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This Avocado Super Bowl Ad Trolls Donald Trump

by Maya Parthasarathy

If you're not watching the Super Bowl for the football, you're likely watching for the advertisements. And in a hilarious turn of events, Mexican avocado producer Avocados From Mexico's Super Bowl ad trolls Donald Trump subliminally.

The ad is ironically hypnotic — comedian Jon Lovitz appears in front of a swirling background, his head spinning in circles while avocados pop up beside him. A second voice whispers about the avocados’ Mexican background, as haunting music plays. While viewers are supposed to be in on the hypnotism joke, the ad likely whetted the appetites of guacamole lovers everywhere anyways. I mean, who can resist the call of avocado toast as its delicious image swirls in front of you?

But there's more to the ad than "hypnotism." Mexican-grown avocados are the market share leader, but a 20 percent border tax like the one proposed by Trump could cause problems not just for brands like Avocados From Mexico, but for American consumers as well, CNBC reported. California grows avocados, but seasonally, from February through September, while Mexico grows the fruit year-round. This means that consumers could pay much higher prices for avocados than they do currently.

So what better way to strike back at Trump's plans to impose a tax than playing an ad about Mexican avocados during the very American Super Bowl? Sure, the president of Avocados From Mexico, Alvaro Luque, told CNBC, "We always stay away from political stuff." But by creating a Super Bowl ad, the Mexican avocado producer, whether intentionally or not, is still sending a strong message that it intends to continue selling avocados to American consumers; no matter what Trump does.

The brand paid for a 30-second spot to run during the Super Bowl. And those 30 seconds weren't cheap — half a minute of airtime during the Super Bowl cost close to $5 million this year Adweek reported. But the avocado producer released a longer version of the ad online; one that explains its bizarre attempt at hypnotism.

The scene starts ominously with a masked secret society, but this quickly dissolves into hilarity as the members end up unmasking themselves. "How can we be a secret society if we can't keep all of our secrets?" one member asks. In a funny jab at New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, the members ask themselves if their plot to deflate footballs has been discovered. “No, we found a fall guy for that one," someone answers.

It takes more than a minute of the ad to get to the point: that "avocados from Mexico have good fat," and that they're "healthy." Eventually the secret society gets tricked by its own subliminal advertising and the members find themselves eating guacamole.

Avocados are a staple of game day food, especially during big events like the Super Bowl. But they're also a staple in many Americans' diets. We'll have to wait and see whether Avocados From Mexico's Super Bowl ad was successful in promoting the brand.