Some comics complain that their craft is under threat from “cancel culture”. For comedians with a sausage-themed standup tour, they might have a point, after Ed Gamble was forced to remove a picture of a hotdog from posters on the tube network promoting his forthcoming show because it breached Transport for London’s junk food advertising policy.
The comic was pictured with the fast-food item in an advert for his show Hot Diggity Dog. When the design was sent to TfL for display on the underground, Gamble was told to alter the poster because it failed to comply with the organisation’s advertising policy on featuring foods high in fat, sugar and salt.
The comedian swapped the hotdog for a cucumber to get the promotional material on display.
Gamble said: “I actually don’t have a problem with the TfL regulations; they make sense to me. But the new posters promote something way more harmful: the idea that cucumbers pair well with ketchup and mustard. I’m not sad to have to remove the hotdog. It was only featured on the poster because I wanted to eat during the photoshoot.
“Hopefully it’s not too late to change the title of the show to Cu Diggity Cucumber?”
In a post on Instagram, he described the incident as a career highlight and added: “TfL told me I couldn’t have a hot dog on my poster to promote my Hackney Empire shows in June. I guess I’m dangerous? So I’ve replaced it with a cucumber. Eat your greens, kids!”
A spokesperson for TfL said: “We welcome all advertising on our network that complies with our published guidance.
“Following a review of the advert, we advised that elements would need to be removed or obscured to ensure it complied with our policy.
“A revised advert is now running on the network and we are always happy to work with people to ensure adverts follow our policy.”
The ban on junk food advertising across London’s public transport network came into force in 2019.
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Regulations forbid posters for food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar on the underground and overground, as well as buses and bus shelters.
A 2022 study led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated that the ban had contributed to a 1,000-calorie decrease in unhealthy purchases in people’s weekly shopping. The biggest effects were seen for chocolate and confectionery with an almost 20% decrease, or 317.9 calories, in average weekly household purchases of energy from these products.
The decrease works out to be about 385 calories a person a week, equivalent to every Londoner in the study buying about 1.5 fewer standard-size bars of milk chocolate each week.
