At the end of May, Kroger announced it would be selling Georgia peaches out of trucks at scheduled events this summer. However, there was a problem with the images they used to depict these events – they were edited versions taken from a Nashville business.
Stephen Rose, co-founder of The Peach Truck in Nashville, pointed out this image discrepancy on social media. In a video post, Rose showed how Kroger had used edited images that included one of The Peach Truck’s former employees dressed in Kroger attire instead of their own uniform.
Another image shared by Rose showed a Kroger event that was very similar to one hosted by The Peach Truck, but with branding and colors altered. Kroger later admitted the error in using these images.
In response to the situation, a Kroger spokesperson apologized and stated that the images were not approved for their marketing campaign. The spokesperson expressed regret and removed the images from their system, apologizing to The Peach Truck for the mistake.
Rose also shared his disbelief at the situation in a video post, explaining how he stumbled upon Kroger’s peach truck announcement and was shocked by the images they had used. He highlighted the intentional copying of their brand and business model.
Despite efforts to find the original images used by Kroger, they could not be located online. This article was originally written by Felicia Jordan for Scripps News Cincinnati.
