People criticizing Loblaws for asking shoppers for money to support charity

Loblaws Inc. is picking up lots of controversy on social media once again for asking its customers to donate to charities tackling food insecurity. 

In a post to LinkedIn on Monday, one user uploaded a photo of a sign situated next to the check-out line at a Loblaws grocery store. 

Loblaws gonna Loblaw pic.twitter.com/2sk0qR75sc

— Halifax ReTales (@HalifaxReTales) February 26, 2023

The sign in the picture reads, "would you like to make a $2 donation to President's Choice Children's Charity to help feed kids here in [province]?"

"Crappy that Loblaws is trying to drain more money from consumers," the LinkedIn user wrote. "Also crappy that nobody caught the [province] error until it was too late."

When we make a donation through Loblaw or, any other Corp., it will benefit by collecting the tax deduction. If you can, donate to the charity of your choice and get your own tax deduction.

— caro (@carosteele) February 26, 2023

Although some laughed at the inclusion of the [province] text, many respondents were more upset that the grocery chain giant was asking for donations in the first place.

"I know we posted record profits, but would you give even more of your hard earned money to us so we can get a tax writeoff?"

— Peter Rainford (@rainypete) February 28, 2023

"I would like Loblaws to lower their margins to feed kids in [province] as opposed to asking cash-strapped families to shoulder the burden," one person wrote.

"Yikes. That's a big miss. Not a good look for Loblaws," another person said. 

"They give 'free lunch' incentives to the cashiers that get the most donations. It's awful for the customers already being gouged with the unfair prices," one person responded. 

Another person suggested that the prompt had an underlying message, writing, "would you like to contribute to a charitable donation by Loblaws for which it will claim a corporate tax credit on top of its record profits this year?"

How about Loblaw's donate some of those record profits?

— Steve MacEachern (@SteveJMacE) February 28, 2023

Last year, Loblaws also enraged customers when it sent out an email to its PC Optimum members, requesting that people donate their PC Optimum points to organizations tackling food insecurity. 

The email caused lots of controversy among shoppers, who claimed that the grocery chain exacerbates the very problem they were "asking" their customers to solve.