Let the Buyer Beware

'Let the Buyer Beware' by Fiona Katauskas is a watercolour illustration which was published in the Guardian on the 19th of March 2024.   

The image has a simple green and blue background. At the top of the image, black text on yellow reads, 'Not-fun for the whole family!!' Under this is a red and white logo in the style of the board game Monopoly, which reads, 'Duopoly'.  

At the centre of the image is a woman with a boy and girl seated either side of her, around a board game. The little boy on the left says, 'Go directly to Woolies or Coles. Do not pass any other supermarkets. Do not collect ungouged goods'… The little girl on the right says, 'Not again!' Between them, the woman cries.  

At the bottom of the image, black text on yellow reads, 'Guaranteed you'll get played!' 

In the bottom right corner is the artist's signature, 'Katauskas'.  

The label text for this cartoon reads: In early 2024 supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles faced criticism from the media, which claimed that the duopoly was keeping prices high for shoppers and low for producers, and squeezing out competition. In response, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched an inquiry into pricing and the Greens led a Senate inquiry into price-gouging. Amid 2024's cost-of-living crisis, Katauskas' imagined board game would have hit home extra hard with many consumers.