ShopRite 'Kicks the Can' for Summer Campaign

Consider it the Can Can’t sale.

Wakefern Food Corp.’s ShopRite brand this week kicked off its annual summer promotion under a new name for the first time in more than 15 years.

The campaign, which has been known as the Summer Can Can sale since 2002, this year is known as the Hot, Hot, Hot Summer Sale. Officials of the Keasbey, N.J.-based cooperative said the new name better reflects the seasonal products included in the two-week sale event, including drinks, produce and prepared foods.

The change will not affect the winter Can Can Sale, which is ShopRite’s oldest and largest promotion, spokeswoman Karen Meleta told WGB. The 49th annual version of that event will return in January.

Wakefern’s member retailers began the annual Can Can sale 48 years ago as a means to promote canned goods, but over the years the promotion has expanded into a massive “stock-up” event supported with an advertising blitz, exclusive offers, promotional pricing throughout the store and an associated charitable event. Based on the success of the January sale, ShopRite added a second “Can Can” event in July starting in 2002.

The Can Can is known by generations of shoppers in the Northeast for iconic TV commercials featuring a cartoon kick line in the style of dancers from Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge. For the relaunched summer sale, the Can Can’s “Infernal Gallop” has been replaced by “Hot Hot Hot,” the 1980s-era dance hall hit most famously covered by David Johansen’s Buster Poindexter.

Related:Wakefern Food Corp. Announces $13.6 Billion in Retail Sales

The Hot Hot Hot sale began July 8 and continues through July 22 at all ShopRite stores.