Coles has apologized after a comedian posted a brutal sketch mocking the supermarket for forcing customers to scan their own food.
Melbourne comedian Joe Salanitri shared a clip titled ’employee of the month’ last week in which he argued Coles should pay him to scan a trolley full of shopping and pack his own bags.
“I’m working for Coles now, we, we’re working for Coles now,” he said in his foul-mouthed rant.
Coles’ apology
‘So I’ll send you [Coles] my tax return number so I can start collecting.
The tongue-in-cheek rant clearly struck a chord with ordinary Australians, as her post racked up more than 35,000 likes and was flooded with almost 2,000 comments.
“They should give us a 10 percent discount if we serve ourselves,” one wrote.
Another joked that they wanted an invite to Woolworths and Coles Christmas parties as they were “staff members”.
The post eventually caught the attention of Coles’ social media team, who admitted it had been a “difficult watch”.
“We’re sorry to disappoint you,” Coles’ comment read.
“We must always have a variety of payment options open for the convenience of our customers, but we heard you loud and clear that this did not happen when you visited and we will share your feedback with our operations team (feedback as in, your actual video!) because we are always listening and learning, and your video makes your point of view clear.”
Melbourne comedian Joe Salanitri (pictured) last week shared a clip titled ’employee of the month’ in which he argued Coles should pay him to scan a trolley full of shopping and pack his own bags.
Self-service checkouts with conveyor belts, like traditional checkouts, for trolley-sized shopping, first appeared at Coles in 2015.
In his video, Salanitri hypothetically asked what the supermarket wanted him to do after he finished scanning and packing his own bags.
His sarcastic suggestions included driving the delivery truck, stacking shelves, and locking the door on the way out.
‘Whats Next? Do you want me to make my own Coco Pops?’ she joked.
Shoppers have long been frustrated with self-service checkouts, with many complaining that the cameras and doors make them feel like criminals.
Others worry this will take jobs away from traditional cashier staff.
“I have never and will never use self-service,” one disgruntled customer wrote beneath Salanitri’s post.
“I would never let Coles, Woollies or Aldi take people’s jobs – at the end of the day, I don’t get staff discounts for doing their jobs.”
Another said the increasing use of self-checkouts in supermarkets was “further evidence of our rapid slide into an Orwellian technocratic nightmare.”