AI Study Finds 65,000 Junk Food Ads at 2026 World Cup — SkimNews
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- University of Bristol and Oxford researchers used AI to scan pitchside advertising during all 104 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup across the USA, Canada, and Mexico, finding 65,722 instances of junk food and drink branding totaling 28.1 hours — roughly 16% of playing time.
- Coca-Cola led with 21,893 visible ads, followed by McDonald's (13,915), Powerade (12,777), and Lay's (12,087) — all official FIFA partners, with Powerade owned by Coca-Cola.
- The study found junk food ads appeared roughly 10 times more often than gambling ads, 25 times more than cryptocurrency, and seven times more than alcohol or prediction market brands across the international match feed.
- A UK junk food TV advertising ban enacted in October 2025 does not cover pitchside hoardings at international events, which Greg Fell, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, called a clear "loophole."
- FIFA defended its partner portfolio, saying the "vast majority" of revenue funds football including health campaigns like Be Active; Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and PepsiCo (Lay's parent) did not respond to BBC Sport's request for comment.
- Dr. Elisa Becker, a co-author, warned that linking unhealthy food brands to football, excitement, and national identity normalizes consumption among children, calling the world's biggest sporting event a saturated advertising platform for products driving a "global crisis of childhood obesity."
Why it matters: The four biggest advertisers in the study — Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Powerade, and Lay's — are all official FIFA partners paying for global visibility, so the 28 hours of junk food exposure is a core revenue product, not incidental. The UK moved in October 2025 to ban such ads before 9pm on domestic TV, but international pitchside hoardings fall outside that jurisdiction, exposing a gap public health directors say demands global coordination as childhood obesity rates climb.
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