Watch: Nutella Lovers Cause Chaos Battling for 70% off Jars

The scene at Intermarché supermarkets in France Friday rivaled the Black Friday scramble to get [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

The scene at Intermarché supermarkets in France Friday rivaled the Black Friday scramble to get discount televisions, as people rushed to get Nutella at a deep discount.

Intermarché offered 35-ounce jars of Nutella, that hazelnut cocoa spread loved by all, for 70% off the retail price. Footage from stores went viral on social media, showing people rushing into stores throughout the country, just to get their hands on the jars.

"People just rushed in, shoving everyone, breaking things. It was like an orgy. We were on the verge of calling the police," one Intermarché employee from Forbach told Agence France-Presse.

"70% off? That's a steal," an employee at the Revigny-sur-Ornain store told the AFP.

An Intermarché spokeperson told the AFP they were "surprised" by the demand. They usually sell Nutella jars for 4.50 euros ($5.60), but they were on sale for 1.41 euros.

While Americans are used to frenzied rushes to stores for discount items, French residents seemed surprised that their fellow citizens went nuts for Nutella.

"Seriously All this for Nutella?" one person asked.

"They are like animals," one customer told the French media, reports the Washington Post. "A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady took a box on her head, another had a bloody hand."

Ferrero, which makes Nutella, was not happy with the deep discounts at Intermarché.

"We wish to specify that this promotion was decided unilaterally by the brand Intermarché," the company wrote in a tweet. "We deplore the consequences of this operation, which create confusion and disappointment in the minds of customers."

Nutella was invented by Pietro Ferrero in Italy and introduced in the 1950s. It is available worldwide. You can get a 13-ounce jar from Amazon for $2.67 without having to rush to a French supermarket.

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