Everyone knows Black Friday draws the most aggressive dedicated shoppers. Apparently, the drop of a stuffed carrot toy entices the same type of crowd.
Kevin The Carrot is a cute little (by which I mean gigantic) character who has appeared in ALDI UK's holiday ads the past few years. This year's Kevin The Carrots hit shelves at ALDI stores in the UK on November 22, according to ALDI UK's Twitter. People went absolutely nuts.
Shoppers took to Twitter to describe the carrot-induced madness that ensued once the toys went on sale. One user described customers with full carts of the toys, "openly admitting they were going to resell them online." Another Kevin The Carrot fan waited in line outside of an ALDI starting at 7:45 a.m. to score one of the giant plush toys.
Another person's account of the Kevin The Carrot frenzy sounds like absolute chaos: they described elderly people being "knocked off their feet" and "kids pushed out of the way," while "grown men" were "sprinting down aisles to try and be first for Kevin the carrot and his clan." People are not messing around with these carrot toys!
The lines inside stores also looked absolutely miserable, and one person says shopping for the toys was "worse than Black Friday."
The chaos continued on ALDI's website, too. The chain responded to a customer's tweet and acknowledged technical issues due to high traffic.
On ALDI UK's website, the carrot toys are no longer available for purchase online, but it says "Try In Store" by each item. Based on all of this, though, it seems shoppers in the UK will likely be pressed to even find the toys in-store at this point.
If you're still on the hunt for a Kevin The Carrot toy, I wish you the best of luck. Perhaps one of you will explain the appeal of a stuffed carrot to me, so I can join the masses next year.
