AUCHAN vs. Neuromarketing saboteur
Why do I carry out the NOPE HAUL challenges? Why do I load up huge shopping carts with tons of food and then leave them behind in the store? I do it to draw attention to the neuromarketing tricks used by supermarket chains.
It is now early 2026. Since March 2024 I have been sending electronic complaints to the major grocery chains asking them to place warning labels and images on shopping carts. In my articles I present the responses of various chains. The first corporate empire I examined is Auchan.
Auchan is France's second‑largest grocery chain and the 16th largest in the world. The French Auchan Group controls 53% of the shares of Auchan Magyarország Kft.
Below I quote English translations of the reply letters I received from Auchan Magyarország Kft., presented in chronological order. They sent multiple replies because I contacted them again and again asking them to put warning images and labels on shopping carts to help reduce overbuying.
First reply — March 8, 2024
"Dear Zoltán Bíró, We acknowledge receipt of your electronic message dated 07/03/2024. Thank you for your comments; customer feedback is very important to us. We have forwarded your suggestions to the relevant colleagues, who will consider them as they work to shape and improve the quality of our services. We wish you a pleasant day. Sincerely, Auchan Magyarország Kft."
Second reply — March 12, 2024 This is identical to the first reply and appears to be Auchan's standard response. Polite, but it means nothing in practice. It was likely drafted by marketing staff.
"Dear Zoltán Bíró, Thank you for your comments; customer feedback is very important to us. We have forwarded your suggestions to the relevant colleagues, who will consider them as they work to shape and improve the quality of our services. We wish you a pleasant day. Sincerely, Auchan Magyarország Kft."
Third reply — May 3, 2024 They sent me the same meaningless boilerplate again.
"Dear Zoltán Bíró, Thank you for your comments; customer feedback is very important to us. We have forwarded your suggestions to the relevant colleagues, who will consider them as they work to shape and improve the quality of our services. We wish you a pleasant day. Sincerely, Auchan Magyarország Kft."
Fourth reply — September 1, 2025 This reply is not the template — finally they wrote something substantive.
"Dear Zoltán Bíró, Thank you for your inquiry. Please be informed that in our stores, in addition to large shopping carts, small and medium‑sized shopping baskets are also available and can be used for shopping as needed. If you do not wish to purchase large quantities, we recommend using these baskets. We consider the matter closed. Sincerely, Auchan Magyarország Kft."
Fifth reply — September 3, 2025 With minimal additions, they repeat the previous message.
"Dear Zoltán Bíró, Thank you for your reply. As we stated in our previous letter, in our stores, in addition to large shopping carts, small and medium‑sized shopping baskets are available and can be used for shopping as needed. If you do not wish to purchase large quantities, we recommend using these baskets. We consider the matter closed. All the best. Sincerely, Auchan Magyarország Kft."
Auchan Magyarország Kft.'s responses make one thing painfully clear: they want this entire issue swept aside. Their message to me is essentially, "If you don't want to overbuy, just take a smaller basket — the rest is on you." With that single gesture, they try to shift all responsibility onto the customer. No acknowledgment of the harm. No willingness to warn people. No intention of revealing how oversized carts quietly push shoppers into buying far more than they ever intended.
And because most customers have no idea that this is a deliberate neuromarketing tactic, the chains keep doing it — pushing families toward overconsumption while pretending it's all just "free choice." They refuse to warn people about the psychological traps they themselves engineered.
Let me remind you: twenty‑two months have passed since my first complaint. Nearly two years. If Auchan had wanted to act — even minimally — they had more than enough time. Their silence is not an oversight. It is a decision.
I know exactly who I am in this fight. I am one person standing against a corporation with immense wealth, political influence, and global reach. In their world, I am insignificant. A minor irritation. A voice they expect to fade away.
But I won't. I refuse to let them declare this matter "closed" while their practices continue harming millions. I refuse to accept their indifference as the final word.
This is why I continue the NOPE HAUL challenge, again and again — not out of anger, but out of necessity. I will keep going until supermarket chains finally abandon the neuromarketing tricks that cause real, measurable damage.
And if they want to silence me, they will have to reckon with a resolve that refuses to die.
Zoltán Bíró — Nope Haul Revolutionary | Debrecen, Hungary.