Discounter Lidl provokes its competitor Edeka with its advertising.
An owner of several Edeka branches then comments on Facebook – the users escalate under the post.
Now there is news.
Almost three weeks have passed since Edeka Ueltzhöfer from the Heilbronn district dared to counterattack the advertising of the discount giant Lidl.
Steffen Ueltzhöfer, the manager of the Ueltzhöfer branches, put up a fight: the team at the Edeka branch declared the shopping basket comparison, which Lidl used as an advertising campaign at the beginning of January, to be inappropriate.
Lidl had advertised online and in daily newspapers that shopping in its branches was around 30 percent cheaper than at Edeka and illustrated this with two bags filled with fruit and vegetables.
However, the products were arbitrarily selected by Lidl.
Ueltzhöfer did not find the comparison of randomly selected products meaningful.
Edeka statement leads to blocking of the Facebook account
When asked by
echo24.de
, Ueltzhöfer explained: "Suddenly, a difference in the shopping cart is shown that has no relevance at all." In order to draw people's attention to this unfair advertising, Ueltzhöfer also posted his statement on Lidl's provocation on Facebook.
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The Edeka branch Ueltzhöfer in Heilbronn: The operator causes a stir on the internet.
© echo24.de
But the comments from Facebook users escalated.
Due to the many comments, Edeka Uelzhöfer deactivated the comment column of his post.
Eventually, Facebook blocked the entire account.
The reason for the ban seems to have been the comments of users posting their dissatisfaction with everything else in the comments instead of staying on topic.
Happy post on Facebook: Edeka-Ueltzhöfer online again
In the afternoon of January 23, there is finally relief – Edeka Ueltzhöfer posts on Facebook: “We are online again.” In the comments on this post, the followers are also interested in the lifting of the block and ask: “With or without a lawyer?” .
The reaction of the operator of the account is reassuring: "Everything relaxed."
The owner of several Edeka branches comments on Lidl's provocation via Facebook
First report (January 7th):
Inflation is causing prices to rise on all supermarket shelves.
Customers have to dig deeper into their pockets - discounters worry about the competition.
Some of them are therefore relying on new, slightly more provocative methods to keep customers with them.
For example, the company Lidl.
This recently declared its opponent Edeka the price war.
In his current advertising campaign, there is a direct price comparison: According to Lidl, a bag full of fruit and vegetables costs around 30 percent less than at rival Edeka.
A call to competition?
After provocative Lidl advertising: Edeka team comments on price comparison
The cheeky advertising campaign does not meet with everyone's goodwill.
The Edeka Ueltzhöfer team from the Heilbronn district, for example, gave some air to their outrage via a Facebook post.
Steffen Ueltzhöfer, owner and managing director of a total of six branches in the region, explains to echo24.de: “The overall presentation is simply not correct.
Suddenly a difference in the shopping cart is shown that has no relevance at all.”
This also applies to the statement on the Internet platform Facebook.
The ad "certainly does not violate competition law, but completely distorts reality," it says.
However, even Ueltzhöfer probably did not expect what developed from the post.
After Facebook post: Edeka owner must disable comment column – Facebook blocks the site
The post goes through the roof: countless reactions, comments and a reach of almost three million Facebook users.
"It was pretty weird.
Then we deactivated the comment column of our own accord, simply because there were too many comments.” The reason for this decision: Most of what the users say under the post for their own good “was no longer relevant to the matter a lot to do.
And that was not our intention at all.”
But too late - only a short time later the Edeka-Ueltzhöfer page was blocked by Facebook.
None of the contributions can be reached by either the user or the owner.
And with good reason: Some of the users seem to want to vent their pent-up anger.
Owner annoyed by Facebook users: "You can have this discussion somewhere else"
"In the beginning there were people who still understood it - they then commented on it - but then it went all the way to the FFP2 mask requirement in the shops.
So things that had nothing to do with it anymore.
That's why we just ended the story.
Because you can have this discussion somewhere else, you don't have to have it on this topic."
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Provocative announcement from Lidl to competitor Edeka - the reaction follows promptly.
© Screenshot of the Facebook posts from Lidl and Edeka / echo24.de
In the case of the Lidl price war, the Edeka managing director also thinks: "Lidl is active here and does a good job - and we do the same.
Ultimately, we have to prove that to the customer and not somewhere on social media.
I just wanted to clarify the situation.
[...] Basically, I don't want to make such a big thing out of the thing itself."
List of rubrics: © Screenshot of the Facebook posts from Lidl and Edeka / echo24.de