On Thursday 15 April, English supermarket chain Marks & Spencer launched a legal process against competing chain Aldi UK for theft of intellectual property. At the center of the controversy is “Colin the Caterpillar”, a packaged cake shaped like a caterpillar which, according to the allegations, Aldi may have copied. What is “Colin the Caterpillar”?
It is a sponge cake roll covered with dark chocolate and chocolate pralines, with the face and feet made of white chocolate. Despite revising it several times over the years, Marks and Spencer have been selling it since 1990. The brand has expanded over the years: “Connie”, “Colin’s” girlfriend, and a cake were introduced in a jar. Effective and delicious, “Colin” is one of Marks & Spencer’s best-selling products, according to The Guardian, with more than 15,000 sold in a week in spring 2020.
I saw people wondering why @marks and Spencer Cuthbert and the others are not going after the cake, so I created a Caterpillar collage to understand the differences. pic.twitter.com/Pvnac1if57
Primary April 15, 2021
It is no coincidence that other British chains have tried to emulate its success at this time. And so “Clyde the Caterpillar” appeared on Asda’s shelves. Tesco proposed “Curley Caterpillar” and Sainsbury’s “Wiggles the Caterpillar”. Morrison began selling “Morris the Caterpillar”. And then appeared Waitrose’s “Cecil the Caterpillar” and the co-op’s “Charlie the Caterpillar” (nothing to do with the coop). Yet despite all these “tributes” similar to the original, Marx and Spencer never raised a finger until Aldi Uk proposed “Cuthubert the Caterpillar”.
This time, however, the chain’s legal team came into motion and sued the AldiUk chain before the High Court for intellectual property infringement. The reason is that this time the cake is also similar as compared to the previous time. Marks & Spencer alleged that Aldi wanted to ride the success of “Colin” and that the almost identical and less expensive product, the “Colin” is priced at £ 7, while the “Cutbert” is priced at 5 but of poor quality. . Therefore, the series hopes to remove its “Caterpillar” from the sale and never offer anything similar again. A spokesperson for the chain told the BBC, “Because we know how special the M&S brand is to us for our customers and they expect only the best from us,” we are ‘Colin’, ‘Connie’ and our reputation Want to protect Freshness, Quality, Innovation and Value ”.
In response, the Aldi Uk social team launched a #FreeCuthbert campaign on Twitter, stating that “Cuthbert was found guilty … of being delicious” and also said: “We will be” Colin “or a lawyer (a penalty-based ) The synergy between the English pronunciation of “calling” and “Colin”) ». In response, the hashtag #SaveColin was also launched.