter.com/lVtk79uYLT
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) May 19, 2022
But what exactly is Metaverse? Metaverse users interact with other users in computer-generated environments such as shops, learning environments, and meeting rooms, among other things, in three-dimensional, hyper-realistic virtual rooms. It combines elements of social media, augmented reality, virtual reality, video games, and other advanced technologies.
Interesting Read: Admix And JGroup Partner To Bring In-Play Advertising To MENA Brands
The Dubai Metaverse Strategy
Dubai is capable of attracting and retaining the largest technology companies in the world. Hence, Dubai Metaverse Strategy’s higher committee plans to utilize metaverse technology. This will enhance resident surgeons’ performance by 230%.and raise the output of engineers by 30%. It also aims to raise the metaverse’s contribution to one per cent of the emirate’s GDP.
During the meeting with Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Maktoum, Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, who is the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications and chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, outlined how Dubai stands to benefit from the metaverse in a way that enables it to generate business opportunities beyond its physical borders.
Further, it is implementing activities and projects that will increase its web presence. The higher committee is actively examining opportunities and challenges. It is trying to qualify human capital so that it can excel in the virtual environment.
Moreover, it’s constantly working to establish a legal framework that addresses the needs of all sectors in the future. Forecasts indicate that business revenues from the metaverse will increase from $180 billion to $400 billion by 2025.
Interesting Read: Bloomberg Media Studios Unveils First Creative Hub In The UAE
Dubai’s metaverse regulatory authorities
Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) established its Metaverse HQ earlier this month, making it the first regulator with a presence in the emerging digital space.
Dubai plans to create a prototype of a decentralized regulator model by expanding VARA’s resources beyond borders. Moreover, it intends to make it readily accessible to government and industry leaders, other authorities, and virtual asset providers to shape the future of the digital economy.
VARA’s MetaHQ will utilize The Sandbox platform, an Ethereum blockchain-based application that allows users to create, sell and purchase digital assets.
Interesting Read: OSN Rebrands Its Streaming Service With OSN+
What BIGO Ads Has To Offer Brands Through Likee In The Mena Region
BIGO Ads, an emerging international marketing platform powered by BIGO, is gaining traction in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. BIGO Ads, a premium traffic aggregator of the short video creation app Likee, has already made a significant impact by providing professional video marketing solutions centered on Likee’s thriving content community.
Likee’s success in the MENA region has been exceptional over the last year. It encourages local creators to unleash their talent by producing diverse video content that is rich in creativity, allowing them to build communities that facilitate meaningful connections and engagements amongst one another.
While maintaining its positive momentum, Likee offers a significant opportunity for marketers throughout the MENA region. More brands are opening their minds to deeply engage users through Likee’s unique branding campaigns, which are serviced by the BIGO Ads team, as a result of Likee’s rising user traffic and entertaining interactive experience. In fact, by 2021, PUBG Mobile had already achieved unprecedented success multiple times with Likee.
Interesting Read: OSN Rebrands Its Streaming Service With OSN+
A successful collaboration with PUBG Mobile
In 2021, PUBG Mobile is one of the most successful collaborative partnerships with BIGO Ads. This popular mobile game launched three hashtag challenge campaigns in Likee, including a Halloween Campaign, a Reunion of Classic Modes Campaign, and a PUBG Mobile 3rd Anniversary Campaign.
The campaigns for PUBG Mobile were the best-performing in the MENA region, with over 276 million total impressions and 250 thousand video posts delivered. BIGO Ads created the campaign mechanism for Halloween 2021 in order to strike a good balance between the Halloween atmosphere and PUBG Mobile gaming elements. The campaign was a huge success, exceeding most of Likee’s MENA benchmarks. It increased the overall awareness of PUBG Mobile and aided in reaching out to younger audiences in order to attract more new players. Francis Tu, Director for BIGO Ad said,
“We are extremely proud of our collaboration with PUBG Mobile and be glad to achieve unprecedented levels of success on Likee. We reviewed the unique gamifying features of PUBG Mobile to brainstorm the key ideas after which the BIGO Ads team set up a series of marketing solutions to spark an impact for PUBG Mobile and engage more young netizens. The PUBG Mobile cooperation has definitely given us a chance to showcase our professionality and passion to the brands in MENA.”
Wick Wang, Operations Director for Likee MENA explained why short video platforms are an ideal marketing solution for brands,
“The significant traffic on Likee and short video platforms in general helps to build brand awareness. In-app exposure through splash screens, banners, hashtags list, in-app messages and more, together with customized effects with brand elements powered by the cutting-edge technology of Likee is powerful enough to create content with unlimited fun. This also encourages users to engage more with the marketing campaign through the relevant in-app activities.”
Interesting Read: Viola Communications To Launch A New Digital Out-Of-Home Media In Abu Dhabi
Bloomberg Media Studios Unveils First Creative Hub In The UAE
Bloomberg Media Group announced the launch of “Bloomberg Media Studios” in the UAE. The media group is expanding its international presence to the Middle East and Africa with the creation of its first creative hub in Dubai. The studio is the brand content division and will be serving the clients in the region to reach Bloomberg’s influential audience through strategic brand storytelling. It collaborates with companies around the world in technology, tourism, finance, luxury, and more.
The newly formed studio will work closely with the Bloomberg Media commercial team in Dubai to develop integrated partnership opportunities and data-driven creative content. By doing so, they can scale production to meet the demand for personalized, purposeful, data-driven storytelling content. It is also part of Bloomberg’s ongoing media expansion in the region, which includes added localized platforms, content, and regional talent. Globally, studios revenue grew 50% Y-o-Y from 2020 to 2021. This comes after the studio doubled its client list in the Middle East and Africa region over the same period.
Interesting Read: Viola Communications To Launch A New Digital Out-Of-Home Media In Abu Dhabi
Stephen Colvin, global commercial president of Bloomberg Media Group said,
“Our business in the Middle East has seen significant growth over the past two years, which has required us to expand the operations of Bloomberg Media Studios from London to Dubai.
The creation of a studio in Africa and the Middle East is an important addition to our other studios in New York, London, and Singapore and will allow us to successfully fulfill the demand for our unique data-driven and purpose-focused brand storytelling.”
Ashish Verma, Global Head of Bloomberg Media Studios stated,
“Bloomberg Media Studios is a strategic partner to clients that unlocks the power of the Bloomberg ecosystem. Our new studio in the UAE will be a place to enhance our collaborations with Africa and the Middle East’s most ambitious companies to deliver high-quality content that reaches a global, influential audience.”
Interesting Read: OSN Rebrands Its Streaming Service With OSN+
How Advertisers and Brands Are Responding To The Ukraine Crisis
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is driving advertisers to take action. They are rapidly reassessing their creative and media spending. Brands are supporting their staff in the region and pledging to help Ukrainian citizens across the globe. From pausing ad placements to cease product sales, cut services, or halting business with Russia. Here’s a host of some big companies that began to trickle in recent days.
Accenture
The first major company in the marketing and advertising field took a definitive stance that it will discontinue doing business in Russia. In addition to its 2,300 employees, the multinational consulting company has a global innovation lab in Moscow called ‘Future Camp’. The company thanked them and vowed to support the former employees. The company has promised to help its Ukrainian colleagues around the world and their families. It will give $5 million to organizations that provide assistance to Ukrainian citizens and those seeking asylum in neighboring countries.
McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group also declared today that they will no longer deal with Russian companies.
Roku
The streamer dropped a Russian-backed news channel from its channel store everywhere that including Europe and the U.S. The decision follows a similar move from DirecTV which is “accelerating this year’s contract expiration timeline and will no longer offer their programming effective immediately” amid the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.
Extreme Reach
Adtech firm, Extreme Reach has stopped distributing and delivering ads to Russian-affiliated internet and television sites. As per Adage reports, the company said, “As a global company, we are part of a global community that is weakened when any of its people are oppressed. More directly, we’re providing support to our team members who are themselves based in Ukraine or whose families and loved ones are in the midst of this unthinkable crisis.”
Microsoft
Microsoft has removed RT news’ mobile app from the Windows app store, in addition to banning all ads on Russian state-sponsored media. In a blog post, Microsoft said that they are focusing on four areas to help Ukraine. They are working on cybersecurity, state-sponsored discrimination campaigns, humanitarian aid, and employee protection.
The tech giant has paused all advertisements across products in Russia. This is relevant for ads on Search, YouTube, Display, and the move is effective immediately. It is an extraordinary step given how much of Google’s revenue is from advertising. Google blocked mobile apps connected to Russian state-run media outlets RT and Sputnik from the playstore.
Twitter also announced a similar move and said, “We’re temporarily pausing advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it.”
Apple and Facebook
The tech giant has ended the sale and exports of its products to Russia. In a statement, it said, “Apple Pay and other services have been limited. RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia. And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.”
Facebook’s parent company Meta has restricted access to Russian state media accounts and blocked the running and monetization of ads on their platform. It has also removed accounts that provided disinformation and targeted Ukrainians.
Spotify
Spotify, the podcast service provider has shut its offices indefinitely in Russia. It has removed all Russian-state-affiliated content.
Equinor
Norwegian energy company Equinor has had a presence in Russia for over 30 years and has decided to end the joint venture with Roseneft.
In a statement, the company said, “In the current situation, we regard our position as untenable. We will now stop new investments into our Russian business, and we will start the process of exiting our joint ventures in a manner that is consistent with our values. Our top priority in this difficult situation is the safety and security of our people.”
AirBnb
The company has suspended all operations in Belarus and Russia. It will offer free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. It will also partner with resettlement agencies to house Ukrainian refugees globally.
Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) March 4, 2022
Oracle
The software company suspended all operations in Russia. Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation requested on Twitter that the company ends its business relationship with Russia, Russian clients, and partners.
Publicis
Publicis CEO and Chairman Arthur Sadoun sent an internal memo to the holding company’s 350 Ukraine employees ensuring guaranteed salary pay for 2022. In the memo he said, “While these financial measures can only help a small part of the turbulent reality you face today, we hope it will give you some sense of security, help provide for your loved ones and allow you to plan and take back control of your lives.”
BP and Shell
Both BP and Shell will exit Russian operations.
BP is one of the largest foreign investors in the oil market. The company exited a 20% stake in the Russian oil giant Roseneft- a move estimated to cost the company $25bn. On the other hand, Shell will exit its partnership with Russian oil company Gazprom.
IKEA
The home furniture retailer has paused all its operations in Russia, and Belarus. In a statement, it said, “These decisions have a direct impact on 15,000 IKEA co-workers. The ambitions of the company groups are long term and we have secured employment and income stability for the immediate future and provide support to them and their families in the region.”
Fashion retailers like H&M, Marks & Spencers, Burberry, ASOS have halted Russian sales.
Disney, Warner, Sony, Paramount, Universal, and Netflix
Disney, Warner, Sony, Paramount, Universal has paused all their theatrical releases in Russia. Meanwhile, Netflix has stopped all the future projects in Russia.
Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin
The automakers halted all operations in Russia. Tata Group-owned JLR has halted car deliveries in Russia. Similarly, Aston Martin has halted stopped the exports and production of its cars in Ukraine and Russia.
Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, and Mazda have also joined the list of automakers who have stopped operations in Russia. According to Reuters, the Japanese company Toyota produces about 8,000 vehicles in Russia. Honda has suspended operations in Russia due to difficulties with payments and shipping vehicles. Mazda announced that its joint venture plant in Vladivostok would soon cease exports soon.
Visa and Mastercard
Two major card payment firms, Visa and Mastercard, have blocked numerous transactions with Russian banks. Reuters said Mastercard’s net revenues from Russia accounted for approximately 4 percent of its total revenues.
Nordea, HSBC, Mashreqbank and Raiffeisen Bank International
In a statement released by Reuters, Nordea Asset Management announced that they will liquidate all of their investments in Russian government bonds, equities, corporate bonds, and alternatives. has decided to liquidate all of its investments in Russia, including government bonds, equities, corporate debt, and alternatives. The British Bank HSBC has winded down its operations with a host of Russian banks Dubai-based Mashreqbank also halted its operations with Russian banks and Austria’s largest bank Raiffeisen Bank International is planning to exit the Russian Federation.
Siemens
Germany-based Siemen’s work on new projects and deliveries are put on hold in Russia. Russia, where the company has been active since 1852, contributes just 1 percent of sales to the company. Siemens has also ceased operations on its 1.1 billion euro contract with Russian Railways to build high-speed trains.
MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM
Shipping giants including Switzerland-based MSC, Denmark’s Maersk, and France’s CMA CGM suspended non-essentials cargo bookings to and from Russia until further notice.
AerCap
In compliance with the applicable sanctions against Moscow, the world’s largest aircraft leasing firm AerCap announced that it will cease leasing from Russian airlines. The company has 152 aircraft worth $2.5 billion in both Russia and Ukraine.
Compare the Market
Compare the Market, a UK financial comparison website, is withdrawing its long-running ad campaign featuring Russian-accented meerkats from news programs.
Anthony Nakache Appointed as the New Managing Director of Google MENA
Lino Cattaruzzi has left Google to take on a worldwide leadership role as Global Customer Partner and Anthony Nakache has been named the new managing director for Google in the Middle East and North Africa, located in Dubai.
Lino has overseen Google’s business and operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since 2016, during which time he has helped businesses in the area expand using Google’s products and services, as well as increased the company’s growth and presence through regional office developments.
Interesting Read: Google Replaces FLoC With Topics API
With the support of a covid recovery digital skills program, Google recently helped two million people and companies in MENA digitize and flourish.
Anthony Nakache has been with Google for more than 13 years. His most recent position was as the head of Google’s Online Partnerships Group, where he was in charge of scaling Google’s monetization solutions for publishers and developers across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Interest Read: TikTok MENA Newsroom: An Opportunity For The Region’s Finest Creators!
TikTok and NBCUniversal Collaborate for the Winter Olympics
With the Winter Olympics in Beijing approaching, NBCUniversal has formed an advertising deal with TikTok to promote the network’s coverage of the games.
TikTok and NBCUniversal did not specify how new advertising will differ from current ones, although both businesses have recently explored social shopping, which might be a viable path for their collaboration.
According to NBCUniversal, TikTok has over 18 billion views of Olympics-related content, therefore the network approached TikTok directly to collaborate on 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics content. This includes daily material across NBC TikTok accounts, as well as a three-episode livestream series presented by a TikTok creator who is yet to be announced.
Interesting Read: NBC Universal and RTL Join Forces for an International Inventory Agreement
Calling the partnership a way to “present unique opportunities for NBCUniversal advertisers”, a TikTok spokesperson commented –
“The Tokyo 2020 Games highlighted our community’s appetite for sports-adjacent content that shows a different side of the Games and the athletes, creating new avenues and content strategies for brands — including NBC — to engage with and entertain them. The athletes’ stories and journeys are an integral part of NBC’s coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, so fans can expect to see them on TikTok across their handles.”
NBCUniversal will continue to collaborate with other social media sites, including Twitter, which will broadcast a live program as well as highlights.
Also Read: The New World Of TikTok Marketing, Everything You Need To Know!
Instacart President Carolyn Everson Steps Down Only After 3 Months
Carolyn Everson announced that she will step down as Instacart president at the end of the year. The surprise decision comes barely three months after Everson took the helm at the grocery delivery service company.
Instacart’s C-suite recently changed following the departure of its head of advertising, Seth Dallaire. Several big tech executives have been hired, including those from Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, and Google. Instacart’s valuation rose to nearly $40 billion this year, but some of its newcomers, including Everson, have experience managing larger teams.
Over the last decade, Everson has served as Facebook’s ads chief and was Fidji Simo’s most high-profile hire at Instacart. Simo had been at Facebook for ten years, including two years heading the Facebook app, before becoming CEO of the delivery tech company.
Carolyn Everson shared on social media that as she approaches 50 she plans to take a ‘real break’ to consider her next move.
“Fidji and I have been friends for over 10 years and we both agreed that this was the best decision for the company and for me personally. I believe in the company’s mission and the team, and am grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to Instacart’s growth. I intend to take time to dream up what’s next.”
Simo said in a statement that it was a mutual decision and was grateful for her contributions.
“We believe it’s the right decision for both the company and Carolyn based on our priorities and the role she was looking for at this point in her career. She’ll be staying on with us through the end of the year, and leaves as a friend to the company.”
As president of Instacart, Everson manages many divisions, including advertising, partnership services, and legal. As a result of the pandemic, grocery delivery services had flourished and recorded their first profit of $10 million in April 2020, adding 350,000 more customers to their roster.
According to CNBC, Instacart has identified its advertising business as one of its fastest-growing segments, but it is looking to expand into the cash-intensive business of quick commerce, or 15-minute delivery, to compete with the likes of DoorDash and GoPuff. It was widely expected that Instacart would go public this year, but reportedly pushed back plans in order to focus on growth.
Interesting Read: Clean Rooms Explained: How Marketers Can Prepare For Cookieless World
Uber Ads: Uber Hires Mark Grether To Lead Its Ad Division
Mark Grether, the former CEO of Sizmek and an Amazon advertising executive, has been named to oversee Uber’s advertising division. Grether is a significant step forward for Uber as it develops a worldwide advertising strategy.
Even though the ride-hailing service’s advertising revenue isn’t insignificant; Uber firm hopes to gain $300 million in 2022 from advertisements in its food delivery apps (Uber Eats and Postmates), as well as actual Uber ads that drivers may choose to install on top of cars.
Grether made the announcement official on LinkedIn. His post read –
By building strong offerings, Uber can help merchants, brands, and other advertisers to reach its highly engaged user base across Mobility and Delivery in 32 markets. And I’m particularly passionate about doing this in a way that enables our eaters and riders to discover the familiar
Uber Ads: What Do We Know So Far?
Uber Ads division is a recent, yet established space for the company. The Uber advertising strategy panned out to give such possibilities via its food delivery app in late 2019 after first announcing its plans to engage in the advertising market and has subsequently extended to serving to cartop adverts.
Uber OOH is available in five U.S. markets: Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, and, as of this month, Los Angeles and Boston, thanks to a collaboration with out-of-home ad-tech firm Adomni and screen provider Cargo Systems. 7,500 Uber cars are equipped with digital display advertising in those cities.
In New York, Uber Ads have outfitted 3,500 yellow cabs, which account for about a quarter of the city’s total cabs.
Google Tax: How The 2% Levy Affects Advertisers And Beyond!
Starting in October, Google is planning to pass on India’s 2% equalization levy, which went into effect in April 2020, to its clients whose ads are viewable in India.
Even if both the buyer and the seller are not based in India, the Google tax applies if the advertisement is visible in the country.
In 2020, the Indian government broadened the scope of the equalization fee, which had been levied on cross-border digital transactions since 2016 in an attempt to tax Google’s digital advertising revenues from India.
This was done to incorporate any acquisition made by an Indian or India-based agency through an overseas eCommerce portal.
A Google spokesperson went on record to say –
From 1st October 2021, we’ll be adding a surcharge to the invoices we send to non-Indian customers whose ads are viewed in India. The surcharge is to cover part of the costs associated with complying with the Indian Equalization Levy, which only impacts non-Indian advertisers. We will continue to pay all the taxes due in India and elsewhere
Here we can also recall how Apple since October 2020, is passing on the 2% equalization charge to Indian customers who buy applications or other products from its iTunes or App store. This excludes the 18 percent goods and services tax (GST).
This was essentially a levy on any programme purchased from Apple’s iTunes store.
Now, Google is taking a step ahead.
It is creating a situation where even though neither the buyer nor the vendor is an Indian if the advertisement is viewable in India, the tech giant’s tax will be charged.
Ajay Rotti, partner, Dhruva Advisors said that there will be a variety of circumstances where the service receiver is not an Indian firm, but the equalization levy will apply if the advertisement is directed at an Indian customer.
He added –
Google’s interpretation is in line with the provisions of the law which covers certain specified circumstances where the levy would apply. This would add to the collections of the revenue department going forward
The new rules identify online selling goods or services as any purchase made online, any payment made online, or even an accepted offer made online, and they apply to all transactions.
Even if only a tiny portion of a transaction was completed online and the remainder was completed offline, the 2% Google tax might be charged.
By the virtue of this Google tax, many businesses are now concerned that the charge will apply to a wide range of transactions, including hotel reservations, software purchases, and even the purchase of specific components from other countries.
According to legal experts, because of the way the law is written, even ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems—internal software systems that many businesses use—could potentially be deemed an internet platform and so be subject to the levy.
A senior lawyer said –
The way the equalization levy law is worded, almost every transaction that happens on the internet could potentially face the tax. Also, many companies are relooking at their existing structures to see if they can park the India specific activity in a separate domestic entity to avoid complications around equalization levy
According to tax specialists, Google‘s interpretation will have an influence on a number of other businesses.
Because tax rates in some countries are near to zero, several firms have formed holding entities in tax havens where most earnings are gathered or where intellectual property is held, saving taxes on overall revenue.
UK Government To Ban Junk-Food Advertising From 2023 To Curb Obesity
In an attempt to live up to his pledge to address the UK’s augmenting obesity crisis, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a ban on junk food advertising online and before 9 pm on TV starting from 2023.
The ban on unhealthy foods – those high in sugar, salt, and fat- is implemented before a 9 pm watershed, when most children could be viewing. This may cost TV broadcasters including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, and Sky more than £200 million in income every year.
The new regulations, which will be among the harshest marketing limitations in the world, will have a significant influence on the more than £600 million spent yearly by businesses on all food advertising online and on television.
According to research, one in every three youngsters leaving primary school is overweight or obese, as are nearly two-thirds of adults in England.
According to the government’s consultation on proposals to implement a ban last year, children under the age of 16 were exposed to 15 billion junk food advertising online in 2019, up from 700 million two years earlier.
The UK government’s Health Secretary, Matt Hancock said –
“I am determined to help parents, children and families in the UK make healthier choices about what they eat. We know children spend more time online. Parents want to be reassured they are not being exposed to adverts promoting unhealthy foods, which can affect habits for life.”
The online ad ban would apply to all paid forms of digital marketing, from Facebook advertising to Google sponsored search results, text message promotions, and paid activity on sites like Instagram and Twitter.
It is estimated that more than £400 million is spent each year in the UK on internet advertising for food products.
The new limitations, however, include a substantial number of exemptions, implying that they would fall short of the total ban suggested last year, which the advertising and broadcasting industries deemed too “indiscriminate and draconian”.
The Road Ahead
So, what does such a ban mean for popular fast-food chains such as McDonald’s and KFC?
Online and on TV, brand-only advertising will continue to the allowed. So, companies such as McDonald’s, which is typically linked with bad eating habits, will be permitted to advertise as long as no HFSS items appear. Brands will also be permitted to continue promoting their products through their own websites and social media profiles.
The government is also exempting a number of products from the ban after a proposed definition of junk food products last year would have prevented the promotion of items such as avocados, Marmite, and cream.
These will include products that are not traditionally considered “junk food,” such as honey and jam, but will also contain zero-sugar drinks and McDonald’s nuggets, which are not nutritionally classified as an HFSS product.
Small and medium-sized businesses (those with less than 250 employees) will be permitted to continue advertising junk food items.
Furthermore, firms that do not target consumers but are part of the food industry supply chain will be allowed to advertise HFSS products in the business-to-business market.
Junk food advertising will continue to be permitted via audio media such as podcasts and radio, and there will be no new limitations for the out-of-home sector, which includes billboards, poster sites, buses, and venues such as train stations and airports.
The items on the list, as well as the ban itself, will be reviewed every few years.
The government of the UK has always taken other steps to curb obesity in the country. These include a ban on advertising discount deals on unhealthy foods, rewarding people with shopping vouchers for losing weight and exercising under an incentive program. Furthermore, all restaurants will be asked to put calorie counts on the menu.