Shoppers from different countries have noticed supermarket products turned upside down – and it’s all because of one reason
Supermarket customers across the world have spotted a new trend which has gone viral in the wake of Donald Trump’s trade war – putting items upside down.
In Europe and Canada in particular, shoppers are placing American-made products upside-down on supermarket shelves as a secret signal to others to avoid buying them, reports Express.co.uk.
The silent protest against the US has been spread via Reddit on communities like r/BuyFromEU and r/Canada, as shoppers reportedly turn away from purchasing American in protest against the US government’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House and the tariffs Donald Trump has unleashed against Canada, the UK and the EU in the past two weeks which have sent stock markets tumbling.
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Posting in r/BuyFromEU, u/remnantofspoton spotted upside down products on store shelves and said: “Spain turning non EU products upside down on shelves in shops as a form of boycott.”
The movement has also been spotted in Canada.
u/stuckinthebunker stated: “Shopping on Vancouver Island today, I noticed a few products upside down. What do they have in common? Made in America. I’ve started doing it too. Not all of the product but the front one goes back on the shelf upside down. It can be a signal.”
Another poster based in Switzerland said they had been moving items on displays too. u/dazzling-ninja-3373 said: “I’m Swiss and there aren’t a lot of Canadian products on our shelves and I also couldn’t flip the wine bottles upside down but I’m with you in avoiding US-made products, so I turned some US wines around to hide their flashy etiquettes.”
One person, u/kazinha, added: “Portugal – upside down products at Lidl!”
Another, posting from Poland, said: “Yesterday while shopping I was trying to find American products. Well we do not import much from the US (Polish store) but I found Johnny Walker and put it upside down. Not much but honest work.”
In Denmark, supermarkets have begun to mark products made in Europe with a star, to help customers swerve American made goods.
Swede Reidar Svedahl, 71, told AFP he had decided to boycott all US products after Trump’s February 28 shouting match with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. He told AFP: “I think 99 percent of Europeans can do without 70 percent of all American products. Then the impact would be huge.”
In the UK, posters have also spoken about boycotting US products. Poster u/0DFFoxtrotOscar said: “Yes, I buy British where I can. I think some people have been unaware just what globalisation means and how hard it is to boycott some nations completely.
“But just because you cannot do a perfect, complete boycott, I don’t think it follows that you should do nothing. It may be a drop in the ocean but even small actions can carry significance. So whether it’s Greggs not KFC, Smarties not M&Ms, it’s still a way to show what you think.”
U/Sadblueberry added: “Short answer from the UK – yes [boycotting American products], wherever possible.”
u/yelnats added: “I am boycotting American products because I do not agree with anything they’ve done in this recent situation.”