Less healthy food (LHF) ads will soon be banned on TV before 9pm in the UK. Food marketer Olaf van Gerwen of Chuck Studios wonders if by losing sight of indulgent feasts, the holiday loses a little something?

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas?

Food.

Crispy, juicy, crunchy, sticky, saucy, sugary, zesty, yummy food.

Lots of it.

The excitement for this festive feast begins long before Christmas morning dawns – and for that, we have the supermarkets to thank. This is their World Cup Final, their Super Bowl. The major players look to pull out all the stops in a bid to catch consumers’ eyes, be it Morrisons dangling mince pies in front of us or M&S leaving it all out on the table (literally) with a little help from Dawn French.

For a while, it looked like this was going to be the final year that supermarket advertisers could truly spread Christmas cheer – and that’s because of the UK government’s “less healthy food” (LHF) advertising restrictions.

The law is clear: no indulgent food advertising before 9pm. Sugary puddings, dripping gravies, buttery pies, syrup-soaked desserts – all silenced until the watershed. It’s a deliberate choice by the government, and one we must respect.

Eventually.

Originally, this advertising ban was slated to come into force on October 1 – a date that will have been central to the shaping of creative platforms and strategies for this year’s UK Christmas ads. But suddenly, the start date has been postponed to the 5 January 2026.

The Advertising Association is encouraging brands to engage on a voluntary basis until its statutory powers come into play. But with the delay, a festive window of opportunity has unexpectedly opened!

Not in the holiday spirit

I completely understand and agree with the intentions underpinning the LHF ad restrictions. But let’s be honest: brands with limitless creativity and strategic firepower will always find a way to tell their stories.

Because food is never just calories. Food is culture, tradition, comfort, belonging. It is the sparkle of glassware clinking, the crackle of roast potatoes, the blaze of brandy ignited over a plum pudding. It is pigs in blankets stacked like tiny treasures, mince pies with a sugar snow sprinkling, turkeys gleaming golden as family laughter eclipses the sounds of the outside world.

An ad curfew won’t silence them.

But education and smart policy just might. If the UK government’s goal is to fight obesity, I feel there could be more effective tactics than this. Think levers that drive real, lasting change as opposed to just sweeping the problem under the carpet. Think thoughtful taxation, universal access to healthier school meals and, above all, better education that teaches people how to look after their bodies.

The 2025 final hurrah

As we enter this peculiar in-between year, the last before the ban bites, let us allow ourselves one final symphony of indulgence. A festive crescendo before the curtain falls.

UK supermarkets – ‘tis the season to be jolly! Please give us a double helping of turkeys glistening with molten fat. Make sugared plums shimmer like crown jewels. Let rivers of gravy cascade down mountains of stuffing, let chocolate yule logs glisten under fairy lights, let pastry crowns shatter in slow-motion glory.

Show us food as it longs to be seen: irresistible, larger than life and communal.

The truth is, we are wired to salivate when we see delicious foods. To dash out in pyjamas for ice-cream, to order a burger at midnight. That instinct is pure biology – and when savored in moderation, it’s no sin. It’s self-care.

To the food filmmakers, the food stylists, the technicians who conjure steam on cue and make caramel drip like liquid gold: this is your call to arms. This Christmas, give us a tribute that will live long in the memory. All we ask for is one last, unapologetically indulgent Christmas ad season before the lights dim.

Because, in the end, a feast for the eyes can nourish the spirit far more than it will ever damage the waistline.