Anti-avo advert taken off radio

– Britain’s biggest coffee house chain was banned from repeating an advert that implied their breakfast deals were a better bet than eating an avocado.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulator found that the Costa Coffee radio commercial discouraged the selection of fresh fruit.

The commercial said avocados would be “hard as rock for the first 18 days, three hours and 20 minutes, then they’ll be ready to eat, for about 10 minutes, then they’ll go off”, before encouraging consumers to head to Costa Coffee for a bacon roll or egg muffin instead for breakfast.

Costa said its advert played on frustration with the unpredictability of ripening avocados, which have become an increasingly popular breakfast choice.

Two people complained, claiming it discouraged consumers from eating fresh fruit.

The ASA upheld their complaints, saying the ad breached the British Code of Advertising Practice.