M&Ms must adapt brand assets after odd LHF mascot ban
Dr Rachel Fuller and Dr Kirsten Victory have been arguing about M&Ms at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. When regulations rip distinctive brand assets from a marketer's clutches, what happens next?
Since the start of 2026, brands advertising ‘less healthy food and drink’ (LHF) products in the UK have faced new restrictions on where, when and how they can advertise them. Under the rules, identifiable LHF products cannot appear in paid-for online advertising at any time or on television between 5.30am and 9pm.
The industry began complying voluntarily with the restrictions ahead of their statutory enforcement, but there were still many nuances that needed ironed out.
One such grey area came up in the UK ad watchdog's recent rulings.
The ASA warned against M&M’s using its iconic mascot characters. Mars was told that its iconic Yellow character is too identifiable as its Peanut M&M’s variant, an undoubted blow for a brand that has used its characters for decades. It begged the question: are consumers looking at a product, a mascot, or both?
The ASA’s first LHF rulings already show how closely regulators are examining whether products remain identifiable within creative work.
But while the branding impact of making certain distinctive assets off-limits has been discussed at length, the impact when these distinctive assets are also shopping assets is less clear.
Read the full article in The Drum.