AIBU to ask whether you’re Team Colin or Team Cuthbert?

[Kimchidreams]

Yes I know it’s a trivial question but the lawsuit’s ridiculous and I’m bored. Other supermarkets have their own version of Colin, so why are M&S targeting Aldi? Also loving Aldi’s hilarious Twitter feed. So AIBU M&S are right or YANBU Aldi all the way.

@Icantchangemyusername

It's rather pathetic. Surely anyone that shops in Aldi knows it's not a branded M&S cake. They do loads of other products which are similar to branded items. M&S needs to get a grip.

As I pointed out on another thread, celebration cakes are more than usually likely to be eaten by people other than the purchaser, so the traditional “people will think this crap product is ours and that will damage our reputation” argument (which is normally unconvincing because surely people know where they bought things) is actually pretty plausible.

Aldi ABU for not making their version a Kevin the Carrot cake.

If this happens now I’ll be claiming some cash for coming up with the idea thanks!

I'm Team £1 caterpillar from the market in town on a Friday. He's got half his smarties missing but what do you expect of his journey off the back of a lorry? He tastes nice and that's all that matters.

Anyone who thinks they’re the same is an idiot.

Yes, all supermarkets have a version of Colin, but that isn’t the issue here. All the other supermarket versions are distinctive away from Colin.

Cuthbert is pretty much an exact replica, hence why M&S are going after Aldi.

Anyone on Cuthbert’s side is exactly the idiot Aldi are counting on for people to feel sorry for them and drum up business because “they all look the same”

I really don’t understand the fuss.
I am sure I have bought a caterpillar cake from Tesco or Sainsbury’s before. I know we have had them as I wouldn’t have got them from M&S or Aldi

Neither, if I want one I'll make my own.

@emilyfrost

Anyone who thinks they’re the same is an idiot.

Yes, all supermarkets have a version of Colin, but that isn’t the issue here. All the other supermarket versions are distinctive away from Colin.

Cuthbert is pretty much an exact replica, hence why M&S are going after Aldi.

Anyone on Cuthbert’s side is exactly the idiot Aldi are counting on for people to feel sorry for them and drum up business because “they all look the same”

Don’t feel sorry for Aldi at all. Don’t shop there and don’t eat chocolate either. I’m interested in this because it looks like bad PR on M&S’s part and Aldi have played a blinder.

I do see the point that someone might eat some of an unboxed Cuthbert that someone else has bought & think that it's Colin.

But surely Aldi aren't actually trying to dupe people into thinking that they are buying Colin in disguise?

Colin

Can the Aldi/Lidl fans answer me this - if the quality is so great, you don’t care about brands, names aren’t important etc, why does everything they sell have to be a dupe or rip off of an actual brand?

Because if the quality was really so great and it’s that and the prices that people went for, surely they could package everything in plain paper and it would sell?

I don’t understand the hypocrisy of ‘oh I don’t want care at all about premium brands’ and ‘but I want everything I buy to look like a premium brand from a distance’

Why didn't they tap into the love for sausage dogs and make a Swiss roll with 4 legs a tail and a cute doggy face. I can't think of a better use for one of those dreadful cakes other than the bin.

If Cuthbert is as awful as Norpak I'm Colin all the way.

I said this on the other thread but I’m genuinely unsure why M&S have chosen to specifically sue Aldi for this when all of the other supermarkets have sold their own versions for years. The only thing I can think is that the packaging is closer to M&S’s than other stores? Quite baffled by it.

Team Cuthbert anyway, I think M&S have just given Aldi lots of free publicity.

Aldi has been in hot water like this before. They were in trouble for the packaging of their Slimming World-esque ready meals, and they do a tub of yoghurt that is very similar to The Collective.

I generally root for the underdog but there's no denying that Aldi has totally ripped off Colin - it's almost identical!

Colin has been around years and Cuthbert is an interloper. (Always one eh! )

@Twinkie01

If Cuthbert is as awful as Norpak I'm Colin all the way.

I love Norpak!

@Propagandalf

I don't know why M&S are only suing Aldi, when Tesco and Sainsbury's have their own versions too.

Whilst the Tesco and Sainsbury’s versions are caterpillar shaped cakes, only Aldi’s actually resembles Colin closely

I'm not sure how Aldi get away with all their rip off products.

Team Cuthbert Gotta admit Aldi do crack me up with their marketing too 😂

Team M&S all the way. I know it's only a cake but M&S did all the development and built the brand reputation. Copying it to that extent is like stealing intellectual property.

Team Cuthbert all the way!

Why didn't they tap into the love for sausage dogs and make a Swiss roll with 4 legs a tail and a cute doggy face. I can't think of a better use for one of those dreadful cakes other than the bin.

I think Asda does one like this, I remember eating it! If not a Swiss roll then a sausage dog chocolate sponge.

Team Colin, broadly. Though I don't understand why M&S is doing this over a discontinued product. More generally, I don't understand why all the other supermarkets can't just knock out a different animal/shape - why six different versions of a caterpillar cake, really?

M&S did all the development

Or just stolen classic household cake idea and marketed it.

Built the brand reputation

Their reputation was built on far more than a chocolate log, and will withstand any potential competition on this one singular cake (that all supermarkets sell a version of).

I said this on the other thread but I’m genuinely unsure why M&S have chosen to specifically sue Aldi for this when all of the other supermarkets have sold their own versions for years. The only thing I can think is that the packaging is closer to M&S’s than other stores? Quite baffled by it.

@Isaidnope This has been explained numerous times so there’s nothing to be baffled by.

Cuthbert the cake is pretty much an exact replica of Colin. All the other supermarket versions have distinctive features. That’s the difference and the justifiable reason for suing.

Waitrose and Sainsbury use same face just different eyes on theirs.

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

Team M&S all the way. I know it's only a cake but M&S did all the development and built the brand reputation. Copying it to that extent is like stealing intellectual property.

How much development realistically was involved in what was already a pretty popular style of homemade cake.

Surely the only reason they hold the rights to a caterpillar cake rather than any other supermarket is because they got there first. It's not like they created the idea.