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World Cup viewers were shown junk food logos 65,722 times, study finds

Published 10:46 22 Sept 2026 BST

Updated 10:46 22 Sept 2026 BST

Christian Buschardt
World Cup viewers were shown junk food logos 65,722 times, study finds

Homesport

Fifa's own partners top the World Cup count

Television viewers watching the 2026 World Cup were shown a "constant bombardment" of junk food and drink advertising, with logos and products appearing 65,722 times across the tournament.

An AI tool built by researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford aided to analyse the advertising visible to viewers during live play across all 104 matches in the USA, Canada and Mexico, mostly on pitchside boards and around stadiums.

For 28.1 hours, just over 16% of the total time matches were being played, food and drink brands high in fat, salt or sugar (the UK government's definition) were displayed on television for millions to see.

That is an average of 576 visible junk food and drink adverts per match, according to the study reported by BBC Sport.

The count covers only the international feed shown during play, which every broadcasting country receives.

The study excludes pre-match coverage, half-time commercial breaks and the tournament's infamous in-match hydration breaks.

You can just imagine how high the total count comes too if we included all of these.

Coca-Cola had the highest number at 21,893, followed by McDonald's with 13,915, Powerade on 12,777 and Lay's (Walkers in the UK) at 12,087.

All four are official FIFA partners, including Powerade which is owned by Coca-Cola.

FIFA said the vast majority of its revenue is put back into football, including projects promoting health and wellbeing in which thousands of people take part.

A spokesperson said: "FIFA works with a broad, global portfolio of partners, all of which are subject to its governance and compliance frameworks."

In England, deep-fried food is being banned from school dinners, which couldn't be farther than what we were shown on the telly.

On the World Cup's international feed, the same categories of brand reached every country broadcasting the tournament for more than a sixth of the time the ball was in play.