Melbourne coffee roaster St. Ali gets slammed online by furious Aussies for its “inappropriate” promo
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Melbourne coffee roaster St. Ali gets slammed online by furious Aussies for its “inappropriate” promo
Social media users have roasted Melbourne-based coffee roaster, St. Ali, for its "inappropriate" promo after the company offered a free two-pack of Rapid Antigen Tests on orders over $159.99 on Monday.
The cafe announced its new promo via a text message, stating that the company was "fortunate enough" to secure a limited number of RATs for their “staff, families and friends” and that they would give them away for free to customers who are part of their subscriber list and who purchased a minimum of $159.99.
A text message from St. Ali announcing their new promo. Credit: Twitter.
The text read: “We’ll give you a FREE 2pk Rapid Antigen Test and ship it free in Australia.”
However, Aussies were nothing but enraged by the irresponsible marketing ploy as the announcement drew a furious backlash from users on social media, and many labelling the move "tacky" and "unethical".
For those who are unaware, stock constraints on RATs have been put into place, resulting in accessibility and price issues, with some retailers charging $70 for a single test.
One Twitter user wrote: “Has anyone reported St Ali Coffee to the @acccgovau for price gouging yet?”
“Who the hell at St Ali coffee thought this was a good idea??? $159.99 spend for two “free” #rat tests … disgusting idea,” another disgruntled user wrote.
Others lashed out at the use of the word "free" on the promotion as the deal required purchases of at least $159.99 to get their hands on the free RATs.
One customer wrote: "Just got the ‘free’ RAT if you spend $160 text from a coffee company I previously liked. It is a yuk marketing idea and I think @ST_ALi should now make their stock of tests genuinely free to ppl who need them most."
“Are you f****** joking with this? Global pandemic. People don’t have JOBS. People can’t access RATs. People are struggling. But hey, spend $160 bucks on COFFEE ITEMS and you’ll get TWO TESTS FOR FREEEEEEEEE,” another wrote.
St. Ali immediately revoked the offer just hours after the texts were sent out to their customers.
The coffee roaster also issued a statement on Instagram, expressing their sincere apologies and pledge to donate the excess tests to Melbourne-based charity, Father Bob.
St. Ali released a statement regarding the issue, expressing their sincere apologies. Credit: Instagram/@st_ali.
The statement read: “We believed this was a way of supporting our customers who purchase from us regularly, but the message has been lost. We can see in hindsight it was inappropriate.”
“We are very sorry. Again please accept our apology.”
While the RATs promo has been retracted, the cafe assured customers that they can still purchase pulse oximeters, forehead thermometers, and surface and hand sanitisers, alongside their coffee, merchandise, and pantry offering on their website.
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