Collin the Caterpillar Vs Cuthbert the Caterpillar - M&S Vs Aldi Caterpillar Cakes

[Yel]

I'm changing my vote to M&S, I'd rather side with an out of touch dinosaur that's slow to respond than how Aldi are playing this with charity.

And Colin seems to always do better in taste tests, so unlikely that people are playing more for the same thing.

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

I see the twitter echo chamber are calling that a vile classless response from M&S. Never saw that one coming.....

Looking at Twitter some people don't actually understand that Colin has been raising money for years for Macmillan. They seem to think this is some fab idea that Aldi have had and M&S aren't responding.

If M&S plan to go through with taking Aldi to court they have to be careful with what they respond on social media.

 

[Ohflogoff]

 

[Yel]

Not so cocky now with their crying emoji reply

 

[Cats_eyes]

TL;DR -
Marks and Spencer sells a popular caterpillar-shaped cake called "Colin" which is commonly bought for birthdays, etc.
All the other supermarkets in the UK sell their own version.
M&S decided to sue Aldi over its knock-off "Cuthbert Caterpillar", which pretty much looks exactly the same as theirs (all the others have some kind of variation)
People debated over which is better, memes etc.
Aldi's PR team proved themselves far superior and now seem to have won the battle by asking that M&S, and all other supermarkets that sell the cake, join them in donating the proceeds to charity. M&S will look very bad if they say no, especially since their brand has taken a huge hit in recent years
But this doesn't change the fact that involving charity is pretty cynical / morally dubious on Aldi's part. Also, Colin is generally agreed to taste better

Thank you so much for clearing that up for me!
Last year tiger king this year Colin

 

[BigMavis]

Bringing in the heavies now. M&S can't say no.
Don't know how I feel about that, hopefully it was arranged between the two before the tweet.

 

[BigMavis]

M&S will never bow to the little people, aldi are so much more relatable I understand taking it seriously, chocolate caterpillars are a serious matter, but I expect this is going all the way to the high court... Again.

 

[Saddlesoap]

Imagine M&S going after Aldi about a cake, a law suit they've been told they're unlikely to win because the two products cause no confusion to consumers. Risking all that money on an unnecessary legal battle when they've just had to make so many staff redundant because they can't afford to pay them , risking all that money when the staff in their stores are going off sick because of the pressure being put on them because they can't afford to staff stores properly.... Hmmm. Hoping it's a PR stunt.

This 100%
Felt similar about JL Christmas ad. I remember saying to my husband it better not have a stupid budget when they've laid off staff.

 

[kachoochoo]

colin has been battered

 

[Yel]

Maybe you could try to find Colin in a jar.

View attachment 534206

I saw M&S telling people on insta these have 400 calories a serving...and a serving they say is half a jar . Sack the lot of their PR team!

Why is m&s still so plastic centric? There's way better options out there and has been for years. Of all the places they could do so much better! They seem to have given up at the bare minimum of bamboo cutlery.

 

[Yel]

We use any celebration to buy a Colin. The others just aren’t as good

Even compared to Cecil? He seems to win the most taste tests

Waitrose Caterpillar Cake | Waitrose & Partners

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[WilmaHun]

My Facebook feed is going crazy with people applauding Aldi for their charitable suggestion. I can't help but feel that using charity in this situation is a bit wrong!

 

[Yel]

Lidl is better than it used to be, doesn't feel as communist thesedays. I quite like the experience. But fresh food doesn't last as long - good luck getting a bag of blood oranges without one of them being off!

Asda I really don't like, lots of the fresh produce has been tasteless.

Morrisons has an amazing playlist!

I want to say something about a silent support for m&s in the poll, but feels difficult to say it without mentioning a political trope

 

[CatCafe234]

There was a tweet that I probably can’t share here because of the language, but the jist was that Aldi had released nude pics of Colin in an attempt to discredit him ...

 

[Yel]

I don't like M&S's response

I think it's bland, wishy washy, it's non committal on the charity idea (which side steps the PR danger zone but doesn't agree to anything) Classic M&S!

I think it's good as it's just a social media post and it's not going to explain their roadmap for this year and beyond for corporate responsibility.

Although I'd have tweaked it to change the "we just want you to" to be more of a light-hearted suggestion.

And I'm still loving the serious analysing of chocolate log cakes

 

[WilmaHun]

I think it's a really good response! I wonder what Aldi will do next....

 

[Kinvarra]

Always a funny whiff in Lidls. And so seldom need to buy a lone miniature powderpuff, a jar of frankfurters and a wetsuit.

Edited to add: but yes bakery and veg are excellent.

 

[BigMavis]

I would actually like them to take Aldi to court now. They have my blessing

 

[sdmilne]

I certainly voted for M&S. Aldi are just not very good. Could never manage a full weekly shop there.

 

[Yel]

I didn't even realise M&S after several days finally issued a response yesterday. They've so been outplayed, even just saying social team makes them seem like they don't understand the internet.

Don't know how I feel about that, hopefully it was arranged between the two before the tweet

I doubt it was. Unsure how I feel bringing charity into it.