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Hass Avocados Getting TV Air Time

Hass Avocados from Mexico for the first time will be featured in a series of television ads set to launch Dec. 12. The whimsical 30-second spots feature a group of bikers sitting around a table, making guacamole. The theme and title of the series is Rough on the Outside, Smooth on the Inside. The ad starts off with the tough-looking bikers gathering in a warehouse for what seems like a rumble

NEW YORK — Hass Avocados from Mexico for the first time will be featured in a series of television ads set to launch Dec. 12.

The whimsical 30-second spots feature a group of bikers sitting around a table, making guacamole.

The theme and title of the series is “Rough on the Outside, Smooth on the Inside.”

The ad starts off with the tough-looking bikers gathering in a warehouse for what seems like a rumble in the making. The leader orders the bikers to brandish their knives, which they do, rather menacingly. The music and tension mount. Then they all sit down at a long table and begin cutting and dicing Hass Avocados to prepare guacamole. One biker says they're using “mom's” recipe.

Marketers of Hass Avocados from Mexico said test runs of the commercials garnered very positive feedback, especially from women.

Not surprisingly, retailers SN talked to were enthusiastic about Hass Avocados hitting the television screen in any ads, especially during the holiday season.

“Fairway Market's avocado lovers already know that Hass is the only avocado, but a TV ad certainly would help drive sales even more,” said Steven Jenkins, managing partner at Fairway, which has three units in New York City and one in Plainview, N.Y.

The ads, on spot television and local cable, will air in eight markets — New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Baltimore, Boston and Chicago — throughout the holiday season, and possibly up to Super Bowl Sunday.

Retailers and marketers have told SN previously that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest guacamole consumption days of the year.

The purchase of television ads is one part of a wider communications plan implemented this year by Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA) to raise awareness of the fruit nationwide. Up to now, it has centered around public relations efforts, consumer promotions, a NASCAR sponsorship and radio advertising.

“Television was the next logical addition to our communications plan,” said Chris Tully, president of the Garden City, N.Y.-based marketing agency for MHAIA.

The television spots, like other parts of the communications plan, are designed to educate consumers and to support retailers by driving sales of the fruit.