People Are Losing It Over Aldi Germany's American Week Foods

Aldi is one of Germany's best-known exports, and they don't want to let anyone forget their origins. Not once, but twice a year American Aldi locations hold an event called German Week where they showcase a wide variety of products from das Vaterland. The next German Week is likely to happen around the same time as Oktoberfest (mark your calendars!) –- which, just to clear up any confusion, actually starts in September. If last year is anything to go by, we can look forward to Aldi aisles filled with imported treats like German pickles, German candies, Bavarian pretzels, and of course those amazing Deutsche Küche strudels. Aldis that sell beer and wine will probably double up on their German beer selection as well as their Reislings and Gewürztraminers.

While you're raising a glass to Aldi's German roots, though, have you ever taken the time to wonder what they're celebrating back in Aldi's homeland, where every week is German Week? Wonder no more. According to one intrepid Redditor, Aldis in Germany have something called "American Week."

A recent post on r/aldi explained that "While everyone looks forward to 'German Week,' in Germany it's 'American Week'." The accompanying photo showed an interesting selection of purportedly American foods. A number of items seemed fairly normal: peanut butter, pickles, mac and cheese, Pop-Tarts (the official Kellogg's kind, not an Aldi or TJ's knockoff), and salted caramel cookies. Some even had the Trader Joe's label. A few of the items, though, aren't exactly what most of us would consider standard American fare.

One item that either confused or amused most Redditors was something one person described as "Hotdogs in a jar." One chimed in, "I've never seen a jarred hot dog in the US. Are these common anywhere?" "Hotdogs in a jar are a very German thing," another commenter answered. 

Others spotted mysterious "cola juice box looking things," with one commenter speculating that what appeared to be grape soda was labeled as "blueberry marshmallow flavor." Another person pointed out that the soda in question was indeed blueberry marshmallow flavored, calling it "a bit of an acquired taste" and adding that the drink brand's name means "thirst extinguisher" in English.

We're not sure whether German Aldi shoppers really enjoy these American-ish foods or whether Aldi (or Reddit) is just trolling. As one Redditor put it, "This reminds me of those Americore Tiktoks where they pretend to be obsessed with American culture."