English cricket on back foot after ad watchdog bans junk food campaign

A controversial multimillion pound tie-up between English cricket and the maker of Hula Hoops and Butterkist to sponsor family-friendly tournament the Hundred has backfired, after the advertising watchdog banned a promotional campaign for targeting junk food at children.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) struck a deal with KP Snacks to be the official sponsor of each of the teams participating in the Hundred, a new tournament designed to encourage young people to take up the game, which was first played last year.

The tie-up was criticised by health campaigners and Simon Stevens, the outspoken former head of NHS England, who argued that the association with snacks from Skips and Nik Naks to McCoy’s ran counter to the fight to reduce the rising problem of childhood obesity.

KP Snacks ran a campaign that included each of its brands sponsoring a team from across England and Wales participating in the competition. It included an email promotion, Instagram posts on the accounts of KP Snacks’ brands and a wider paid-for ad campaign on the Meta-owned social media site.

The Advertising Standards Authority received two complaints – from the Children’s Food Campaign and Food Active – that the ads broke UK rules banning foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) being targeted at under-16s.

The advertising watchdog’s investigation found that two elements of the campaign broke its rules. One was a co-branded email promotion to give away 1,000 cricket bats and balls that featured a “bright, colourful, cartoon-style” image of cricket players and McCoy’s branding.

The other was an Instagram ad featuring Butterkist toffee popcorn – which has 51g of sugars per 100g – offering the chance to win tickets to watch Birmingham Phoenix