Nutella promotion sends French shoppers into hair-pulling frenzy

It's a well-known fact that Nutella is the nectar of the gods.

But, a supermarket discount on this sweet, chocolatey nectar had French shoppers brawling in the aisles. Indeed, local media even went so far as to describe the scene at one supermarket as a "riot."

It was, if you'll pardon the pun, completely nuts.

There were fisticuffs in the aisles at Intermarché supermarkets around France after the store offered a 70 percent discount, which brought the price of the hazelnut spread down from €4.50 (£3.93, $5.60) to €1.40 (£1.22, $1.74).

"They are like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady took a box on her head, another had a bloody hand. It was horrible," one customer at the Rive-de-Gier store in the Loire region told Le Progres.

France loves Nutella, and may account for 26 percent of the world's consumption of the sticky goodness, according to The Local. The Italian chocolate spread reminds many French people of childhood. Because many people turn to sweet things in times of uncertainty, the chance to get a hold of something comforting for next to nothing probably proved irresistible to the shoppers.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

According to The Local, one staff member at the supermarket in L'Horme in the Loire likened the brawls to "scenes at the Battle of Berezina fought between the French army and Russia in 1812."

"We were trying to get in between the customers but they were pushing us," another staff member told Le Progres, and said one customer had sustained a black eye.

At one store in Saint-Cyrien, southern France, customers reportedly "threw themselves" on a staff member carrying a pallet of Nutella pots.

Per The Local, police were called to a supermarket in Ostricourt, norther France, when customers "resorted to fisticuffs," and brawls were also seen in supermarkets in Roubaix, Nord, and Wingles and Marles-les-Mines, Pas-de-Calais.

Ferrero, the company that makes Nutella, said it regretted the violence but pointed out that the supermarket Intermarché was entirely responsible for the promotion, Le Progres reported.

Uuumm, u OK, France?