Coles' 'Down Down' promotion, featuring that catchy jingle and a large red hand that practically yells 'deal!' at you, has been caught with its hand in the cookie jar. A federal court judge found the supermarket misled shoppers by promoting discounts that were, shall we say, creatively curated.

In a 523-paragraph judgment delivered Thursday, Justice Michael O'Bryan revealed how Coles tripped over its own 'guardrails' - internal rules meant to ensure a 'was' price was actually, you know, genuine before slapping a 'Down Down' sticker on something. Spoiler: they ignored them.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) got a peek behind the curtain and didn't like what it saw. The concern? The 'was/is' comparative pricing tactic is prone to abuse - like temporarily jacking up a price just to drop it again, fooling shoppers into thinking they're getting a bargain. It's the retail equivalent of a magic trick, but with deodorant and butter.

In late 2021 and early 2022, Coles started fiddling with its guardrails for two reasons: suppliers were hiking prices in an inflationary period, so Coles didn't want to sell at a discount anymore; and Woolworths was using a shorter timeframe to establish a 'was' price for its 'Prices Dropped' promotion. By January 2022, Coles required a 12-week 'was' price; by March, it dropped that to just four weeks. Consumers noticed and started sending examples to the ACCC, which found hundreds of affected products.

Justice O'Bryan ruled that Coles changed its practices 'in response to perceived competitive pressure from its closest competitor,' and that the 'Down Down' tickets would not have been misleading if the 'was' price had held for at least 12 weeks. He described a 'race to the bottom' in compliance with consumer laws. Coles, unsurprisingly, said it's reviewing the judgment.

Penalties could hit tens of millions of dollars, and Woolworths is facing similar accusations. Australia's big supermarkets have gone from pandemic heroes to a duopoly that fattens profit margins during high living costs. Coles put commercial interests above customers - and was caught red-handed.