At the end of May, Kroger announced that they would be selling Georgia peaches out of trucks at scheduled events this summer. However, there was a problem: The images used by the company to showcase these events were actually doctored versions taken from a Nashville business.
Stephen Rose, co-founder of The Peach Truck in Nashville, noticed the image inconsistency and took to social media to address the issue.
In a video post, Rose revealed that Kroger had used edited images of The Peach Truck’s former employee, who was shown in Kroger branding instead of The Peach Truck’s. Another image depicted a Kroger event that closely resembled one by The Peach Truck, but with altered branding and colors.
Kroger admitted to using these images in error, stating, “We were embarrassed to learn about this. While these images were not approved for our marketing campaign, we apologize to The Peach Truck and have removed them from our system.”
In response, Rose posted a video online questioning Kroger’s use of the images, calling it “the craziest thing in our 12-year-old business’s history.” He later expressed shock at the situation, noting the intentional copy of their brand by Kroger.
After news outlets in Nashville reported on Kroger’s response, Rose took to social media again, highlighting Kroger’s admission of embarrassment over the issue.
Kroger’s original images could not be found online by Scripps News Cincinnati. This article was originally written by Felicia Jordan for Scripps News Cincinnati.
