Keeping it alive? Easter ‘tradition’ sparks controversy
- Replies 14
As the Easter season hops into full swing, a controversial 'tradition' has sparked a heated debate among shoppers.
It's not the Easter egg hunt or the hot cross buns that are causing a stir, but rather the sight of broken and opened chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies scattered throughout the aisles of local supermarkets.
This practice, often called supermarket grazing or sampling, has become a contentious topic.
Some see shoppers taking their liberties with the Easter treats as a harmless part of the holiday festivities, while others view it as outright theft.
An incident at a Woolworths store has brought this issue to the forefront, with a shopper capturing footage of rows of tampered Easter chocolates and claiming, 'Every [...] Easter it's the same, kids have been doing that for generations.'
‘Every shopping centre you go to, every Coles and Woolies, everywhere that sells easter eggs is the same. It’s a tradition.’
The video quickly went viral, with many people chiming in on the debate.
‘I won’t break an Easter egg, but I’ll have a pick if it’s broken,’ one admitted.
‘I saw a five-year-old do this blatantly in front of me but behind his mum's back. Hahahaha. I loved it,’ another said.
‘With the prices of Easter eggs, might as well,’ a third added.
According to a 2023 report from Monash Business School 28 per cent of consumers feel that forms of theft like taking an item without paying is ‘a little bit justifiable’ to ‘completely justifiable’.
Jana Bowden, a Consumer Expert from Macquarie University, also highlighted that younger shoppers, particularly, are ‘more accepting of theft’, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis.
Over half of younger consumers (aged 18-34) in the Monash Business School report found it was at least ‘a little bit’ justifiable at 53 per cent, as compared to just 7 per cent for respondents aged 55 and over.
This controversy comes after a shopper took to social media to express his disbelief at the $10 price attached to the Cadbury Dairy Milk Easter Bunny.
Other shoppers have also called this pricing ‘outrageous’ and ‘absolutely criminal’.
The rise in shoplifting and the admission by more than one in 10 Australians that they have stolen from supermarkets in the past year due to financial strains adds another layer to this complex issue.
However, in 2022, research found that 20 per cent or 3.8 million individuals, confessed to stealing various items.
This included 10 per cent of shoppers who were dishonest about what they scanned, 9 per cent of shoppers who stole using self-serve checkouts, and 6% of drivers who admitted to driving off without paying for petrol.
‘If supermarkets weren't making fat profits while raising prices right now, they'd find it easier to stop people doing these things,’ Joel Gibson, a Consumer Expert, suggested.
Despite the various justifications, Bowden firmly stated that this 'tradition' of trying Easter chocolate without paying is a form of retail theft.
'Taking something without the intention of paying for it is the definition of stealing. It is not OK,' she emphasised.
The National Retail Association supports this stance, defining retail offences to include ‘consuming food or drink inside a store without paying’.
‘Perhaps the spike we are seeing in Easter egg raiding down the supermarket aisle at present is just a bit of innocence—it could be as simple as a few eager children trying to get their hands on the Easter bunnies' tempting egg stash early,’ Bowden said.
Bowden insists that to ‘stem retail theft’, society must instil ‘good ethical values’ and educate future generations on the difference between right and wrong.
‘It is also a form of consumer deviance that has a very negative effect on retailers. The Australian Retailers Association estimates shoplifting costs retailers more than $9 billion a year.’
Gibson agreed that opening packaging or breaking a product inside its packaging ‘isn't sampling’; it's seen as stealing.
However, he drew a distinction between breaking open packaging and sampling a single grape.
‘I think tasting a grape or two is something supermarkets should accept and even encourage as it could lead to sales,’ Gibson reasoned.
‘A lot of bakeries and fruit and vegetable shops still have samples out for tasting, and Woolies has free fruit for kids in its stores.’
‘The test should be: are you ruining the product for somebody else? If you are, it probably is stealing.’
You can watch the shopper’s video below:
Credit: @schooie.man / TikTok
Have you witnessed this so-called ‘tradition’ in your local supermarket? Do you believe it's a harmless part of Easter, or do you agree that it's a form of theft? Share your experiences and opinions in the comments below.
It's not the Easter egg hunt or the hot cross buns that are causing a stir, but rather the sight of broken and opened chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies scattered throughout the aisles of local supermarkets.
This practice, often called supermarket grazing or sampling, has become a contentious topic.
Some see shoppers taking their liberties with the Easter treats as a harmless part of the holiday festivities, while others view it as outright theft.
A shopper showed rows of Easter chocolates at a Woolworths store. Credit: @shooie.man / TikTok
An incident at a Woolworths store has brought this issue to the forefront, with a shopper capturing footage of rows of tampered Easter chocolates and claiming, 'Every [...] Easter it's the same, kids have been doing that for generations.'
‘Every shopping centre you go to, every Coles and Woolies, everywhere that sells easter eggs is the same. It’s a tradition.’
The video quickly went viral, with many people chiming in on the debate.
‘I won’t break an Easter egg, but I’ll have a pick if it’s broken,’ one admitted.
‘I saw a five-year-old do this blatantly in front of me but behind his mum's back. Hahahaha. I loved it,’ another said.
‘With the prices of Easter eggs, might as well,’ a third added.
According to a 2023 report from Monash Business School 28 per cent of consumers feel that forms of theft like taking an item without paying is ‘a little bit justifiable’ to ‘completely justifiable’.
Jana Bowden, a Consumer Expert from Macquarie University, also highlighted that younger shoppers, particularly, are ‘more accepting of theft’, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis.
Over half of younger consumers (aged 18-34) in the Monash Business School report found it was at least ‘a little bit’ justifiable at 53 per cent, as compared to just 7 per cent for respondents aged 55 and over.
This controversy comes after a shopper took to social media to express his disbelief at the $10 price attached to the Cadbury Dairy Milk Easter Bunny.
Other shoppers have also called this pricing ‘outrageous’ and ‘absolutely criminal’.
The rise in shoplifting and the admission by more than one in 10 Australians that they have stolen from supermarkets in the past year due to financial strains adds another layer to this complex issue.
However, in 2022, research found that 20 per cent or 3.8 million individuals, confessed to stealing various items.
This included 10 per cent of shoppers who were dishonest about what they scanned, 9 per cent of shoppers who stole using self-serve checkouts, and 6% of drivers who admitted to driving off without paying for petrol.
‘If supermarkets weren't making fat profits while raising prices right now, they'd find it easier to stop people doing these things,’ Joel Gibson, a Consumer Expert, suggested.
Despite the various justifications, Bowden firmly stated that this 'tradition' of trying Easter chocolate without paying is a form of retail theft.
'Taking something without the intention of paying for it is the definition of stealing. It is not OK,' she emphasised.
The National Retail Association supports this stance, defining retail offences to include ‘consuming food or drink inside a store without paying’.
‘Perhaps the spike we are seeing in Easter egg raiding down the supermarket aisle at present is just a bit of innocence—it could be as simple as a few eager children trying to get their hands on the Easter bunnies' tempting egg stash early,’ Bowden said.
Bowden insists that to ‘stem retail theft’, society must instil ‘good ethical values’ and educate future generations on the difference between right and wrong.
‘It is also a form of consumer deviance that has a very negative effect on retailers. The Australian Retailers Association estimates shoplifting costs retailers more than $9 billion a year.’
Gibson agreed that opening packaging or breaking a product inside its packaging ‘isn't sampling’; it's seen as stealing.
However, he drew a distinction between breaking open packaging and sampling a single grape.
‘I think tasting a grape or two is something supermarkets should accept and even encourage as it could lead to sales,’ Gibson reasoned.
‘A lot of bakeries and fruit and vegetable shops still have samples out for tasting, and Woolies has free fruit for kids in its stores.’
‘The test should be: are you ruining the product for somebody else? If you are, it probably is stealing.’
You can watch the shopper’s video below:
Credit: @schooie.man / TikTok
.png){kind=icon}
