Aldi Easter Marshmallows Went Viral For A Very NSFW Reason

Aldi supermarket has some splainin' to do this Easter. After bags of pretty pastel marshmallow treats landed on store shelves, social media is hopping with delight. It's not because of the cute little edible Easter "bunnies and chicks," but for the chance to roast the retailer on its holiday faux pas.

Aldi is a mainstream family grocery retailer, the fourth largest in the U.K. with almost 1,000 stores and counting. So when fluffy little treats for a very family-oriented holiday take an undeniably adult anatomical shape, people notice – especially adults with a sense of cheeky humor. The unintentionally racy candies from the Dominion brand come cloistered in a bag labeled "Marshmallow Bunnies and Chicks." Innocent pink and yellow marshies lie ear to beak, nestled in unlikely alliances given the whole rabbit-and-chicken thing. But Easter traditions, originally based on religion, practically deify the two puffy animals as representative of the entire holiday, especially when it comes to Easter candy.

Perhaps that's why Aldi is getting so much love for representing baby chicks and bunnies in fresh new ways. Easter, after all, is about rebirth and new beginnings. Here's a peek at how social media is responding to the decidedly phallic nature of this Easter surprise.

It apparently all started when a shopper in Manchester, U.K. tweeted a photo from her in-store shopping cart on March 2, showing a closeup of the marshmallows treats with a now-viral comment: "Sorry Aldi, but that ain't a Bunny." The tweet has received 7 million views to date, with Easter still weeks away.

Then the Twitter floodgates opened, with one user putting puns to work with "I'm trying so hard (hehe) to see how these could even remotely resemble bunnies, and I'm just not seeing it." A social media tweeter from Aldi joined in the fun by replying, "We can't even defend this one."

The parade of punsters pointed out that the shapes resembling male anatomy are actually the chicks, not the bunnies, which slightly justifies the production blunder. And it's certainly not the first time a holiday sweet treat has taken the hot seat; Target landed on the Christmas naughty list in 2020 with a three-tiered chocolate Santa whose boots tromped into phallic territory.

Now, it's hard to un-see Aldi puns, as innocent as they surely are. According to the Aldi mission page, the store is about "so much more than food!" and it "work[s] hard" to bring you the latest must-haves. With the Aldi "Twice as Nice Guarantee," your happiness comes first. Good to know. As if that weren't enough, an Aldi U.S. weekly online shopping ad in mid-March featured a headline of "big taste, wee prices." Nuff said.