Marketing? ¡Sí!

It was in the 1980s that U.S. commercializing of Cinco de Mayo began.

Here's a use of "colorful" Hispanic culture that's a bit earlier (as well as being California- and industry-specific)—

This copy is "Rev 4-78"; put out by—

Where the fruit is grown (click for full size)—

Detail—

"Avocado Bravo," the copy writer informs us, is "Spain's Legacy to California Cuisine"—

As shown on our cover, it is the spirit of a bold and dashing cooking style that we would like to capture for you in this book... with the full color and flavor of the Spanish West.

The very word California carries the smack and crackle of adventure...a colorful procession of historical personages [...]

From the highborn Castilian officers sent from Spain to protect the missions, the original Californians are descended. These young dons sent back to Castile for their womenfolk, and the mistress of each hacienda taught her Indian servants to cook in the classic Spanish style.

Yes, this has original Californians being served by Indians, who would seem to have materialized from thin air.

To continue that paragraph—

What evolved as a formalized cuisine of the Spanish West was a spirited blend of Spanish, Mexican and Indian... with a little Gringo thrown in, as many a proud, but impoverished hijodalgo [sic] married off a dowry-less daughter to a blue-eyed, go-getting Yankee. The Spaniards brought their delicate egg dishes, their spitted meats and barbacoa. The Indians contributed the secrets of corn cookery. The Mexicans came north with peppery salsas fired with spices and cooked with limes. And chocolate, of course. And avocados. Avocados crushed for guacamole...halved to stuff with tomatoes, coriander and green chili—or to eat net with a squeeze of lime and a little tequila...whole, just to savor with a lick of salt.

California's own uninhibited cuisine offers a hundred ways to serve avocados [... ] These recipes reflect the open-handed hospitality of the West, combining ingredients in a free-wheeling western manner to achieve splendid effects of color, texture and flavor and...overall...a certain rough elegance that is uniquely Californian!

This is followed by a history of the fruit's cultivation; useful tips—

"Some pleasant things about avocados" touts the versatility and nutritional value. Not only that, but you can grow a tree; the next page offers full details.

Some of the recipe illustrations—

And, yes—

This gets so psychedelic that it must be said: Avocado Seed Soup!