Study finds World Cup viewers exposed to tens of thousands of junk food ads
Researchers from the University of Bristol and University of Oxford found that fans watching the 2026 World Cup were shown nearly 66,000 junk food and drink adverts during live play. Experts say the finding exposes a loophole, since such stadium advertising escapes national broadcast bans.
Researchers at the University of Bristol and University of Oxford used an AI tool to examine advertising visible to television audiences during live play across all 104 matches of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, held in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Most of the ads appeared on pitchside boards and elsewhere around the stadiums.
The analysis found that logos and products from brands classified as high in fat, salt or sugar appeared a combined 65,722 times, remaining visible for a total of 28.1 hours — equivalent to roughly 16% of all match playing time. These figures exclude advertising shown before kick-off, at half-time, or during the tournament's contested hydration breaks. On average, each match featured 576 visible junk food or drink ads.
Coca-Cola recorded the highest count at 21,893 appearances, followed by McDonald's (13,915), Powerade (12,777) and crisp maker Lay's (12,087). All four are official Fifa partners, and Powerade is owned by the Coca-Cola company.
A Fifa spokesperson said the majority of its revenue is reinvested into football, including health and wellbeing initiatives such as its Be Active campaign. Coca-Cola, McDonald's and PepsiCo, which owns Lay's, did not respond to requests for comment.
Since October 2025, UK rules have banned adverts for foods high in fat, salt or sugar from television before 9pm. But because the World Cup advertising appears on stadium hoardings at an international event, it falls outside that legislation — something Greg Fell, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, called a clear loophole. He compared the situation to historical tobacco advertising and said such marketing often targets children, the industry's future customers.
NHS data from 2024 showed 15% of children in the UK were obese and 26% overweight. Report co-author Dr Elisa Becker said the world's biggest sporting event had become saturated with marketing for unhealthy products, arguing sport should instead be part of the solution to poor diet-related health.
