Loblaws boycott: Canadian grocery giant, Galen Weston are targets of parody No Name ad in Calgary — again

An artist in Calgary targeting the Loblaw corporation and Galen Weston with subversive criticism appears to have struck again. A photo posted to the Reddit group “Loblaws Is Out of Control” shows a public bench with an ad that appears to be Loblaw’s in-house discount brand No Name — the yellow background with plain black Helvetica lettering — that simply reads: “Eat the rich.”

The expression “eat the rich” is often attributed to French Revolutionaries and in this case does not mean to literally eat the rich. Rather, its anti-capitalist aim is the more equitable redistribution of wealth of the ultra-rich.

This new parody ad on the bench comes just a week after a similar fake No Name ad featuring a box of chocolate cake that read “Peasants” and “Let them eat cake deluxe cake mix” appeared on a downtown Calgary bus shelter.

Canadians react to ad amid indefinite boycott of Loblaw, affiliated stores: ‘Calgary sounds awesome’

This latest spoof advertisement “campaign” was spotted on 1st St. near 13th Ave. and comes amidst an ongoing national boycott of Loblaw and its affiliated stores, like Shoppers Drug Mart, Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills and the flagship Loblaws. The boycott was originally organized for the month of May by the “Loblaws Is Out of Control” Reddit group, and has since been extended indefinitely.

The Reddit post featuring the fake bench ad has garnered over 200 comments, with many praising the prankster for their seditious sneakiness. Some even compared the anonymous campaigner to Banksy, the British graffiti artist who famously keeps their identity a mystery and whose work often features clever political commentary.

“Canada has its own Banksy” Fun_Wafer1714 wrote.

“Wow, somebody in Calgary is really doing a great job of embarrassing Loblaws, lauriekay9 wrote. “Our own version of Banksy. Keep it going, whoever you are.”

Some commenters wondered how to take the hoax ad campaign across the country.

“I commend the subversive artist behind this,” resnonverba1 wrote. “This needs to go national.”

“How can we get this rolling in other cities,” Commercial-Carrot477 wrote. “I’m in a small town, but I’m down to start stapling to trees and taping to street lights.”

Emily Johnson, who created and moderates the “Loblaws Is Out of Control” subreddit, even chimed in.

“Came here to say Calgary understood the assignment,” she wrote.

“This could be a guerilla marketing campaign for Calgary tourism — certainly the most persuasive I’ve seen,” octopush123 added. “Calgary sounds awesome.”

No Name products often come ‘from the same factory’ as brand names: Expert

The No Name brand was launched by Loblaw in 1978 as an in-store “unbranded” brand. Brad Davis, an associate professor of marketing at Wilfrid Laurier University, says the brand is intended to give customers straight pricing competition, while allowing the grocery giant to save on having to pay middlemen.

“They serve a purpose of being a discount brand for (products) where most people don’t perceive there’s a significant difference between the No Name brand and more expensive, well-known brands,” David says.

He adds that No Name products are often made in the same factory as branded products.

“There’s a huge amount of stuff out there that comes from the same factory, they just put them in different boxes,” he says.