Colin the Caterpillar is a much-loved addition to birthday celebrations. This quintessentially British cake has become a household name over its thirty-year lifespan, but as its popularity has grown, so has a host of imitators. But one supermarket seems to have gone too far, and now M&S is suing Aldi because their cakes are similar to Caterpillar Cuthberts. Here’s everything we know so far about the court case everyone’s talking about…
M&S has begun legal action against Aldi, claiming Cuthbert infringes its trademark "Colin the Caterpillar". The upscale grocer believed Aldi's version was too similar and was "riding on the coattails of Colin's reputation".
M&S brought an intellectual property claim to the High Court to protect Colin the Caterpillar, arguing that the similarities between the two cakes could lead consumers to believe they were of the same standard. M&S also wants Aldi to stop selling the product as it owns three different trademarks related to Colin the Caterpillar, and not to sell any similar products in the future.
A spokesman for M&S said: "Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the best from us, every M&S product on our shelves is A lot of love and care. We want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value."
M&S also shared an Instagram post with the caption: "You may have seen @official_colinthecaterpillar in the news...Colin will not be commenting but says thank you for your support #OGColin."
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In response, Aldi tweeted on April 14 "This isn't just any court case, this is... #FreeCuthbert"
The iconic Colin's cake hasn't changed much since 2004, aside from seasonal tweaks for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day. M&S also launched caterpillar face bags, cake tins and other related products, as well as the supermarket’s second caterpillar cake Connie.
The cake is a chocolate sponge with milk chocolate and cream inside, topped with a hard chocolate shell, chocolate candies and a white chocolate topping.
Aldi isn't the only supermarket to copy Colin's. Other cakes include Wiggles from Sainsbury's, Curly from Tesco, Clyde from ASDA, Cecil from Waitrose, Morris from Morrisons and Charlie from the Co-op.
Since news of M&S's legal action became public, their proceedings have divided customers. Some claim Aldi has "copied M&S products and packaging", while others claim M&S has gone too far.
Recently, Twitter users suggested that Netflix should option Colin and Cuthbert's storyline for their next documentary project. Hehe, don’t pretend you don’t watch...
