Kroger has gone viral for all the wrong reasons, as the grocery outlet stands accused of stealing and editing some recent ads. In a TikTok which has now amassed 275,800 views as of Sunday, peach sellers @thepeachtruck described the saga as “the craziest thing to happen in [their] 12 years of business.”
The TikToker began by sharing a photo of him and his wife, explaining that they started selling peaches 12 years ago.
“We kind of blew up because they’re legit the tastiest, juiciest, sweetest peaches you’ve ever had,” he said.
But everything changed that morning when he got a Google alert notifying him of a new picture of Kroger’s peach truck. As he showed viewers the image, which depicts a beaming man standing outside a Kroger-branded peach truck with two boxes, the creator said he was “shocked at the image they used.”
@thepeachtruck Hey @Kroger what’s up?! #fypage #foryoupage #foryou ♬ original sound – thepeachtruck
A familiar photo
“This image looks super familiar to me for several reasons,” he added. “Let me show you something else.”
He then showed viewers the same beaming man, except this time, he was standing outside The Peach Truck with The Peach Truck branded boxes.
“The reason it looks so familiar is because I recognize the person in the photo,” he said. “That’s our team member Michael from last summer, who sold peaches for The Peach Truck. That is the same image, they just edited the photo to change the branding.”
He then pointed out a second photo from Kroger showing two A-frames, stacks of peaches, and a branded Kroger truck. But then, he showed a near-identical photo with the “same exact setup, same boxes” from one of The Peach Truck’s stops in 2020.
Finally, the TikToker issued an appeal to Kroger: “Kroger you’re a multi-billion— yes, billion—dollar corporation. Do you really need to take our marketing and re-edit it on top of taking our business model?” he asked. “I’d love to give you the benefit of the doubt but can you please explain to us how this is OK?”
The Peach Truck didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via email and TikTok comment.
Kroger responds to allegations
In the comments section, many users urged The Peach Truck to sue.
“No because if you did this to a corporation, they would send like a cease and desist and probably sue you!” one commenter said. “Do what you gotta do!”
While another added, “This is why I stopped going to Kroger. They’re cheap on quality in all aspects now.”
In an email to the Daily Dot, a spokesperson for Kroger said: “We were embarrassed to learn about this. You could say we have peach on our face! While these images were not approved to be shared as part of our marketing campaign, they should never have been created in the first place. We have removed the images from our system. We apologize to The Peach Truck and wish them nothing but success.”
This isn’t the first time Kroger has sparked outrage on TikTok. Back in December, shopper Cocoa (@positivelycocoa) described how she ended up being charged three times for her groceries and lost $500 due to the error. “Since it’s showing the transaction is pending, there’s nothing they can do about it,” she was told.
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