Anna Faris starred as Eve in the brand’s comical 2023 Super Bowl spot.
Avocados From Mexico, a regular Super Bowl advertiser for almost a decade, is skipping the 2024 game as it puts more of a focus on college football.
The produce marketer has aired spots in eight of the past nine Super Bowls, dating back to 2015, leaning into Super Bowl Sunday as the biggest guacamole consumption day of the year. Its 2023 pot, from agency Lerma/, was a Garden of Eden spoof starring Anna Faris. The brand worked with GSD&M and Energy BBDO on prior Super Bowl campaigns.
Alvaro Luque, president and CEO of Avocados From Mexico, told Ad Age that the brand is taking a pause now to invest elsewhere, particularly in college football. It is partnering with the College Football Playoff this year and also will be the title sponsor of the Cure Bowl—an annual college bowl game that raises money for cancer research.
“Avocados and football are a winning pairing that are good all season long,” Luque said. “Instead of going all in on one game—the Big Game—we’ve partnered with the College Football Playoff to promote the usage of avocados and guacamole in hundreds of games across the country throughout the season.”
He added that Avocados From Mexico “is a brand of firsts, and we wanted to also become the first produce company to own college football. After analyzing several options, we decided the Cure Bowl was the right fit for our brand and our new purpose of nurturing hearts and living life deliciously.”
The brand, which turns 10 years old this month, has enjoyed what Luque termed a “record-breaking year” of avocado imports from Mexico to the U.S.—nearly 2.5 billion pounds of avocados in all. “Our goal is to continue to accelerate demand and grow the market, so we’re taking a year off [from the Super Bowl] to focus on other strategic touchpoints related to football, as our brand has such equity in the sport.”
The marketer unveiled new advertising from Lerma/ this month (including the spot below), leaning into its recognizable jingle. Those spots are running during college football telecasts and will air on the Cure Bowl as well.
Sponsoring the Cure Bowl makes sense for several reasons, Luque said. First, the brand has embraced health and wellness as a pillar of its strategy, and the Cure Bowl is a health-forward game. Second, 74% of avocado buyers are female—and the Cure Bowl draws many women viewers, due to its focus on breast cancer research.
“It’s a great way of celebrating football with a good cause that will support our No. 1 consumer,” said Luque.
College football has other demographic advantages, he added.
“We know the power of the Super Bowl, but no one can deny the passion behind college football,” he said. “It’s an event that is very interesting for us—it’s more balanced gender-wise than NFL, and with a good spread of reach between college students and their parents.”
“We came back stronger the first time we sat out,” Alvaro Luque said of the Super Bowl.
Avocados From Mexico has taken a break from the Super Bowl before—it didn’t air a spot in 2021—and Luque said the brand will likely be back in the Big Game before long.
“We don’t see [Super Bowl spots] as a one-time ad that will announce a new campaign or product like others do. We have used the Super Bowl platform to build a brand story through time, unveiling and supporting our brand trifecta of being delicious, healthy and fun all at the same time,” he said.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve skipped the Big Game, and it likely won’t be the last. 2021 reminded us it’s good to take a step back and reinforce our programming to make sure we’ve got the right strategy at the right moment. We came back stronger the first time we sat out, and we will do it the same way when the time comes.”
