Kathryn Turner is not just any social media star, she's an M&S social media star: Food store boss racks up millions of hits on TikTok and Instagram and counts Stormzy and Gemma Collins among her legion of fans

Kathryn Turner is not just any social media star – she's an M&S social media star.

The 56-year-old product development manager for M&S Food has become an unlikely hit on TikTok and Instagram after setting up accounts earlier this year to show off the upmarket shop's wealth of quality products.

Her introductory 'Hi, I'm Kathryn, director of product development at M&S Food' has become a social media meme and her fashionable business casual looks are being touted by fans as the must-wear Halloween costume for 2026.

Despite only being active on social media for a few months her videos have been watched more than 50million times, and she counts Boris Johnson's wife Carrie, Stormzy, Nigella Lawson and Gemma Collins amongst her legions of fans.

Marketing experts say the mother-of-three's deliberately unpolished and authentic videos stand out in a sea of corporate-looking adverts and the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI).

And the supermarket is understood to credit her videos for an uptick in sales on a number of products including its mango grapes and unconventional strawberries and cream 'sando' – inspired by Japanese fruit sandwiches made with soft, sweet bread.

However, M&S has also faced accusations that her account serves as a handy loophole ducking the ban on promoting unhealthy food – a claim the firm rejects.

M&S Food product development boss Kathryn Turner has won the hearts of social media followers with her down-to-earth videos

Experts say her down-to-earth, authentic videos lack the slick editing of a corporate advert, making her appealing to watch

Ms Turner's career at M&S began in 1995 following hospitality jobs with British Airways and the BBC and a sales role at confectionery giant Mars. 

Within a few years she had scored her first big wins, launching the Teletubbies-themed Tubby Toast croissants in 1998, followed shortly after by the Count On Us range of calorie-controlled meals that are still on sale today. 

She became director of product development in 2022, overseeing a team of 80 people as they develop 1,500 new and 1,000 improved products every year. Much of this happened on the quiet – until she joined TikTok in May.

Since then, the food boss's videos have taken viewers behind the scenes of M&S Food, visiting the panettone factory in Italy and potato fields on Jersey that directly supply the supermarket's gargantuan retail operation.

But her most popular videos are those filmed on the shop floor of real M&S shops with her trademark lapel mic attached to her collar, discussing the thousands of new products that the British firm puts out each year.

Fans have called for her to run for Prime Minister against Andy Burnham, and dramatically vowed to 'follow her into war'.

Ben Marder, Professor of Digital Marketing at the University of Edinburgh's Business School, told the Daily Mail that her videos capture what marketers call the 'snapshot aesthetic', meaning viewers see it as looking less staged than a slickly produced ad.

With more than 300,000 followers on TikTok, her following is bigger than that of the official M&S Food account – which some people may see as more 'corporate'.

'She is promoting the product, that is standard marketing - but these videos are going out against a backdrop where nothing is authentic anymore, where influencers are either AI-polished or just AI,' Professor Marder said.

'People are craving authenticity and this is an authentic person: there's no editing, it's obviously been done on a phone, it's what we used to call the "snapshot aesthetic".

'Lots of influencers use this but what's interesting with this case is that I think people see M&S as a very polished, high-class brand that wouldn't do these kinds of videos.

'There's that contrast with what people expect and that the videos are authentic - and she's an older lady on TikTok, who comes across as so genuine.'

Some observers have pointed out that Ms Turner promotes products that would fall foul of rules on advertising junk food, including chocolates and cakes

McDonald's global CEO Chris Kempczinski was lampooned earlier this year after taking what was seen as a less-than-enthusiastic bite of a Big Arch burger in a social media clip

Videos of her gleefully showing off new lines are a marked contrast to the video of McDonald's global boss Chris Kempczinski, whose taste test of the chain's Big Arch burger went viral for all the wrong reasons in February this year.

The fast food boss was widely derided for taking an almost imperceptible bite of the burger – leading to claims that he wasn't willing to eat his company's own wares – and labelling it a 'product' in cold, harsh business-speak.

Professor Marder added: 'As a consumer, you want the CEO of a company to like the products - and we can see that she likes the products.' 

She credits her success to M&S food trends manager Francesca Byrne and trainee product developer Brandon Spatcher – who himself moonlights as a food influencer to 150,000 TikTok followers and is represented by an influencer marketing agency.

In a post thanking them on LinkedIn, she said: 'Listen to the brilliant 20-somethings in your team. They’ve been the driving force behind our social media journey - bringing fresh ideas, honest feedback, and plenty of encouragement along the way.'

Not everyone is a fan, however: critics have accused M&S of using Ms Turner's approachable persona to circumvent rules on junk food advertising.

Some of her videos feature her showing off sugary biscuits, chocolate liqueurs, panettone and chocolate bars that would likely fall foul of Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rules on foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS).

Fans even joke about the calorific foods she promotes, commenting 'Kathryn pls my clothes don't fit' and 'my waistline will not survive this winter'. One even asked if she might consider developing an M&S-branded version of the fat jab Mounjaro. 

The ASA banned paid-for advertising for HFSS food, including the use of influencers, in January this year as part of a Government-led obesity crackdown.

But the rules do not cover a company's own social media accounts or posts made by people without being paid – known in the marketing world as an 'organic' post.

Aside from sharing her own videos, Ms Turner also reposts 'organic' clips made by other TikTok users – encouraging M&S shoppers to get in on the act in the hope that their video might make the cut, giving the firm extra publicity for free.

M&S Food is big business, bringing in around half of the Marks and Spencer group’s £671.4million pre-tax profits last year.

Products that appear in Ms Turner's enthusiastic videos often see a sales boost in shops, including a range of 'mango grapes'

But sources at M&S have firmly rejected the suggestion the accounts are a bid to circumvent the rules on HFSS, telling the Daily Mail they were set up purely for Kathryn to express her genuine enthusiasm about the products she launches.

The company openly encourages staff to post about working for the company on their personal social media, having found success during the coronavirus pandemic.

Store-specific accounts proved popular in telling anxious shoppers if essentials like loo roll were in stock but now focus on employees showing off their work.

However, M&S is yet to be drawn on whether there are any bonuses for workers who find viral success – which could spark interest from advertising watchdogs.

Influencers including Molly-Mae Hague and Grace Beverley have fallen foul of the ASA in the past after failing to declare that they had commercial interests in firms whose products they were promoting on camera.

Molly-Mae failed to tell fans she was creative director at PrettyLittleThing as she promoted items for sale, while Ms Beverley did not disclose on camera that she was founder of activewear firm TALA as she promoted the brand. 

Experts have suggested Ms Turner, and other salaried M&S workers, may be operating in a grey area around employee-made content where regulation is yet to catch up.

While not 'paid for' ads under ASA rules, such videos may catch the eye of regulators in future, according to Anastasija Vasilevska, of marketing agency Socially Powerful.

She wrote in an article on the topic last month: 'An employee posting a specific LHF (less healthy food) product is a very new kind of situation, so it hasn’t had time to get tested yet.

'As more brands put out employee content, and as the LHF rules settle in, it’s only a matter of time before a regulator has to weigh in.'

And those who have weighed in on the subject on TikTok have found themselves answering to Ms Turner's army of defensive fans.

One TikToker said: 'The Kathryn Turner backlash needs to end. Why as a society can we not just have nice things?'

As it is, the ascent of 'Kathryn, director of product development at M&S Food', is unlikely to be halted for now. Copycat videos recently shared by frozen food rival Iceland have largely been given the cold shoulder on social media.

Professor Marder, of the University of Edinburgh, believes there is a simplicity to her success.

He said: 'As the saying goes, "in Rome, do as the Romans do" - and on TikTok, you have to do what the TikTokers are doing. And that's exactly what she's done.'