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Woolworths ends Ooshies promotion early after 'extraordinary demand'

Woolworths has announced the Ooshies promotion is coming to an end earlier than expected, due to “extraordinary demand”.

The Disney+ Ooshies is ending abruptly, Woolworths announced today, as the supermarket anticipates stock will be gone by the weekend.

While availability of Ooshies will vary from store-to-store in each state and territory, customers will no longer be able to redeem theirs when they shop online, with the exception of Victoria.

Generic photo of the Woolworths logo and a few of the Disney+ Ooshies Woolworths had for people to collect
Woolworths will be wrapping up their Disney+ Ooshie promotion early as stocks are running low across Australia. Source: AAP/Woolworths

Due to the surge of COVID cases in Victoria, Woolworths delayed the launch state-wide, meaning the allocation of Ooshies were separate from the rest of Australia.

“I want to reassure our Victorian customers these lower stock levels do not apply to them,” Woolworths’ Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Hicks said.

“We created a separate allotment from when we delayed the launch of the program due to Stage 4 lockdowns and they can continue collecting in the weeks ahead while supplies last.”

Mr Hicks said he was thrilled customers enjoyed collecting the new range of Ooshies, during what has been a “very challenging year”.

“It’s apparent customers of all ages have loved collecting these Disney+ Ooshies and their popularity completely exceeded our expectations,” he said.

“Because of this, we expect the last of our stock to be collected by the end of this weekend.”

Picture of one of the Marvel Ooshies which was part of the Disney+ promotion
Woolworths will no longer be offering Ooshies when customers shop online across Australia, with the exception of Victoria. Source: Woolworths

While the campaign was clearly popular, not everyone decided to collect the Ooshies, which were redeemable when customers purchased $30 or more worth of groceries.

Prior to the launch on August 26, all around Australia bar Victoria, people threatened to boycott the supermarket.

A woman on Facebook branded the new range of Ooshies “unbelievably irresponsible” ahead of the launch.

“We know from last time that these toys ended up in landfill or in our oceans. I just won't be able to shop here again if this is true,” she said.

Shoppers did have the option to not claim their Ooshies in store and unwanted Ooshies could be recycled through a TerraCycle bin in-store.

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