ALDI and Leo Burnett Weave Holiday Storybook Rhymes into a Backdrop of Grocery Store Chaos

Especially with Thanksgiving taking the top spot as the most popular food shopping holiday for 88% of consumers, ‘Swindle Season’ launches just in time. You can already picture the scenes at your local grocery store: the chaos, the crowds, and the hurry-up-to-wait energy that only the holiday season can deliver. However, ALDI believes that this doesn't have to be the status quo. While we all can relate to the experience, ALDI says it doesn’t have to be that way in new creative work ‘Swindle Season’.

The new creative uses holiday themes to call attention to everyday grocery shopping pain points that are heightened during this time of year. In a series of cinematic spots, ALDI and Leo Burnett have woven holiday storybook rhymes into a backdrop of complete grocery store chaos, creating a hilarious yet hyperbolic portrayal of common holiday grocery shopping angst. These spots are the latest from the It’s an ALDI Thing campaign platform which was introduced late last year and reinforces the notion that ALDI does things differently. ‘Swindle Season’ will run through the holiday season across TV, radio, OLV and YouTube.

"Our stores have only what shoppers need and nothing they don’t, which is especially helpful during holiday shopping season," said Greg Strom, group director of customer interaction at ALDI US. "Our simple approach to retail takes the guesswork out of shopping and saves our customers time and money. That means they can get in, get out and get on with the things that matter most to them."

For decades, ALDI has prided itself as a grocery store that does things a little differently. By challenging normal grocery store conventions, ALDI is spotlighting the intentional differences from leading competitors and aims to engage brand fans and occasional ALDI shoppers to see these differences as not just features but as benefits, growing brand preference for ALDI above all others.

The holidays are filled with sweet, saccharine commercials featuring perfect kids, smiling grandmas and talking reindeer, said Rick Hamann, EVP, executive creative director. “We thought, “what if we zigged against the faux happiness of the season and showed the insanity?”