In a spectacular social media failure on Coles’ part, the supermarket giant has copped criticism from consumers, who insist it stops ripping off farmers and profiting from pokie machines.
Coles sent out a seemingly innocent sentence for its Twitter followers to finish yesterday, although in hindsight it must have realised it was a recipe for disaster.
“"Finish this sentence: In my house it’s a crime not to buy…” it wrote, and finish they did.
One responded with “In my house it’s not a crime to buy BREAD AND MILK AT PRICES THAT ALLOW PRIMARY PRODUCERS TO SURVIVE”
“…from our local IGA & farmers market as we support our farmers,” said another, and “fruit & veg from a place that pays their farmers fair prices & sells seasonal produce not stored in a freezer or artificially ripened,” said one disgruntled shopper.
While the issues surrounding Coles’ predatory pricing and unfair treatment of farmers and suppliers was the main issue Twitter users shot back at the supermarket giant, it was not the only thing on people’s minds.
“In my house it’s a crime not to buy… Food from markets while Coles exploits mental illness via pokies,” said one.
“In my house it’s a crime not to buy media influence with the billions we made from mining!” another user said.
Even the jingles and famous faces used by Coles to market its products was not spared.
“It’s a social media crime to….. Hire curtis stone,” one Twitter user responded, while another replied “ In my house it’s a crime not to buy…the rights to good songs so I can turn them into steaming turd piles.”
All in all, the social experiment was summed up accurately by another Twitter user, who said “@coles "Finish this sentence" was a social media #fail. You suck.”
You can view more of the responses to Coles’ question on Twitter.