# Millennial Avocado Toast Millennial Avocado Toast is a sarcastic inside joke born from Australian property developer Tim Gurner's May 2017 claim that millennials can't afford homes because they waste money on avocado toast and $4 coffees. Twitter users immediately shredded the logic, and "avocado toast" became the go-to punchline for any out-of-touch explanation of why young people are broke. ## Origin The avocado-versus-housing debate actually started in late 2016, when Australian columnist Bernard Salt wrote a piece in *The Australian* criticizing young people who "order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop," arguing they should save for homes instead[5]. Salt later said his column was meant as satire of conservative boomer attitudes, but it made international headlines[5]. The meme truly detonated on May 15, 2017. Australian website 9news ran an article recapping a *60 Minutes Australia* segment featuring Tim Gurner, a 35-year-old real estate developer worth nearly half a billion dollars[1]. Gurner told the show: "When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each"[3]. He suggested millennials spend too lavishly, influenced by shows like *Keeping Up with the Kardashians*, and need to "get realistic" about their expectations[3]. Twitter responded with furious, hilarious precision. Kaleb Horton did the math: "If I stopped eating avocado toast every day, I would be able to afford a bad house in Los Angeles in 642 years"[2]. Murtaza Hussain posted a mock budget listing "Transportation: $120, Food: $500, Clothing: $200, Avocado toast: $35,000" and asked for help from "someone good at the economy"[2]. The jokes intensified after users discovered Gurner launched his real estate career with a $34,000 loan from his grandfather[2]. - **Platform:** 60 Minutes Australia (source quote), Twitter (meme spread) - **Creator:** Tim Gurner (subject, original quote) - **Date:** 2017 ## Overview The meme centers on the absurd idea that millennials are poor because they buy too much avocado toast. After Gurner's comments aired on Australian television and got picked up by international news, "avocado toast" turned into shorthand for any condescending, oversimplified explanation of why young people can't hit financial milestones like homeownership. The joke operates on two levels: mocking the specific advice (skip the $19 toast, buy a house) and the broader pattern of wealthy older people blaming millennial poverty on brunch habits rather than systemic problems like stagnant wages, student debt, and runaway housing costs. ## How It Spread News outlets including Mediaite, TIME, and NBC's *Today* show covered the Twitter pile-on within hours of the story breaking[2][3]. The coverage itself fed the fire. TIME tweeted an article framing Gurner's position as "Stop buying avocado toast if you want to buy a home," which users treated as further proof that mainstream media didn't get it[4]. By July 2017, avocado toast had fully cemented itself as millennial shorthand. Instagram user badtastebb posted an image of someone covered in avocado and toast, styled to look like Shrek, as a sarcastic response to the homeownership debate[4]. Artist @drewtoothpaste of *Toothpaste for Dinner* created a satirical comic that the CAFE account tweeted, pulling over 360 retweets[4]. On August 8, 2017, amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, Twitter user @kennethn posted a scenario featuring the phrase "Hold my avocado," a millennial spin on the "Hold My Beer" format. The tweet racked up over 72,000 retweets and 203,000 likes[4]. TIME covered the moment and got roasted again for being out of touch, sparking a dedicated Twitter Moment mocking the outlet. Economic analysts backed up the jokes with real numbers. The *Sydney Morning Herald* calculated that saving $66 a week on brunch while property prices kept rising would only cover a 10% deposit in Hobart, Australia's cheapest capital city[5]. In Ireland, skipping avocado toast would save roughly €500 per year, meaning it would take over 500 years to afford a house at market prices[5]. ## How to Use Avocado toast memes typically follow one of a few patterns: 1. **Mock budgeting:** List normal expenses, then include an absurd avocado toast line item (e.g., "$35,000/month"). The punchline is that someone "bad at the economy" can't identify the problem. 2. **Sarcastic financial advice:** Frame quitting avocado toast as the one simple trick for affording a house, usually contrasted with something actually expensive like student loans or medical bills. 3. **Generational comeback:** When an older or wealthier person gives tone-deaf financial advice, respond with some variation of "I'll just stop buying avocado toast then." 4. **"Hold my avocado":** A millennial twist on "Hold my beer," used before doing something dramatic or ill-advised. ## Cultural Impact The meme tapped into real economic frustration. As one viral response put it: "Millennial to millionaire: $2 avocados aren't the reason I can't afford a home. Student loans are"[3]. A GOBankingRates survey around the same time found 69% of Americans had less than $1,000 in savings, not because of brunch habits but because of structural financial pressures[3]. The avocado toast debate paralleled the "Latte Factor," a personal finance concept from David Bach suggesting small daily expenses compound into missed wealth. Critics have long called this framing misleading when applied to systemic issues like stagnant wages and exploding housing costs[5]. The actual avocado market felt the ripple effects too. By 2017, demand driven partly by the toast trend pushed avocado prices higher[5]. Some environmentally conscious cafés pulled avocado toast from their menus by 2018, citing the carbon footprint of shipping subtropical fruit globally[5]. ## Fun Facts - Tim Gurner was 35 when he made the comments, making him a millennial himself[3]. - Gurner's career started with a $34,000 gift from his grandfather, a detail that became the single most-mocked element of the entire controversy[2]. - The concept predates Gurner by several months. Bernard Salt's 2016 column in *The Australian* made similar arguments, though he later claimed it was satire[5]. - Avocado on bread is not remotely new. People in Chile have eaten "pan con palta" since at least 1926, and San Francisco residents were eating avocado toast as early as 1885[5]. - Celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow helped popularize avocado toast as a food trend through her cookbook *It's All Good*, years before it became a meme[5]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Millennial Avocado Toast meme? It's an inside joke among millennials that started when Australian real estate developer Tim Gurner said in May 2017 that young people can't afford homes because they buy too much avocado toast and fancy coffee[1]. The remark was widely mocked, and "avocado toast" became a sarcastic shorthand for blaming millennial poverty on minor lifestyle choices[2]. ### Where did the Millennial Avocado Toast meme come from? It originated from a *60 Minutes Australia* segment aired on May 15, 2017, where Tim Gurner claimed he saved for his first home by not buying "smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each"[1]. The Twitter backlash was immediate and brutal[2]. ### What does the Avocado Toast meme mean? It mocks the idea that millennials are broke because of small luxury purchases rather than systemic economic problems like unaffordable housing and student debt[2]. Invoking "avocado toast" is a way of flagging patronizing or out-of-touch financial advice[3]. ### How do you use the Avocado Toast meme? Common formats include mock budgets with absurd avocado toast spending, sarcastic "financial advice" about skipping brunch to buy a house, or the "Hold my avocado" variation of "Hold my beer"[2]. It fits anytime someone offers oversimplified advice about money to a younger generation[3]. ### Is the Avocado Toast meme still popular? The meme peaked in mid-to-late 2017 but became a lasting part of millennial humor. Avocado toast is still a widely recognized reference point whenever generational wealth gaps or housing affordability come up in conversation[5]. ### Who is Tim Gurner? An Australian real estate developer who was 35 and worth close to half a billion dollars when he made the avocado toast comments on *60 Minutes Australia* in May 2017[3]. His career began with a $34,000 loan from his grandfather, which became the most ridiculed detail of the story[2]. ### How long would it take to buy a house by skipping avocado toast? Twitter user Kaleb Horton calculated it would take 642 years of skipping daily avocado toast to afford "a bad house in Los Angeles"[2]. Irish analysts estimated over 500 years at local housing prices, and the *Sydney Morning Herald* found the savings would only cover a deposit in Hobart[5]. ### Did Bernard Salt start the avocado toast debate? Salt wrote a column in *The Australian* in late 2016 with a similar premise, criticizing young people for $22 smashed avocado orders, but the meme didn't go viral until Gurner's *60 Minutes* appearance six months later[5]. ### Did the avocado toast trend affect actual avocado prices? Yes. By 2017, demand driven partly by avocado toast's popularity as both food and meme helped push prices higher[5]. Some cafés removed it from menus by 2018 over concerns about the environmental cost of shipping avocados globally[5]. ### Was Tim Gurner himself a millennial? At 35 in 2017, Gurner was born around 1982, placing him right at the start of the millennial generation[3]. The irony of a millennial telling other millennials to stop buying avocado toast was not lost on anyone[2]. ## References 1. [‘Don’t buy $19 smashed avocado’: Melbourne property tycoon hammers millennials over spending habits]() 2. [Twitter Blasts Mogul Who Says Millennials Can’t Afford Houses Because They’re Buying Avocado Toast]() 3. [Millionaire's tip for buying 1st home? Skip avocado toast, coffee]() 4. [Millennial Avocado Toast - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Avocado toast]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/millennial-avocado-toast Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library