A Costa Coffee advert has been banned from the radio because it discourages consumers from buying avocados.
The offending promo was released in June and featured a voice-over suggesting people should eat one of the coffee chains bacon roll or egg muffins instead of the fresh fruit.
The ad said: Oh, theres a great deal on ripen-at-home avocados.
Sure, theyll be hard as rock for the first 18 days, three hours and 20 minutes, then theyll be ready to eat, for about 10 minutes, then theyll go off.
That joke didnt go down well with The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which received two complaints from the public.
It banned the ad after saying consumers would interpret it 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.
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The ASA advised Costa Coffee to ensure future ads did not condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or disparage good dietary practice.
Costa had defended itself by arguing all it was doing was offering an alternative to the fruit and playing on the unfortunate issue of ripening avocados.
But it seems the ASA was in no mood for jokes.
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