“It affects me massively” – Becca Stock on UK junk food rules that left brands “afraid to advertise”

It has been a little under two months since sweeping changes to food advertising rules came into force in the UK, fundamentally shifting the way influencers promote unhealthy meals online.

For food influencer Becca Stock – who has amassed legions of followers for her honest “worst to best” rankings of various food brands – the changes have had a “massive impact” on her business and highlighted the need for clearer creator-facing communication from regulators.

“It does affect my livelihood. I can’t lie about that,” she told The Daily Influence. “A lot of the products – probably like 60 or 70% of the products that I promote – would be considered banned in the new guidelines.”

The rules, which came into force on 5 January, ban paid online advertising of “identifiable” less healthy food and drink products, including through influencer marketing. 

While brands can still publish content on their own websites or social media channels, they cannot promote that content using paid media, and creators can no longer post paid promotions for specific high-fat, salt or sugar products on their own feeds. Unpaid reviews remain unaffected, and qualifying small and medium-sized businesses are exempt.

Stock said the lack of clear communication around the changes left brands and influencers pausing campaigns in the run-up to Christmas.

“Christmas for me was dead, and I am never dead for Christmas,” she said, adding that it “clearly showed that companies were almost afraid of advertising because they just didn't know what they were supposed to be doing, and didn't have enough time to prepare.”

Stock said she would likely have felt the pinch less earlier in her career, when brand deals were “a little bit of extra spending money” rather than the primary source of income.

“I think ultimately advertisers may even want to try smaller creators more and first, because they can sort of test the waters with things. So I’d actually say it’s probably a good time to be a smaller creator than a bigger creator, but I don’t think budgets are going to change necessarily,” she said.

Fresh income streams

To make up for potential lost brand revenue, Stock said she is exploring alternative ways to monetise her audience without pivoting away from food entirely.

“At the moment, there’s not a huge amount of directions that you can go,” she said. While some creators are turning to TikTok Shop, Stock said she is reluctant to “push products” in a way that feels inauthentic to her audience.

Instead, she’s focusing more heavily on platform-based revenue streams. “I am switching over to other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram to try and get into their paid program so that I can benefit [from] the views rather than doing adverts as such,” she said.

Despite considering adjacent categories such as kitchen appliances or other lifestyle products, Stock said she is very set on her industry. “I do food. I'm not going to start reviewing products that are outside of that remit,” she said.

Communication gaps

Meanwhile, for  Stock, the entire saga has exposed how thin the safety net can be for creators operating as independent businesses. When the rules changed, she said, there was little time for brands or influencers to adjust.

“The only way I found out it was happening was through another creator posting a video on TikTok, which is outrageous,” she said, adding that the official guidance was difficult to interpret in practice.

“I think once they had released and published all of the information that advertisers and people like me needed, it should have been 12 months from that point so companies were prepared,” she added.

While Stock supports efforts to address childhood obesity, she is sceptical that advertising limits alone will deliver meaningful change. “I don’t think one thing is going to stop childhood obesity,” she said, describing it as a broader societal issue involving diet, exercise and lifestyle.

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