The legal row between M&S and Aldi over the discount supermarket’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar has wriggled its way onto the front pages of the UK press due to some bold posts from the Aldi social media team, but Kat Mitchell asks is it a good move from Aldi’s PR/social team?
Aldi has been a topic of conversation in many friendship groups following its reaction on social media after learning it is the subject of a copyright infringement legal challenge by Marks & Spencer.
Posting photos of a “packaging update” with Cuthbert behind bars, reading legal textbooks, and asking for help from Judge Rinder. The #FreeCuthbert hashtag has been tending for several days.
M&S lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court claiming that Aldi’s Cuthbert has too many similarities to its 30-year-old Colin the Caterpillar. M&S says the Cuthbert infringes its trademark and “rides on the coat-tails” of Colin and M&S’s reputation.
Not only has Aldi left the nation in stitches, but is has announced it is brining back Cuthbert next month with profits to be donated to cancer charities.
Hey @marksandspencer can Colin and Cuthbert be besties? We’re bringing back a limited edition Cuthbert and want to donate profits to cancer charities including your partners @macmillancancer & ours @teenagecancer . Let’s raise money for charity, not lawyers #caterpillarsforcancer.
@AldiUK
Other supermarkets have jumped on the bandwagon, with Asda and Waitrose saying they are in with the #caterpillarsforcancer plan.
However, this latest development has been challenged by many with Twitter users saying that whilst they find the comments about M&S and Aldi’s lawsuit very entertaining, brining M&S’s charity partners into it is not on.
It would seem M&S agree, and tried to diffuse the conversation on social media.
Hey @AldiUK we love a charity idea (Colin’s been a BIG fundraiser for years). We just want you to use your own character. How about #kevinthecarrotcake ? That idea’s on us… and we promise we won’t do Keith Winking face
@marksandspencer
Aldi are certainly walking a very thin line between going viral on social media and risking the whole thing blowing up in their face.
Discussing lawsuits and other sensitive business on social media is a very dangerous game, and one that should usually be avoided at all costs in my opinion.
Social media is very fickle by nature, yes this kind of content may get a business a lot of hits short term and even lead to a temporary uptick in sales, but the impact is not likely to be positive in the long term.
Twitter users will soon forget all about the conversations that amused them this past week and move onto the next viral sensation, but the legal case will still very much be there.
I would also be interested to know what the social media activity means from a legal perspective. However, I am no lawyer so I will leave that to the experts!
Brandon Consulting Services Ltd 