Costa advert banned over avocado claim

Regulators have axed a Costa Coffee advert for suggesting avocados were a “poor breakfast choice” and that bacon rolls were a better alternative.

It comes after two people complained about the radio advert, which aired in June. They said it discouraged listeners from buying fresh fruit.

The advert featured a voiceover saying: “Oh, there’s a great deal on ripen-at-home avocados. Sure, they’ll 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.”

It then encouraged potential customers to visit Costa for a bacon roll or an egg muffin instead.

The coffee chain said it was not suggesting to listeners that it made a definitive choice over which breakfast item was better, but was informing them of a promotional offer “to satisfy breakfast requirements”.

The firm said the ad merely played on the “unfortunate issue of ripening” the fleshy fruit.

Industry body Radiocentre, which approves adverts, said listeners would have recognised the comparison as a “light-hearted remark about the common experience of buying inedible avocados when compared to buying an instant hot coffee and bacon roll or egg muffin”.

But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) disagreed, saying consumers would interpret the advert as comparing the experience of eating an avocado with eating a bacon roll or egg muffin.

It ruled that the advert must not be aired again.

“We considered that, although the ad was light-hearted, it nevertheless suggested avocados were a poor breakfast choice, and that a bacon roll or egg muffin would be a better alternative, and in doing so discouraged the selection of avocados,” the regulator said.

“We told Costa to ensure future ads did not condone or encourage poor nutritional habits and that they did not disparage good dietary practice.”

(c) Sky News 2018: Costa advert banned over avocado claim