Protecting the Integrity of Colin the Caterpillar
- Anna Gray
- May 22, 2021
- 8 min read
The following is an assignment written for my Journalism and Popular Culture module. I had to write for an online culture brand (Pop Sugar) on a current societal issue.
Protecting the Integrity of Colin the Caterpillar – do copycat brands threaten all that British society holds dear?
Popsugar > Living > Food
2021 has already been a difficult year; amid the ongoing pandemic, many of us find ourselves clinging to nostalgia and popular culture for comfort, in the hope of preserving our sanity.
But we may have reached the final straw. A person so dear to the hearts of many, so intrinsic to countless British childhoods, is being exploited in front of our very eyes. That’s right: Aldi have ripped off Colin the Caterpillar.
Many Brits have grown up with the likes of Colin and Percy Pig by their sides, punctuating family moments filled with smiles and sticky fingers. In fact, Colin the Caterpillar, being an icon of M&S, is practically a staple of British culture. As the unofficial masthead of M&S Food, whose adverts boast the voice talents of Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman and Dame Julie Walters, Colin is highly esteemed company. And now Aldi want a piece of the action.
For those unfamiliar with Colin, time to get clued up. Colin the Caterpillar, and his companion Connie, are both of the sponge cake variety, coated with milk chocolate and buttercream, and topped with chocolate sweets and a smiling white chocolate face. Launched 30 years ago, Colin remains the centrepiece of many a British birthday party.
Colin has effortlessly weathered the fleeting trends of fashion and stayed true to his original appearance since 2004, adding a spin on his outfit only for special occasions such as Halloween and Christmas. He has also donned some new colours to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support’s flagship fundraising event, ‘The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’. It is almost a surprise that Colin did not appear in London’s New Year lights and fireworks show, depicted alongside the likes of the NHS and Captain Tom.
Aldi’s latest offering is Cuthbert, a caterpillar so similar to Colin it’s practically a re-enactment of Lindsey Lohan in The Parent Trap. M&S are rightly furious, claiming that Aldi are ‘infringing the trademark’ of Colin the Caterpillar, and have promptly launched an intellectual property claim with the High Court. According to M&S, the startling similarity of the Aldi product may lead consumers to believe that the two cakes are of the same standard, and allows Cuthbert to “ride on the coat-tails” of Colin’s reputation.
This isn’t the first time that Aldi have not-so-subtly copied popular brands. A recent popular sketch by YouTube comedians Foil, Arms and Hog, called out the blatant copycat marketing of Aldi product design teams. The sketch showcases hits such as ‘Nutoka’, a hazelnut chocolate spread, ‘Wheat Bisks’, a wholegrain wheat breakfast cereal, and ‘Jaffa Cakes’, a… well, you get the point.
In fact, Aldi have been threatened with legal action many times, in response to their branding. In a number of cases, Aldi have sold their knock-off products for almost half the price charged by independent manufacturers.
One business who suffered at the hands of the German discounter was Heck, a small, family-run business, who pride themselves on ‘premium quality and flavour’. Andrew Keeble, former Yorkshire pig farmer and founder of Heck, approached Aldi in 2018, asking if they would stop selling their Italian-style chicken chipolatas, after confused customers noticed the near-identical branding.
However, Keeble revealed that all he received for his efforts was ‘a threatening legal letter’ in response, adding that: ‘Effectively, Aldi is like a parasite sucking all the goodness and creativity out of our brand.’
Amelia Harvey, co-founder of The Collective, a gourmet yoghurt brand, shares Keeble’s concerns. After Aldi launched a strikingly similar yoghurt range at half the price, The Collective’s customers reportedly felt ‘duped’.
‘Aldi is deliberately trying to use the cues of successful brands to fool consumers in to buying them,’ she said.
‘Our brand has taken seven years to tirelessly build by a small team. In one fell swoop Aldi has taken that brand value and used all our cues to cause consumer confusion.’
Coronavirus has had a devastating impact on many small businesses. A recent report found that Covid-19 could cost small businesses up to £69 billion in total. With nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs believing that their business may not survive the pandemic[1], many small businesses find themselves facing trying times ahead. It seems callous that Aldi, one of the world’s largest and most valuable grocery store chains, with an ‘empire which has made its founding family multibillionaires’[2], is taking their bite of the cherry. Or rather, the Colin the Caterpillar Cake.
However, speaking to The Grocer magazine, Aldi UK & Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley denied all allegations.
‘What we do with our exclusive brands is identical to what the rest of the market does with own label,’ he said. ‘which is to draw cues and make products easily identifiable for customers without seeking to copy.’
However, not all hope is lost. While small businesses may have little chance against the grocery tycoons, larger, well-established brands are taking a stand. One successful example is the Charlotte Tilbury compact dispute. In 2018, Aldi sold a £5 powder compact which looked ‘eerily similar’[3] to a £49 Charlotte Tilbury version. An infringement ensued, and it quickly became clear that Aldi were aware of the Tilbury compact when designing their own, and were left without a leg to stand on. Charlotte Tilbury was awarded costs and damages, alongside an injunction against the continued sale of the counterfeit compact.
So, can you stop Aldi copying your product? According to legal firm Serjeants, ‘the short answer is yes, but with difficulty’. As in the Charlotte Tilbury case, you’d need to prove infringement of an intellectual property right, such as copyright. But, even if you do manage to take on Aldi, victory may be bittersweet. Due to their plethora of copycat products, and the vast size of their business, ‘The costs and damages awarded are unlikely to be too high, and therefore won’t have any significant impact’[4].
But what of poor Colin the Caterpillar? Well, it seems that Marks and Spencer are on the right track, having lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court this week. M&S have a clear mission: for Aldi to ‘remove the product from sale and agree not to sell anything similar in the future’[5]. According to M&S, ‘Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation’[6], and is protected by three trademarks.
The Colin vs Cuthbert case has sparked significant conversation on Twitter, with many customers left outraged. One hashtag gaining traction is #teammands, as Colin fans flock to show their support, with comments ranging from ‘I’m all for M&S suing Aldi for the rip off Colin the caterpillar!’, and ‘Is nothing safe?’
What’s more, M&S know that their customers stand behind them in the war against Cuthbert. Indeed, upholding Colin’s status as the outstanding caterpillar is integral to the lawsuit. A spokesman said: ‘Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us, love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves.
‘So, we want to protect Colin, Connie, and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value.’
As we delved deeper into this case, Popsugar made an intriguing discovery. Colin has, in fact, had previous doppelgangers, many of whom still lurk among popular high-street supermarket shelves today. While M&S was the first retailer to sell a caterpillar cake, many lookalikes have sprung forth, including Waitrose’s ‘Cecil’, Sainsbury’s ‘Wiggles’, Morrison’s ‘Caterpillar Celebration Cake’, Tesco’s ‘Curly’, and Asda’s ‘Clyde the Caterpillar’.
However, some customers have jumped to defend Aldi, noting that they’re not the only supermarket chain selling caterpillar-shaped cakes. One Twitter user wrote: “Surely if M&S is taking legal action against Aldi for replicating Colin the Caterpillar they will have to go against the rest of these too?”
At the time of writing, M&S have made no comment. Which begs the question: Why Aldi?
An interesting observation is that all of the above supermarkets, bar Aldi, are British owned. Although presumptuous, this revelation does raise some uncomfortable questions. Could the Colin vs Cuthbert case in fact have xenophobic undertones?
Radio Times writer Andrew Collins once commented that London culture ‘has gotten to the point where it’s not only addressing peculiarly British subjects, but outright revelling in its Britishness, fetishizing and deconstructing the things that set the U.K. apart from other countries, ours in particular: pubs, fish-and chips, … Coronation Street’. Perhaps Colin the Caterpillar has taken its place among this list?
In addition to Dominic Cumming’s mission to ‘Take Back Control’, do we also strive to Take Back Colin? Perhaps the debacle could be summed up by one particularly pertinent tweet: ‘“bloody Aldi, coming over here, stealing Colin the Caterpillar”’.
Furthermore, there seems to be a whiff of snobbery in the air. Any Brit will know that M&S class themselves as a ‘luxury’ supermarket, epitomised by their tagline: ‘This is not just food…This is M&S Food.’[7]. If the masthead of M&S Food is proved to be overpriced cake, what does it say for the rest of the brand? Maybe the crux of the Cuthbert case is the terrifying notion that people will see Colin for what he truly is: not a member of the aristocracy, but a chocolate sponge. The truth is actually a piece of cake: Colin is just food.
Words: 1588
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