The war is on for the battle of the caterpillars cakes

[Footloosefancyfree]

Posting here for traffic. What are your thoughts on capillargate?

Yabu for support M&S
Yanbu for support for Aldi

@Pedalpushers

I think it was a bit tacky of Aldi to use charity to try and wriggle out of a possible intellectual property lawsuit. They do way too much ripping off other brands and I don't buy their wide eyed 'oh but what about CHARITY' for a second. Noone comes out of this well but M&S haven't done anything wrong that any other company wouldn't do.

I agree, thankfully the charities will still benefit, but ripping off others isn't cool. I know 'they all do it', but a lot of their stuff is flying very close to the wind, just look at some of their beauty products (they lost against CT as well). Must be loads of creatives who would design a great face for a caterpillar cake that hasn't been designed to look the same.

It's all just an advertising gimmick on both sides. The cynic in me thinks even this thread was started by someone in the pay of...
Apologies if that's wrong OP but like I said , I'm a cynic and advertising is quite sophisticated these days.

@Pedalpushers

I think it was a bit tacky of Aldi to use charity to try and wriggle out of a possible intellectual property lawsuit. They do way too much ripping off other brands and I don't buy their wide eyed 'oh but what about CHARITY' for a second. Noone comes out of this well but M&S haven't done anything wrong that any other company wouldn't do.

I agree with this. I think M&S responded beautifully regarding the charity idea (yep, they should use their own character)!

I also think that Aldi messed up and they're not as innocent as they're trying to make out. It's OK to sell your own version of something (just like other stores do), but they've completely replicated Colin's face, which is a step too far!

For me there's bigger issues, and better ways to spend profits. On jobs repaying any furlough expenses to the government not lining the posters of fat cats!

Pockets not posters

Aldi's funnier, but M&S are less depressing and confusing to shop in by far.

If Aldi was a neighbour, he'd be the Big Man you wanted living 3 blocks over so you could meet him at the pub each weekend for a laugh, but not have to deal with his shit.

So...I'd have a beer with Aldi but shop at M&S.

I think this is serving both companies very well in terms of publicity - I hate shop bought cakes and even I'm tempted!

I vote Colin only because the name Cuthbert makes me feel sick.

Sorry to be 'that person', but it's all just a massive publicity stunt. Funny how the money makers are now trying to grab our attention as soon as lockdown eased. People are too easily hooked by social media meme-a-thons to realise when they're being suckered at times.

Team M&S-taste better and they were first. Aldi have copied it just too closely.
Also Aldi are not there under dogs by any stretch of the imagination-they are a massive multinational company. And I would so buy a Kevin carrot cake!

@saltychoc

I think this is serving both companies very well in terms of publicity - I hate shop bought cakes and even I'm tempted!

Yup. It absolutely does. And not just them. All caterpillar cakes are flying off shelves now

@PicsInRed

Aldi's funnier, but M&S are less depressing and confusing to shop in by far.

If Aldi was a neighbour, he'd be the Big Man you wanted living 3 blocks over so you could meet him at the pub each weekend for a laugh, but not have to deal with his shit.

So...I'd have a beer with Aldi but shop at M&S.

This makes me think we should have a shar, marry avoid thread on each supermarket 😂

Colin, and Connie, were first sold in 1990.

But I think I remember caterpillar cakes around the same time as the hedgehog one, mid 70s. It was the cake of choice for non WI mums.

Take one ready made swiss roll, cover in coloured butter icing, add smarties for eyes.

Aldi are not some sweet little underdog with a rogue sassy PR person.

Quite. They have plenty of people hook line and sinker though.

I’m with M&S on this one though the other supermarkets also shouldn’t have copied Colin. Why is it so hard for them to be original e.g. just off the top of my head you could have Wally the Worm, Sassy the Snake, Susie the Sausage Dog or Gordon the Glow Worm (I kind of want to change my job to supermarket cake designer now).

Having said that, PPs make a really good point that M&S has basically done the same thing with some of its own products, as do the other supermarkets, Would M&S winning mean that all of those have to be withdrawn from sale too, which would be a shame for those who enjoy them?

I agree M&S seem petty on the surface and Aldi's social media response has been a triumph, but I think M&S are overall in the right here.

Intellectual property is serious and all of the other supermarkets (Aldi included) are wrong for ripping off the design used by M&S.

I used to run a moderately successful Etsy store and the amount of people who would blatently copy my products - sometimes even lifting the descriptions from my page - was phenomenal.

It's wrong on any scale, whether you're a small independent seller or a multi-national corporation.

@Floweree

Aldi are not some sweet little underdog with a rogue sassy PR person.

Quite. They have plenty of people hook line and sinker though.

Because it's a good laugh. It ain't Wendy's but still a good laugh😁

They don't even sell that cake anymore

I do like Colin- the chocolate is yummy.
I haven't tasted the others.

These are two companies with one aim, to make as much profit as possible.
However if charities can benefit even a little then I’m with team Aldi. It’s a cake not a cure for cancer.

I'm team Aldi on this one. If M&S were really doing this due to trademark infringement, then they would have prosecuted the first copycat cake years ago, not suddenly do this many years after as some kind of publicity stunt.

They'd bloody sold out of all mini and full sized Colins in M&S today. (And yes I buy them normally.)

It's working for them as a giant ad if nothing else.

Colin is really yummy. But it’s not only the cake, they have a whole set up with the Colin sweets, caterpillars and butterflies. Connie his girlfriend. It’s a big thing.

So I’m torn. M&S have every right to pursue the action and Aldi have blatantly ripped off Colin. But.. I do love Aldi’s social media team. They’ve managed what could be a really bad news story for Aldi brilliantly.

DH thinks it's just a way to get round the advertising rules. M&S are very restricted about when they can advertise their cakes as they are high in sugar and fat (and possibly salt too); so why not get the media to promote them for you instead!

I bet sales of Colin have gone up, along with all the other shops' versions.

Oh I just saw that a pp had said they couldn't get one today and it was working as a giant ad.

Read the full thread Poppy.