Costa Coffee advert that pokes fun at avocados banned for saying customers are better off eating bacon rolls

The commercial suggested bacon rolls were a better breakfast option than avocados
AFP/Getty Images

A Costa Coffee advert that pokes fun at avocados has been banned after customers complained it discouraged them from eating fresh fruit for breakfast.

The “light-hearted” radio commercial claimed customers would be better off eating a Costa bacon roll rather than battling to prepare an avocado at home.

Customers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which agreed the ad suggested avocados were a “poor breakfast choice” and that a bacon roll would be a better option.

The advert, which aired in June, featured a voiceover which said: "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.”

Costa has been banned from broadcasting the advertisement again
PA

Costa said it was not suggesting to listeners that they made a definitive choice over two breakfast items but instead informed them they had a promotional offer "to satisfy breakfast requirements".

Radiocentre, which clears ads for broadcast, said consumers would regard 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".

The advert claimed customers would be better off eating a bacon roll than battling to prepare an avocado at home
Shutterstock

But the ASA said consumers would interpret the ad as a comparison between the experience of eating an avocado and a bacon roll or egg muffin.

It said: "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."

It ruled that the ad must not be broadcast again, adding: "We told Costa to ensure future ads did not condone or encourage poor nutritional habits and that they did not disparage good dietary practice."

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