A planner’s guide to navigating the murky waters of Love Island

Opinion

Following the Love Island 2025 finale, now is the perfect moment to reflect on what the show represents in today’s cultural and media landscape.

Love Island commands attention, both in gross rating points and group chats.

It’s a magnet for brands as it’s drenched in youth appeal and delivers a great deal of attention, social engagement and a predictable seasonal return on investment (ROI). Whether you’re a fan or not, we can’t deny that Love Island has taken the marketing world by storm.

Every summer, the show is a tentpole for media planners, capturing the 16-34 age group and offering brands a chance at cultural relevance. This year, eBay made second-hand sexy and Nescafé slipped into the islanders’ mugs. For brands, it’s an arena where only the culturally fit survives.

Love Island has a proven track record of effective results. Missguided’s partnership in 2018 saw sales soar 40%, with ad awareness increasing by seven points among women aged 18-34.

It has the power to catapult brands into the spotlight overnight — but that spotlight isn’t always flattering. The show’s unique position as both mass reach and mass scrutinised creates real challenges for the brands that choose to stand alongside it.

The shift

Series five (2019) remains the highest-rated in the show’s history and, since then, series nine (2023) had very low ratings, with one episode dipping below 1m viewers for the first time in seven years. Some viewers also expressed strong negative opinions about series 11 (2024), feeling it was “doomed to fail”.

Although this season (12) started slow, it ended with the hottest finale since 2019, with 3.4m people tuning in. This was fuelled by heightened controversy, viral moments and the snowball effect of social media discourse.

Love Island is now as much about the meta conversation as it is about the show itself. The real drama is happening off screen.

Multiscreen behaviours

Series 12’s momentum was driven by the second screen, pulling in viewers for the conversation as much as the episodes.

This has been vital for brands wanting to gain the attention of Love Island’s audience, with 72% of Brits using their phone while watching TV and Gen Z treating the second screen as their first.

But phones aren’t ad killers; they’re ad amplifiers. So the real ROI comes from owning the conversation everywhere, not just the TV spot.

The cost of scrutiny

Backlash isn’t new for the show; it has always mirrored many of society’s uglinesses: misogyny, racism and mental health neglect. And the consequences are real, from tragedy off screen to hate-fuelled online pile-ons.

However, this summer felt particularly scrutinised, generating negative headlines, statements from Women’s Aid and over 1,000 Ofcom complaints within a week.

Love Island came under fire for platforming and amplifying regressive ideologies, particularly those related to the “manosphere”. Yet, despite — or perhaps because of — this, audience engagement increased week by week, with 66m searches related to Love Island in the past month alone. That’s a 69% increase year on year.

Brands associated with the show often fall back on the argument that “it’s just entertainment” and they’re simply making the most of this tentpole moment.

And yet, despite this plausible deniability, the show’s impact is undeniably real. Brands bask in the spotlight, but the glare is harsher than ever. What was once a guilty pleasure now feels like a guilty reckoning.

So what are the implications for brands?

Visibility to viability

Love Island was once a no-brainer: mass reach, viral heat, guaranteed buzz.

But visibility is no longer enough. Reality TV shapes as much as it mirrors by mainstreaming what it broadcasts. Today, showing up means being seen — and being seen to stand for something more.

Tempting as the reach may be, Love Island now carries reputational volatility. Planners must weigh up reach versus risk, because the wrong alignment will echo louder than the ad itself.

Now, planners must ask not just “will they see us?” but “what will they assume about us?”. The job is planning for cultural viability as much as visibility.

Participation over placement

Love Island is still the UK’s loudest megaphone, but it’s not always the right kind of noise. Passive viewership has given way to activist spectatorship. Smart brands look for more than just airtime; they plan for participation.

ITV spots are just one piece of the puzzle. Real leverage lives in the second-screen economy, where live commentary, memes and brand wit cut deeper than a 30-second spot.

The best brands join the conversation, not just the ad break.

Authenticity is key

Audiences demand purpose and personality.

Brand safety isn’t a disclaimer; its alignment. If your values clash with the show, no amount of media tonnage can save you.

Relevance without rigour is just risk.

Beyond visibility

Love Island isn’t just a media buy any more; it’s a moral choice and a reputational gamble.

For planners, the win isn’t visibility. It’s conviction. Brands must know what they stand for and show up like they mean it.

The real story is that, in 2025, no media moment is value-neutral. The best planners don’t just buy attention — they decide what kind of attention their brand deserves.

Annabel Clements is a senior planning executive at Craft Media