Advert songs 2026: the songs in this autumn’s big UK TV adverts, and who sings them
Boots, McVitie's, Three, M&S, KFC and Beats: every song in this autumn's most searched UK adverts, who sings them, and why brands keep re-recording old hits.
News
Advertising and marketing news: the campaigns, rulings, appointments and numbers worth knowing this week.
Aldi boss accuses rivals of using loyalty prices to ‘dupe’ shoppers
Aldi UK chief Giles Hurley says some loyalty promotions start from unrealistic prices and dupe customers, as Aldi reports £19bn sales and plans a record £900m investment.
When is Halifax changing to Lloyds? Halifax app closes on 31 October
Halifax's app and online banking close on 31 October 2026 and customers must move to the Lloyds Bank app. The full timeline, how to switch and what stays the same.
Autotrader advert: Passing Comments has everyone telling you where to buy a car
IMA's new Autotrader campaign has friends, strangers and enemies all nudging car buyers towards the marketplace, backed by 432.6 million projected impressions.
TfL advert: The Stop Is Just The Start sells London’s buses and Tube as the way to what matters
VCCP's new TfL campaign turns the roundel into a title card and sells the destination, not the journey, with a hero film called The Reunion.
Brands have stopped paying agencies by the hour: labour-based fees fall to 17%, WFA finds
Only 17 per cent of multinational advertisers now pay agencies for time, down from 54 per cent in 2011. Fixed fees lead, performance deals have doubled, and almost nobody has priced in AI.
When is Prime Big Deal Days 2026? Amazon’s October Prime Day is 6 and 7 October
Amazon's October Prime Day runs from 12.01am on 6 October to 11.59pm on 7 October in the UK. The dates, the adverts, and why it matters to advertisers.
Heinz says a JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes necklace lifted spaghetti hoops sales 23%
Kraft Heinz's growth chief Karen Owen reveals a 23 per cent year-on-year uplift in spaghetti hoops after a custom necklace for JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes, plus new numbers for Heinz's bean pouches.
Go.Compare admits its famous opera ads were ‘undermining our performance’
Go.Compare's marketing chief says awareness in the low 90s hid 'alarmingly low' preference because people found the ads irritating. Four years of turning the volume down has lifted preference 12 per cent.
The Trade Desk moves to reprice 15.6 million employee stock options as shares slide
With its shares down about three quarters and a new home outside the S&P 500, The Trade Desk wants shareholders to reset underwater staff options so its people do not walk.
Whitworths ‘Eat nuts. Live longer’ ads banned by the ASA over health claims
The ASA has banned Whitworths' 'Eat nuts. Live longer' billboards as shared on Instagram, ruling that a promise to live longer is an unauthorised health claim and implies disease prevention.
ASA bans The Trade Desk ad over Reese’s image under junk food rules, alongside Morley’s and San Carlo
An ad tech company that sells no food has been caught by the UK's online junk food ad ban, for a LinkedIn post showing Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Morley's and San Carlo were also ruled against.
Diageo GB appoints Anna MacDonald, the marketer behind the Guinness revival, as marketing director
Anna MacDonald, who ran Guinness in Great Britain for five years, becomes marketing and category director for Diageo GB as Ursula Mejía Melgar leaves for Coca-Cola.
McDonald’s launches its own advertising business, the McDonald’s Media Network
McDonald's is selling ad space on its drive-thru boards in a 450-restaurant pilot and wants a billion-dollar media network, while swapping promotions for fewer, bigger campaigns.
D&AD 2026 Black Pencil winners: Coinbase, The Ordinary and AXA take the top prize
Four Black Pencils in 2026: two for Coinbase's Your Way Out, one for The Ordinary's Periodic Fable and one for AXA's Three Words. Uncommon is Agency of the Year.
Sir John Hegarty says advertising has got worse: ‘repetitive, cliché, boring’
Three weeks before his Festival of Marketing keynote, the BBH co-founder tells Marketing Week the industry makes a product people dislike, that data cannot imagine tomorrow, and that taste is the metric nobody measures.
Digital advertising is worth £175bn to the UK economy and could add 1.2 million jobs by 2035, IAB UK says
New Public First research for IAB UK puts digital advertising's contribution at £175bn and 2.6 million jobs, with £242bn in reach by 2035 if the policy climate allows.
Who is in the Dr. Martens advert 2026? Chloë Sevigny, Jordan Stephens and Naomi Watanabe front With Bouncing Soles
Dr. Martens has turned the line on its heel loop into a global brand platform, with Chloë Sevigny, Jordan Stephens and Naomi Watanabe answering what makes their sole bounce.