Being overweight definitely complicates a COVID infection. It complicates many other things too. Nobody opposes a plan to fight obesity, but Johnson mostly shows his failure in fighting COVID by addressing a peripheral problem. Our clients, brands like McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Subway are directly impacted by an advertising ban, but TV commercials are only a fraction of what they do. And where do we draw the line? Biscuits, desserts, and fizzy drinks? Bacon, eggs, and sausages for breakfast? All these junk foods! A centuries old food culture is not something you change with an advertising ban. Consumption-classes in school would help to foster knowledge. And should BoJo still crave ‘nanny’-ism, then governments always have a neat trick up their sleeves: taxation.
This article was published on august 3rd in Dutch newspaper NRC
