It’s almost a universal truth that big corporations often step on the little guy in their relentless pursuit of profits and market dominance. And yet, every once in a while, a story comes along that’s so brazen, so audacious, that it makes you wonder if these corporate giants have any shame at all.
Stephen Rose, the founder of The Peach Truck (@thepeachtruck on TikTok), recently shared a bewildering tale of corporate thievery that left his followers stunned. Rose, a Georgia native who was disappointed by the subpar peaches available at Nashville grocery stores, has been selling fresh, high-quality Georgia peaches directly to customers for over a decade. Sounds like a sweet deal, right? Apparently, Kroger thought so too. The multi-billion dollar grocery chain recently launched its own suspiciously similar service, with big trucks hawking Georgia peaches.
But here’s where things get really rotten: Rose discovered that Kroger blatantly stole promotional photos from his company’s Instagram feed. One image in particular left little to the imagination. It showed an employee of The Peach Truck, joyfully hoisting a box of juicy peaches, now magically transformed into a Kroger-branded poster boy. The peach box and even the poor guy’s shirt didn’t escape the digital makeover. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but not when you are literally copy-pasting someone else’s hard work.
In his TikTok call-out, Rose wasn’t shy about squeezing Kroger for answers. “Kroger you’re a multi-billion— yes, billion-dollar corporation. Do you really need to take our marketing and re-edit it on top of taking our business model?” It’s a fair question, and one Kroger has yet to answer satisfactorily.
Rose’s video struck a chord with thousands of viewers who flooded the comments section with messages of support. Some called for legal action, while others vowed to boycott Kroger entirely. It’s clear that people are fed up with big corporations bullying small businesses and getting away with it. Now, I’m not saying Kroger is the evil empire or anything, but this whole debacle is just one example of the problematic corporate culture that seems to pervade many large companies.
After, the explosive reveal, news outlets like Daily Dot reached out for a statement from Kroger. Their response? “Oops, our bad!” They admitted the images “were not approved to be shared” and “should never have been created in the first place.” Obviously, Stephen Rose wasn’t having any of this half-baked apology. He popped back on TikTok questioning how a behemoth like Kroger could claim ignorance.
Despite the drama, The Peach Truck has decided to take the high road. Instead of suing the company, they want to focus on providing their customers with the best dang peaches money can buy. Rose and his team hope that their story will inspire change and prevent other small businesses from being bullied by corporate behemoths.
We Got This Covered reached out to Stephen Rose and The Peach Truck for comment.
