A controversy broke out last week: Pingo Doce filed a complaint with the Directorate-General for Consumers (DGC) and the Institute of Advertising Self-Regulation about a Lidl advertising campaign that compares prices between supermarkets, which it says is misleading. Officially, Lidl has not commented on the matter, but a video now shared on social media seems to respond to the competitor's complaint.

The video in question shows a grandson asking his grandmother to go to another supermarket - apparently Pingo Doce - to check the price of a product (a liquid yogurt) and, on the phone, tells his grandson the following: "No, this one is more expensive".

On the other side, the grandson, who is in a Lidl store, simply says: "Well, that's what I thought".

The video ends with the message "whoever compares, buys here", alluding to the price comparison that Pingo Doce criticized.

This is not a direct response to the accusation made to the DGC, however, on social media there were immediately those who related the issue: "And Lidl who said: at Pingo Doce it's more expensive", wrote one of the users of the X social network (formerly Twitter).

E o Lidl que sacou um: no Pingo Doce é mais caro! pic.twitter.com/K3hEQhj2X4

— Deve Sakalı ™ (@BarbaDeCamelo) April 29, 2024

After all, what is at stake?

At stake is a Lidl advertising campaign, which started in February, which makes a price comparison between various commercial surfaces, stating that it is the cheapest on the market.

"The campaign is misleading and with it Lidl seeks to demonstrate not only that it is the cheapest chain on the market, but that it is at least 10% cheaper. This is not true and Pingo Doce was forced to intervene, on the one hand, the ARP, on the other hand, the DGC, to analyze the compliance of this campaign with the law, namely with the law that regulates comparative advertising", reads a newsletter from Pingo Doce sent to customers and a statement published in the meantime on the official website.

So far, Lidl has not yet commented on the matter. Notícias ao Minuto contacted a source from the supermarket chain last week in an attempt to get a reaction, but so far it has not been possible to get a response.

Read Also: "Campaign is misleading". What is going on (after all) between Pingo Doce and Lidl? (Portuguese version)