I don’t know about you, but when I’m at the supermarket, I like to look for deals on the products on my shopping list. I’m not committed to one specific brand of yogurt, a little variety in cheese is nice now and then, and so on.

So, of course, it’s great that special offers are usually easy to spot, depending on how they’re marked. With e-ink displays, it’s often a vertical “SALE” on the right edge and more dark areas. Our usual supermarket, however, still uses paper price tags with color. The rule there was pretty much the same: “SALE” in capital letters, but on a red background. Plus, the price was underlined in red. This made it clear from several meters away: there are deals here.

But EDEKA, at least our local one, has even better ideas. They mark products where they are (supposedly) as cheap as the major discount stores. Even though this information is useless to me—if I wanted discounter prices, I’d be at a discounter—it might be helpful for others.

But not in red! Yes, it’s not identical, but from a distance, you’re used to looking for red price tags. And suddenly, 70% of the red price tags are no longer special offers, but the regular price that can supposedly compete with discounters. So my brain is constantly being triggered for nothing.

I just don’t get why they do this. There’s a clear risk of confusion, and I’m afraid some people won’t notice the difference and will be misled. Was this not thought through, knowingly accepted, or is it exactly the intention?