"Peasant's Choice" posters outside Vancouver Loblaws highlight inequality
An artist has affixed posters around Vancouver with a twist on Loblaw house brands in an effort to draw attention to widening inequality in Canada and the role grocery stores are playing in it.
The artist, who goes by the pseudonym No Name Peasant, shared photos of their posters around Vancouver, including in Mount Pleasant and in front of the new City Market in The Post building.
One of the posters shifts the President’s Choice brand to say “Peasant’s Choice.” Another yellow poster features a can of No Name gruel.
“I chose to mimic Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell’s soup cans in the first campaign, which were meant to represent the mundane. I created ‘No Name 100% Pure Gruel’ in an effort to highlight that average Canadians can no longer afford what was once ordinary,” the artist said.
Vancouver’s Main Street is covered…
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As for Peasant’s Choice, it’s meant to illustrate “how unlikely it is that any president is choosing President’s Choice. Folks are choosing this because they absolutely have to.”
Peasant’s Choice posters pop up around Vancouver
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Canadian grocers like Loblaws and No Frills have come under fire since the pandemic for price gouging as Canada goes through a cost-of-living crisis. They’re being accused of “shrinkflation” and of keeping prices high to drive profit while Canadians struggle with their monthly grocery bills.
Outrage has gotten so pronounced that people have organized boycotting movements to discourage others from shopping at Loblaw-owned stores.
The Vancouver artist is certainly picking on Loblaw but said their work is also meant to shed light on wider inequalities.
The photos of the posters quickly gained popularity on social media, with some shoppers across Canada asking for mailed copies to affix near their neighbourhood Loblaws and No Frills.
“While a lot of folks are very critical of Loblaws, my work is meant to highlight the inequalities in our society. Certainly Loblaws has contributed to those,” they said.
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