We’re officially less than six months away, so we’re going there: Christmas plans.  

For most brands, festive planning is underway, but with one big change between Q4 2025 and Q4 2026 campaign plans and that’s HFSS regulations. This year, there’s the added pressure of navigating compulsory compliance, alongside driving awareness, engagement and sales this  festive season. 

With HFSS restrictions placing greater scrutiny on product-led advertising, we spent a large part of Splendid’s recent HFSS roundtable considering how hospitality brands have a bigger opportunity than they realise. With eyes on how to showcase indulgent Christmas dishes, we encouraged those in the room to think more broadly.

People engage with experiences, not just products. Joyful moments of the Christmas countdown are rarely tied to a specific menu item but occasions, the people you celebrate with and the brands that make that possible. 

Good news for hospitality brands

And those are exactly the kinds of stories that HFSS restrictions don’t prevent you from telling. Recent ASA rulings favoured content focused on experiences, environments and occasions. They may  include HFSS products where they are incidental rather than the central focus of the advertising, illustrated by the On the Beach content ruling.

For hospitality brands, food should form part of a wider story rather than the primary promotional message and so content may come from creating real life experiences people want to share, owning festive debates and conversations, entertainment-led assets or starting new traditions that encourage customers to think differently, and more broadly, about the brand.

Cue a big conversation around how Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot, now in his tenth year of Christmas fairytales, has enabled the supermarket’s range of mince pies or festive picky bits to become less of the focus, building brand love and anticipation for the next instalment. Some would say Aldi saw HFSS coming…

You can always push plonk

For now, alcohol remains outside of regulation constraints, and since ‘tis the season’… 

Find a distinctive role for your brand within the season itself. Hospitality brands that win Christmas won’t necessarily be the ones with the most compelling festive menu but the ones people actively want to include in their Christmas plans.