Aldi has announced that 10 Kevin the Carrot toys will be going back on sale as part of a charity auction.
Earlier this month, supermarket Aldi kicked off the season of Christmas adverts with its festive campaign, featuring Kevin the Carrot for a third consecutive year.
The character has proven extremely popular ever since the supermarket first introduced him in 2016, so much so that fans of the anthropomorphic vegetable were clamouring to get their hands on the Kevin the Carrot toys that were being sold by the supermarket last month.
Having quickly sold out of the range of plush vegetable-inspired toys, Aldi has revealed that 10 limited-edition toys are going to be auctioned on eBay on Thursday 6 December at 5pm.
The money that’s raised from the auction is going to be donated to Teenage Cancer Trust.
“We are thrilled to partner with eBay on this initiative and are rooting for Kevin fans across the nation to help up raise money for this fantastic cause,” says Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK.
“This will help take us one step closer to reaching our £5m fundraising target for Teenage Cancer Trust, to help ensure that no young person faces cancer alone.”
The carrot toys being sold as part of the auction will be dressed up in festive outfits, with some donning Christmas knitwear in the lead up to Christmas Jumper Day on 14 December.
Following the release of the toys online and in-store on 22 November, many consumers were queueing in a bid to buy the plush toy and the other members of his family.
With Kevin and Katie plush toys being resold for £1,000 on eBay last year, many were eager to acquire the coveted toys before they sold out.
“Cannot believe the carnage this morning to get a #KevinTheCarrot,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Worse than Black Friday!”
“My mum got up early to queue in Aldi to get me a Kevin and Katie the Carrot wowee she’s the best,” another person wrote.
The influx of people attempting to buy Kevin the Carrot online led to a temporary glitch on the Aldi website, as the supermarket revealed on Twitter.
“The buzz around our Kevin the Carrot soft toys range has been extremely high and briefly impacted the performance of our website,” Aldi wrote.
“The website is now fully operational again,” it reassured its customers.
The small Kevin the Carrot plush toy, which was available for £3.99, quickly sold out online.
Customers could also buy a large Kevin the Carrot plush toy for £19.99, plush carrot kids for £2.99 each, Katie the Carrot for £3.99 and Pascal the Parsnip for £3.99, all of which also rapidly ran out of stock.
Many expressed their disappointment over their failure to acquire any toys from the Kevin the Carrot range.
“Kevin the Carrot bane of my life from Aldi,” one person wrote on Twitter, revealing that they’d missed out on buying a toy by seconds.
Another person tweeted about how their plight to buy a Kevin the Carrot toy had led to them forgetting to buy Spice Girls tickets.
“I was so invested in getting Kevin the Carrot and co at 9am that I forgot to go on and get Spice Girls tickets until 9.04am and they were sold out,” they wrote.
“Oh well at least my squad is cool,” they wrote, sharing a photo of their multiple Kevin the Carrot toys.
The Kevin the Carrot toy range was being sold in support of the supermarket’s charity partner Teenage Cancer Trust.
