Too cute to stay in the closet
With ALDI Nord x Alexander Marcus – Patata, ALDI Nord is staging an unusual social media campaign that combines classic discount themes with contemporary entertainment. The starting point is an intertextual reinterpretation of Alexander Marcus’s cult internet song “Papaya” from the 2000s: the song is rewritten as “Patata” (potato) – a playful but catchy metaphor for the fresh fruit and vegetables in the ALDI range. The clip is a statement on the relevance of contemporary brand communication in the digital space and was awarded a Red Dot in the Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design 2025.
The idea came from Accenture Song Germany and was produced with 27 Kilometer Entertainment. Accenture Song combines strategic brand management, creative storytelling and technological excellence and was named Red Dot: Agency of the Year in 2025.
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Pop culture references as a strategic tool
With “Patata”, ALDI Nord deliberately draws on a German pop culture reference point that is familiar to many from the early years of YouTube. The melody, performance and persona remain the same, while the content is playfully reinterpreted to reflect the brand’s promise of freshness. It is precisely this recognition that makes the campaign so appealing: “Patata” activates cultural memory and recharges it at the same time.
ALDI Nord is thus inviting younger consumers in particular to perceive the discounter not only as a place of low prices, but also as a “place of freshness”. The nostalgic reference creates a deliberately playful context that breaks with classic product communication and generates viral shareability.
Ironic self-reference and artist-brand collaboration
The fact that an established artist is adapting his own musical template is an expression of a deliberate ironic self-reference. Alexander Marcus is not only rewriting his cult song, but also playfully reinterpreting it. The result is a cooperation model in which artistic self-promotion and brand communication meet on equal terms.
Fresh communication beyond classic codes
Compared to traditional food discounters, which often communicate product freshness via price and quality seals, ALDI Nord relies on cultural references and entertainment mechanisms. The campaign shows how a traditional segment can be redefined through unconventional creative codes – moving away from functional value propositions towards emotional and pop-cultural relevance.
ALDI Nord x Alexander Marcus – Patata illustrates how traditional product promises can be translated into a contemporary, viral form. For the creative industry, the campaign is a precise lesson in combining humour, nostalgia and a social-first mindset.
