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The marketing campaign at New Spitalfields Market, featuring The Man From Del Monte

The Man From Del Monte - famous for saying 'yes' - has been brought back to life.

While the exotics specialist remains tight-lipped about whether the famous, popular and enduring advertising character - a prominent and widely-quoted presence on screens and in print from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s - is back for good, he was on hand at New Spitalfields Market in London to educate and entertain traders and customers alike.

'The Man' was part of a prominent display hosted by Punjab Exotics at the fresh fruit and vegetable wholesale site this morning (1 April; April Fools' Day), dishing out health and safety advice over the dangers of slipping on banana skins, and extolling the virtues of Del Monte's pineapples and bananas.

Cheryl Lee, UK marketing controller at Del Monte (UK), said the marketing stunt had gone down a storm, with many people asking The Man to repeat the catchphrase from the advert - which featured a delighted grower uttering the phrase 'The Man From Del Monte, 'he say yes!'' after a Panama hat-clad, white suit-wearing, important-looking Caucasian man portraying someone from the exotics specialist who had just accepted that grower's products to be part of the Del Monte portfolio.

Del Monte is one of the most recognised fresh produce brands among consumers: Lee told FPJ that it has '74 per cent prompted awareness with consumers'.