Aldi’s sell-out £3.99 Kevin the Carrot toys are still being flogged on eBay for as much as £80 – weeks after the plush toys were launched in stores across the UK.
Many shoppers rushed to purchase soft toys characters, which were known to sell quickly in past years. Those who weren’t so lucky are still hoping for the items on eBay.
To their dismay, however, greedy buyers managed to grab the toys for nearly 20 times the original cost.
Aldi’s beloved Christmas advertisement featured a number of plush characters, including Ebanana Scrooge (Marcus Radishford) and Kevin the Carrot (and his family).
The most inflated price appears to be a £3.99 Dickensian Kevin the Carrot being paraded for the princely sum of £80, while Ebanana Scrooge, which retails at £3.99 has been listed for £38 – plus an additional £3.20 postage.
One seller who has listed Ebanana Scrooge for the Buy it Now price of £27.99, plus £3.20 postage, has so far got 10 people ‘watching’ the cuddly toy, while a £3.99 Marcus Radishford toy has been listed for £35 (pictured)
Another seller who has listed Ebanana Scrooge for the Buy it Now price of £27.99, plus £3.20 postage, has so far got 10 people ‘watching’ the cuddly toy, while a £3.99 Marcus Radishford toy has been listed for £35.
Elsewhere, another opportunist has listed the Dickensian Kevin & Family Bundle, which includes Kevin, Katie, Chantenay, Jasper and Baby and retails at £11.99, for £99.99 – plus an extra £4.99 postage fee.
Aldi’s £2.99 Cuthbert the Caterpillar toy has been listed for £29.99 with a £3.85 postage fee, making it more than 10 times the retail price, while the £3.99 Spirit of Christmas has been listed for £29.99 and has five ‘watchers’ – despite it being over seven times more than the original price.
It’s perhaps even more shocking because £15,000 from sales of selected Kevin the Carrot products will be donated to Aldi’s charity partner, Teenage Cancer Trust.
In addition, Aldi will be donating £10,000 generated from the sale of Marcus Radishford toys to the charity Magic Breakfast, which provides healthy school breakfasts to over 200,000 children at risk of hunger in disadvantaged areas of the UK.
The A Christmas Carrot advertisement for this year is a vegetable retelling Charles Dickens’ famous story to the sounds of Fairytale Of New York instrumental by The Pogues. Ebanana Scrooge plays the bitter, cold-hearted villain who loathes holidays.
One seller who has listed Ebanana Scrooge for the Buy it Now price of £27.99, plus £3.20 postage, has so far got 10 people ‘watching’ the cuddly toy (pictured)
It was shot on Christmas Eve and shows the Grumpy Banana walking down the street, smashing snowmen on the way back.
Ebanana has a problem with the holiday season. He was one time left to himself on a plate, after everyone else preferred eating mince pies.
Ebanana wakes up suddenly as night falls. The Spirit of Christmas looks very much like Kevin with a beard.
To show the fruity Scrooge how magical Christmas can be, the spirit sends him on a holiday tour.
Ebanana starts his speech by saying that Christmas is all about “peas” and “goodwill.”
Marcus’ cartoon debut is when Ghost presents him as Marcus Radishford. He’s a ‘always helping children’.
Ebanana is then taken by the Spirit of Christmas to Aldi Christmas Market. There they enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner with salmon, turkey, and pigs wrapped in blankets.
The £3.99 Spirit of Christmas has been listed for £29.99 and has five ‘watchers’ – despite it being over seven times more than the original price (pictured)
Family members are seen sliding and skating down the icing of a cake with sleighs. The Spirit of Christmas assists one of the injured children, which brings back smiles to all.
Ebanana flew over the snowmen which he has destroyed before the Spirit of Christmas dropped him into the jaws of an evil looking snowman.
This villainous character finds his way to bed and realizes the pain and suffering he caused others.
Ebanana appears at Kevin’s home and offers to bring dessert.
He holds out a piece of Christmas cake and says, “Merry Christmas everybody!”
He says, “This is to “pudding up” with me,” and smiles sheepishly.
Ending the advert is a touching message that says: “To be happy you must be kind.”