ISBA Legal webinar: Less healthy food advertising restrictions

Less Healthy Food Advertising Restrictions: The First Year of ASA Rulings: What Advertisers Need to Know

This webinar reviews the first year of ASA enforcement since the new CAP and BCAP Code rules on “less healthy” food and drink advertising came into force on 5 January 2026. Drawing on the ASA's published rulings,  from Iceland and Lidl to KFC, McDonald's, Domino's and Mars, the session provides a practical, case-led analysis of how the regulator is interpreting and applying the restrictions, and what this means for advertisers, media owners and their agencies.

What is covered:

• The brand advertising exemption in practice: Understand how the ASA distinguishes brand advertising from product advertising, including the critical “visual indistinguishability” test applied in cases involving KFC, Domino's, Papa John's, Uber Eats and Mars/M&M's, and where brand characters and imagery can cross the line into depicting a specific “less healthy” product.
• Identifiability, incidental depiction and media placement: Explore how the ASA assesses whether a “less healthy” product is “identifiable” in an ad, including the treatment of incidental food imagery (as in On The Beach), brief or background appearances, and the scheduling rules for TV and on-demand programme services (the 5.30 am–9.00 pm watershed).
• HFSS categorisation and the two-part test: Learn how the ASA applies the dual requirement that a product be both classified as HFSS under the Department of Health and Social Care's Nutrient Profiling Technical Guidance and fall within a statutory food or drink category, and the practical consequences of getting nutrient profiling or category analysis wrong, as illustrated by the Iceland and Lidl rulings.
• Exemptions and defences: Review the SME exemption (including how franchise networks are assessed, as in Morley's Woking).

Who is it aimed at:

• In house legal at major brands.
• Compliance and Regulatory Affairs professionals.
• Marketing professionals.

What will members gain by attending:

Attendees will leave with a clear, practical understanding of how the ASA is interpreting the "less healthy" food advertising restrictions one year on. The session will equip ISBA members to Identify where the boundary lies between compliant brand advertising and restricted product advertising, drawing on real rulings rather than abstract guidance.

1.    Understand the ASA's analytical framework for visual indistinguishability, identifiability and incidental depiction — and how to apply it when planning and approving creative.
2.    Navigate the HFSS categorisation process, the statutory food categories, and the available exemptions (including the SME exemption) with greater confidence.
3.    Recognise supply-chain risks for media owners, platforms and ad networks — and how to structure compliance processes to avoid being caught out, as Iceland, Amazon Fresh and Lidl were.

Presenter
 

Brinsley Dresden, Partner, Co-Head of Advertising & Marketing Law at Lewis Silkin LLP and Global President of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance

Brinsley is a leading advertising and marketing lawyer, ranked in Band 1 by Chambers & Partners 2025 and in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame 2025. The Legal 500 quotes his clients as saying, “Brinsley Dresden has provided immensely valuable advice to me, on countless occasions, in relation to marketing, brand and advertising problems facing my clients' brands. Lewis Silkin has been seen over decades as one of the - if not the - go-to legal brands in the marketing and advertising industry. In terms of its advertising and marketing practice, Brinsley Dresden is the jewel in its crown.” This is echoed by client feedback from Chambers which says, “Brinsley Dresden has provided immensely valuable advice to me, on countless occasions, in relation to marketing, brand and advertising problems facing my clients' brands.”