Status: 08/20/2021 2:56 p.m.
For the general election, the smoothie manufacturer True Fruits is drawing attention to itself by labeling bottles with names and program excerpts from parties. The supermarket chain Edeka wants to send back the AfD version of the bottle.
A smoothie bottle with AfD imprint causes excitement in the middle of the federal election campaign in retail and on the Internet: Germany’s largest grocer Edeka does not tolerate a special offer bottle from the fruit juice manufacturer True Fruits in its stores and has now announced that it will be sent back to the manufacturer.
True Fruits brought a special edition of its smoothies onto the market on the occasion of the federal elections, with the names of the parties “CDU”, “SPD”, “Die Grünen”, “FDP”, “DIE LINKE” or “AFD” as well as excerpts from the were labeled with the respective program.
Public dispute on social media
An argument over social media ensued. The food company posted a photo of the AfD version of the bottle on Facebook – combined with the sentence “We have no space on the shelf on the right.” In a statement, the company added: “The Edeka association stands for diversity, tolerance and the promotion of an open society. Edeka has not ordered the” AfD bottles “from True Fruits and will return them to the manufacturer.”
The smoothie manufacturer responded: “Dear Edeka, yes, we think the AfD sucks too. But education is more important than embarrassing social signaling like you are trying to do here,” he posted on Instagram. That is why the company deliberately represented all six major parties in the German Bundestag.
Both sides met with mixed feedback on social media. Edeka received both encouragement (“thumbs up for this action”) and criticism (“Sorry Edeka, this is undemocratic”) for his actions. True Fruits also received support (“Please do not buckle True Fruits”) and scolding (“You lost me as a customer.”).
“Crossed the border to vulgarism”
The juice manufacturer from Bonn had repeatedly drawn attention to itself in the past with provocative and polarizing marketing campaigns. A few years ago, True Fruits advertised a black juice bottle with the term “Quotenschwarzer”. The company was then accused of racism, for example on social media. “We find racism sucks as much as all forms of discrimination,” was the reply.
The German Advertising Council has also already become active. In August 2019, he complained about two advertising motifs for the product Sun Creamie, a smoothie bottle that was reminiscent of packaging for sun cream. The motifs with which True Fruits advertised the product at the time were provocative representations that not only exceeded the limit of good taste, but also to vulgarism, the message said.
Julia Busse, at that time managing director of the advertising council, had commented at the time: “True Fruits should ask itself whether the obscenity and tonality of the objected motifs should be a yardstick for legitimate and socially accepted stylistic devices for future advertising measures.”