Aldi has amused shoppers after "Colin its lawyers" in response to being sued by Marks and Spencer again.
High street giant M&S has accused the budget-friendly retailer of copying its Light Up gin - a few months after launching legal action over the resemblance of Aldi's Cuthbert the Caterpillar to its own beloved Colin the Caterpillar. Colin first hit M&S' shelves in the 90s.
M&S launched legal action against Aldi back in April and now, the BBC reports it has gone to the High Court seeking an injunction against alleged infringement of its design over its gin.
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The retailer says Aldi's blackberry and clementine gin liqueur is "strikingly similar" to its own Light Up gin.
Aldi’s The Infusionist Gold Flake Blackberry Gin Liqueur and Marks and Spencer’s Light Up Snow Globe Gin Liqueur both come in similar shaped bell bottles, with sparkling flakes of edible gold inside which are illuminated by a light in the base. The exterior has an elaborate forest design adorning both bottles.
In response to the news, Aldi has taken to social media with a series of tweets, delighting amused shoppers in the process.
Kicking things off on Twitter, Aldi referenced "round two" and quipped: "*opens folder of funny tweets we didn't use last time* #FreeCuthbert #Round2 ".
In a follow up, it said: "Nothing like getting taken to court to give you that tingly Christmas feeling", followed by: "We Colin our lawyers".
The retailer then added: "We're... GINNOCENT".
Aldi's tweets have racked up thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.
One shopper said: "GIN - gle bells M&S smells… Aldi is the best!"
Perrie said: "Already looking forward to next year’s Christmas Advert, Kevin and Ebanana smashing a bottle of sparkly Gin over Colin’s head. It’s what Santa would have wanted", adding a laughing face emoji.
Erin said: "I mean, seriously - everyone's just like "I wanna go get drunk with the aldi social media guys".
Amanda commented: "Whoever writes your tweets needs a pay rise !!! Absolutely brilliant, so needed at this depressing Covid times . Keep up the good work".
Elliott said: "Can you not discuss this with @marksandspencer like gintlemen?"
Chris added: "Here we go again" with a string of crying laughing emojis.
But some shoppers didn't see the funny side.
Luke said: "You could just come up with something original for a change".
Stephen said: "You've been getting away with ripping off other peoples hard work and ideas for years. At least someone is finally taking a stand".
Simon added: "We Love Aldi but as a small business we’d never get away with what your company does regarding blatantly copying other companies designs etc. how trading standards haven’t had you before I never know."
The BBC reports an M&S spokesperson said: "... like many other UK businesses, large and small, we know the true value and cost of innovation and the enormous time, passion, creativity, energy and attention to detail, that goes into designing, developing and bringing a product to market and building its brand over many years.
"We will always seek to protect our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value - and protect our customers from obvious copies."
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