Aldi ultra-processed chicken product week. Copyright: Aldi, fair usage
Aldi apologises for Real Bread Week hijack
Supermarket claims it was ‘not aware of the Real Bread Campaign’s pivotal role’.
The Real Bread Campaign has received a letter from Aldi’s marketing director, apologising for using the charity’s Real Bread Week as the basis for a double-page feature advertising products including precooked, ultra-processed chicken breast slices. The advert also linked to recipes including ‘fluffy flatbread’, which falls outside the Campaign definition of Real Bread.
In its apology letter, the company claimed: ‘We understood Real Bread Week to be an internationally celebrated event and were not aware of the Real Bread Campaign’s pivotal role in its foundation.’
Campaign coordinator Chris Young said:
‘We accept Aldi’s apology for seeking to profit from our initiative without our knowledge or even mentioning the Real Bread Campaign. We would have preferred Aldi to have acknowledged that our charity is behind Real Bread Week as publicly as the company appropriated it to sell their stuff.’
[The Campaign complained via social media on 19 February 2024 and again on 21 February. Having not received any response, the Campaign sent an email to the company’s CEO on 27 February. Aldi’s letter, dated 22 February, arrived on 1 March.]
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