Poll Result: Sport Backing Ofcom Ruling

The majority of the sport industry believe that Ofcom’s decision to ban junk
food advertising on TV for programmes aimed at under 16 year olds is the only
way to tackle the obesity issue, according to an exclusive Sportindustry.biz
poll.

57.7% of the votes were in favour of Ofcom’s decision which is set to have
serious repercussions for brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s for whom the
under 16 year old demographic is their core audience.

Ofcom’s ruling could threaten the future of such brands’ involvement in sport
sponsorship at grass roots level given that they will be unable to leverage
these associations on TV in the future.

Despite these issues, the sport industry remains in favour of the ban
although the margin of the consensus was not overwhelming with 34.6% believing
that Ofcom’s stance was not far-reaching.

The remaining 7.7% of the vote believed that an exception to the ruling
should have made for the promotion of sport sponsorships given that they
encourage a healthy lifestyle for children.