The great carrot carry on!
Chaotic scenes at Aldi as shoppers battle to snap up must-have soft toys
HE IS the heroic star of a hit Christmas advert.
But yesterday Kevin the Carrot caused havoc at Aldi stores across the country as shoppers fought to get their hands on the cuddly toy.
The toys, which have cropped up on eBay for £950, sold out online within a few hours and customers queued outside stores from 6.30am – an hour and a half before opening time.
After the doors opened, mass scrums and brawls broke out in several large stores as shoppers scrambled to snap up limited supplies. Witnesses described seeing ‘massive scraps and crushing’.
The toy, which is more than 3ft long, costs £19.99 in store – but many shoppers missed out and expressed dismay that Aldi had failed to meet demand.
Customers were seen waiting outside Aldi stores in Glasgow and Paisley, Renfrewshire, from early morning. Rebecca Swift, from Glasgow, wrote on Twitter: ‘Customers were full-on queueing out- side Aldi for Kevin the Carrot since 7am. Never saw anything like it in my life when the doors opened.’
Another Glasgow-based Twitter user wrote: ‘In Aldi folk fighting over giant carrots it’s carnage.’
Fights reportedly broke out at some stores, while some shoppers threw toys back to others who could not reach the displays.
Sarah Spell wrote on Aldi’s Facebook page: ‘Newcastle-under-Lyme store a joke. Massive scraps and crushing… we were right near the front and everyone behind literally crushed us and were hitting etc. Luckily didn’t miss out this year and my son will be so made up.’
Stuart Fergus said: ‘Never seen anything like that before Aldi old people getting knocked off their feet and kids pushed out the way... grown men sprinting down aisles to try and be first for Kevin the Carrot and his clan.’
The large carrot is sold alongside smaller £3.99 versions of Kevin and wife Katie. Their children Jasper, Chantenay and Baby Carrot also appear in the advert. All three can be bought in a set for £3.99.
This year’s advert sees Kevin rescue the whole family from being turned into a Christmas roast by a wicked parsnip named Pascal, also available as a £3.99 toy. Within hours of the merchandise selling out, it began appearing on eBay.
The queues felt familiar for many, as there were similar scenes when the toys went on sale last year.
An Aldi spokesman said: ‘To avoid any disappointment, this year we increased the range by adding new characters … as well as the amount of soft toys available. We also limited purchases to two variants per customer.’