Days after Lipton angered shoppers by announcing its beloved peach iced tea was being discontinued, Aldi pulled a similar copycat prank that left Britons fuming.
The German retailer suggested it was axing the beloved middle aisle – famed for its weird and wonderful buys – in an Instagram post that left followers ‘ready to cry’.
On Saturday, March 22, Aldi told its customers that the middle aisle – home to everything from inflatable kayaks and flamethrowers to nappies and woks – was ‘heading to the big shop in the sky’ in the divisive post.
Initially panicked by the prospect of losing the middle aisle, Instagram users later discovered they had been tricked after reading the post in its entirety – with one person quipping: ‘A&E currently rammed with heart failure patients!’
Aldi yesterday posted an image of one of its legendary shelves alongside a pair of angel wings, alongwith text that read: ‘RIP MIDDLE AISLE.
‘And by that, we meant Really Impressive Prices,’ the post continued. ‘You might have heart that our iconic middle aisle is heading to the shop in the sky.
‘Actually, you probably haven’t. Because it isn’t.
‘We’ve made something up for attention again (come on, at least look a little bit surprised). We’d never do you guys like that.’
Aldi shoppers were left panic-struck yesterday after the supermarket giant announced it were axing their beloved middle aisles in what turned out to be a bizarre prank
Despite the swift reassurance from Aldi, the post sent customers into a frenzy.
‘My heart skipped a beat then! Where else would i get a facial steamer and a bag of prawns from?’ one shopper wrote.
Another said: ‘Don’t do that again (unless you are planning to put heart monitoring machines in the middle aisle).’
A third joked: ‘I just nearly s**t myself.’
‘Scared me for a second! I needed to pop down for a snorkel and a circular saw!’ one penned.
‘Was ready to cry then,’ another comment read.
‘Please do not do that again….with the current state of the world I actually was going to panic over this,’ one person addressed ‘Aldi admin’.
‘Whoever runs aldi’s social posts is shady and im soo here for it,’ another added.
Meanwhile, other shoppers described reading the strange post as an ’emotional rollercoaster’.
The post, which amassed 20,000 likes in less than 24 hours, sent customers into a frenzy, fearing the worst at first glance
The stress-inducing ordeal Aldi campaign dropped just days after Lipton fans were outraged by the beverage company’s announcement that it was phasing out peach iced tea – before rolling back their decision.
Many were left ‘traumatised’ after the brand claimed they were discontinuing their famed drink that has been around since 2004.
Liptin’s controversial post read: ‘You may have heard that our iconic Peach Lipton lce Tea flavour is getting discontinued.
‘We know – it hurts (sorry if we’ve ruined your go-to afternoon chill bev).
But don’t worry, the rest of your faves are still here to keep you refreshed. And who knows? Maybe one day. Peach will make a legendary comeback.
‘We appreciate your understanding during this period of adjustment and apologize for any inconvenience caused. #RIPeach.’
The post inspired an onslaught of angry and concerned messages, with one person writing: ‘Please be a joke.’
Another wrote: ‘Please rethink this decision I’m going to throw up.’
The German retailer took to Instagram yesterday to announce to it’s 500,000 followers that it’s middle aisle – famed for its weird and wonderful buys – was ‘heading to the big shop in the sky’
Just one day later, the brand made a U-turn on the decision, and confirmed it would be keeping fridges stocked with the tasty pick-me-up after all.
Despite the change of heart, customers were left raging at what they described as a ‘cruel’ and ‘horrible prank’, with one even saying that had been ‘on the verge of tears’.
Commenting on the decision to reverse the plans after all, one wrote: ‘Let’s be clear – never, EVER try to pull this stunt again! This was NOT a funny prank; it was pure stress for all of us who love Peach Lipton. Don’t mess with perfection! Keep it on the shelves forever.’
‘I want to be compensated in ice tea of the grief this caused,’ said a second while another demanded, ‘you made me cry, compensate me’.
Aldi is among others to have followed suit in pretending to pull some of their most popular products from shelves – following Lipton’s social media stunt last week.
Fans of the deodorant Lynx Africa, were sent spiralling after the brand made a similar announcement that they were pulling the product from shelves.
In the same copycat style, it’s sneaky social media team posted a picture of the deodorant bottle alongside a set of angel wings and a lengthily caption that said the product was being discontinued.
