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                                                                   EXHIBIT 31(A)

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
           PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-14(A) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT

I, S. Scott Harding, Chief Executive Officer of ADVO, Inc., certify that:

     1) I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of ADVO, Inc. (the
"registrant");

     2) Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this annual
report;

     3) Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

     4) The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and we have:

          a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
     consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
     entities, particularly during the period in which this annual report is
     being prepared; and

          b) evaluated the effectiveness of this registrant's disclosure
     controls and procedures and presented in this annual report our conclusions
     about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of
     the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

          c) disclosed in this annual report any change in the registrant's
     internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
     registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
     reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control
     over financial reporting;

     5) The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
     or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are
     reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
     process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
     other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
     controls over financial reporting.

                                                 /s/ S. SCOTT HARDING
                                          --------------------------------------
                                                     S. Scott Harding
                                                 Chief Executive Officer

Date: December 9, 2004