British supermarket Marks & Spencer has taken an intellectual property claim against fellow supermarket ALDI over the latter’s Cuthbert The Caterpillar Cake, which they allege is too similar to their own iconic Colin The Caterpillar Cake.
Colin the Caterpillar (pictured above) has been a staple of birthday parties across the UK since 1990, when the chocolate roll cake, bedecked with more chocolates and a white caterpillar face, made its debut.
Previous debates over Colin have been limited to whether the cake’s face or backend is the most coveted slice.
But now, M&S has claimed that ALDI’s Cuthbert cake – which is approximately AU$1.79 (or £2) cheaper than Colin – is an attempt to “ride on the coat-tails” of M&S’s reputation.
ALDI, though, is not the only proponent of the caterpillar cake. A number of British supermarkets have insect-inspired treats, including Tesco’s Curly the Caterpillar, Waitrose’s Cecil the Caterpillar, Asda’s Clyde the Caterpillar and Sainsbury’s Wiggles the Caterpillar.
M&S also offers Connie the Caterpillar, replete with pink sprinkles and chocolate hair bow.
The ALDI social media team has since taken to Twitter to popularise the hashtag #FreeCuthbert.
Packaging update. #FreeCuthbert pic.twitter.com/XDSnhpvjmj
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 16, 2021
Live from inside the courtroom. #FreeCuthbert pic.twitter.com/3gCk7Ex553
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 16, 2021
Just Colin our lawyers.#FreeCuthbert
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 16, 2021
Supermarket LIDL’s Irish branch, which as yet does not have a caterpillar cake, also joined in on the social media action.
Our legal team’s search history right now pic.twitter.com/V8TP914VZs
— Lidl Ireland (@lidl_ireland) April 16, 2021
The case has prompted a number of individuals and journalists to conduct their own investigation into which of the plethora of caterpillar cakes is superior.
I trained as a barrister for literal multiple years.
Today I spent 2.5 hours driving around Salford and Bolton looking for different versions of Colin the Caterpillar for a taste test.
🍫 🐛 🎂 pic.twitter.com/vvrQ3FQWmU
— Olivia Potts (@OliviaFPotts) April 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/FelicityHannah/status/1383339232991666176?s=20
Publications such as The Telegraph, Evening Standard and Plymouth Herald have conducted their own testing.
The outcome of the court case is as yet undetermined as the caterpillar war continues.
Featured Image: Marks&Spencer online
