Bristol has become the first British city to impose a ban on advertising fast fashion, in new restrictions that will also curb SUV and airline ads. The ban is part of moves by the West Country city, known for its radical political scene, to impose sweeping bans on advertising for polluting industries. Restrictions were also placed on advertising SUVs, airlines, cruises and fossil fuels on advertising sites owned by the Greens-run council.
It updates a policy passed in 2021, in which Bristol became the first council outside London to ban junk food ads. The policy will apply to all council-owned advertising space, including billboards, bus stop shelters, print and online. Bristol joins more than 20 UK councils that already have restrictions on ads for products and services that are particularly polluting.
But none has previously imposed any such ban on advertising for fast fashion products. The change in policy reflects political trends in the city, which elected the Green party’s Carla Denyer as MP in 2024, the same year that voters made the Green party the largest party in the council chamber. In Bristol, 83% of residents are concerned about climate change, according to a recent council survey.
Denyer said: “I am so pleased that the council has now taken this much-needed next step and added high-carbon products and services to the list of things that will not be advertised on council-owned space. The restrictions came after campaigning by Adfree Cities, which is calling for local bans on climate-harming promotions to be scaled up nationally. The group has also lobbied London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, to introduce curbs on advertising for fossil fuels and other polluting products on Transport for London, which has one of the largest advertising estates in the world.
Nicola Wilks, co-founder and co-director at Adfree Cities, said: “We know ad bans are a catalyst for healthy change. Removing tobacco ads saved lives by reducing levels of smoking.
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