Coles and Woolworths prank: Sneaky messages placed over specials attacking supermarket giants over soaring prices

A prankster has taken out his anger at Coles and Woolworths over the cost of living by replacing shop tags with lookalikes with subversive messages.

It comes after Coles and Woolworths announced earnings of $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, in the past fiscal year.

The tags, which resemble those that indicate a discounted price, are popping up at the two supermarket giants in Tasmania.

They include a series of messages asking why the company continues to make huge profits while customers struggle to pay for groceries.

“Our right to profit is more important than your right to food. That’s capitalism honey!”, “We’ve made over $1 billion in profit when you can’t even afford bread,” and “$10 Curtis Stone dinners? Not in this economy’ are among the slogans used.

It comes after Coles and Woolworths announced earnings of $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, in the past fiscal year. The photo shows a message left at Woolworths

Coles’ chief operating officer Matt Swindells admitted last week that the cost-of-living crisis had contributed to a rise in shoplifting as shoppers struggled to put food on the table.

“We see it in every store and every category, it’s a real challenge,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW radio station.

One of the special labels posted responded to the confession, saying, “If you see someone shoplifting, no, you didn’t.”

“We understand times are tough, which is why we pay our CEO over $20,000 a day,” says another.

Grassroots Action Network Tasmania took responsibility for the special discount tags posted in a post on Instagram on Saturday.

“Supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths are raking in money when so many are struggling, so people in nipaluna (the Aboriginal name for Hobart) decided it’s time they told the truth with their special offers,” the post reads.

People took to the comment section to share their reactions to the tags, with many praising the activists for saying what they thought.

“These are great,” someone said. ‘Where can I get some,’ said another.

A third commenter said they had gone shopping elsewhere to lower their grocery bill.

‘Honestly! I never spend less than $100 there for next to nothing! Aldi is so much cheaper!” they said.

Another bogus message (pictured) claimed Coles’ CEO gets $20,000 a day

A notice left at a Woolworths store (pictured) said the company is conducting a ‘price gouging’

A Coles spokesperson said they value customer feedback, but they encourage them to use their dedicated feedback channels, Tell Coles or their customer service team.

A spokesperson for Woolworth said they are “aware” of the cost of living pressures on Australian families.

“We are well aware of the pressures placed on Australian families by the rise in the cost of living, whether they are our clients or our team members,” they said.

“And we’re doing more every day to help customers spend less with us.”