Study finds 65,722 junk-food and drink ad displays during 2026 World Cup matches

Researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford say football fans were subjected to a "constant bombardment" of junk food and drink advertising during matches at the 2026 Fifa World Cup this summer. The study recorded 65,722 displays and calculated those adverts were visible for 28.1 hours of play, equivalent to just over 16% of total match time.

The researchers built an AI tool to analyse advertising visible to television viewers during live play across the tournament's 104 matches, with most promotions shown on pitchside boards and around stadiums in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The adverts reported by the model were all on the international feed during play and exclude pre-match coverage, half-time commercial breaks and the in-match hydration breaks. On average the model estimated 576 visible junk food and drink ads per match.

The World Cup featured promotions for official partners including Coca-Cola (official beverage partner), Lay's (official snack food partner) and McDonald's (official quick-service restaurant sponsor). The study recorded brand totals of 21,893 displays for Coca-Cola, 13,915 for McDonald's, 12,777 for Powerade and 12,087 for Lay's; Powerade is owned by the Coca-Cola company.

The report compared junk food and drink promotion with other potentially harmful advertising and found far higher prevalence for unhealthy food and drink. Junk food and drink logos were recorded around seven times more often than those for alcohol and prediction market brands, 10 times more often than gambling firms and almost 25 times more often than cryptocurrency. "Repeatedly connecting unhealthy food and drink brands with football, excitement and national identity can make these brands familiar and normalise their consumption," the researchers argue.

The study noted this exposure sits alongside recent UK restrictions: since October 2025 foods such as burgers, chips, crisps and drinks with added sugar have been included in a ban on junk food advertising on TV before 9pm. Because pitchside advertising at an international event falls outside that legislation, viewers saw adverts for those products during hours they are theoretically banned, prompting calls for broader action. "It is definitely a loophole," Greg Fell, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, told BBC Sport. "There is acres of evidence demonstrating that governments around the world are legislating very hard at the moment to limit advertising of junk food. "It requires worldwide collaboration because obesity is a problem everywhere. Advertising is one of the key mechanisms by which harm from obesity happens. "Obesity is almost the new tobacco - there isn't much difference with the methods the tobacco industry used before they were excluded from advertising. "A lot of this is targeted at children, because these companies want to grow their markets, and children are the future market."

Fifa responded that the bulk of its revenue is reinvested into football, including projects promoting health and wellbeing, and a Fifa spokesperson said: "Fifa works with a broad, global portfolio of partners, all of which are subject to its governance and compliance frameworks. Fifa's social impact campaigns, including Be Active, delivered messages of unity, inclusion, health and friendship to audiences on an unprecedented scale throughout the World Cup". BBC Sport contacted Coca-Cola, McDonald's and PepsiCo (which owns Lay's) but did not receive a reply. The report also notes McDonald's advertisements were displayed frequently throughout Spain's victory over Argentina in the World Cup final.

The study has strengthened calls for an international response to advertising at global fixtures, with its authors and public health figures urging coordinated action rather than relying solely on national broadcast rules. "We are facing a global crisis of childhood obesity and diet-related disease, yet the world's biggest sporting event is saturated with marketing for unhealthy food and drinks", said Dr Elisa Becker, one of the report's co-authors. "Sport should be part of the solution to poor health – not one of the world's most powerful advertising platforms for the products driving it."