Supermarket Adli slams Great British Bake Off as cake row resurfaces
Supermarket retailer Aldi left thousands of social media users in hysterics after they posted an open letter to bosses of Channel 4's The Great British Bake Off.
The low-cost retailer has threatened to sue the popular baking show after quarter-final contestants were asked by the judges to make a caterpillar cake which appeared remarkably similar to their Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake. And this, they claimed was a breach of copyright.
A Facebook post that was shared by the supermarket after the show, said it had "violated Cuthbert's rights" and it also asked them to "cease and desist" any illegal public reference to the cake.
Great British Bake Off quart-finalists were told to make a cake similar to Aldi's caterpillar cakeThis comes after Aldi became the recipient of a copyright claim in 2021 when Marks & Spencer accused them of copying its famous Colin the Caterpillar cake to create Cuthbert. The open letter generated scores of likes and comments as online users found it "hilarious." The open letter has generated tens of thousands of 'likes' and thousands of comments with some describing the post as 'hilarious'.
The open letter read: "We are intellectual caterpillar counsel to Aldi UK. We write to you regarding Channel 4's violation of Cuthbert's rights. Aldi has always been a big fan of the Great British Bake Off, and we've long craved a Hollywood handshake* But tonight's episode really took the biscuit. It added: "Aldi is prepared to protect its caterpillar and pursue this matter to the fullest extent of the law."
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It added: "We certainly think a legal challenge would be a piece of* well, we think it would be easy. Therefore, we demand that you cease and desist from all further use of, and agree to permanently refrain from, any unlawful reference to, or use of, Cuthbert, including, without limitation, use of the image unless the team crown Aldi Star Bakers for the rest of the series (whilst Paul is dressed as a caterpillar). Hopefully this isn't a case of us trying to have our cake and eat it, and we can avoid a Great British Face Off. Kind regards, Cuthbert's legal team."
In response to reading the open letter, one person said: "Watching Aldi UK socials was the only way to watch GBBO tonight and it didn't disappoint. Love you guys (and us for the comments)." A spokesperson for Aldi has confirmed there is no current legal action against Channel 4. In May 2021 lawyers were brought in on the intellectual property claim as Marks & Spencer accused Aldi of ripping off their design. And it even went as far as the High Court.
But in February last year, both supermarkets reached an agreement and a deal had been struck to resolve the dispute. Details of the case were not revealed but Cuthbert had to change its name to Holly Lane Cuthbert Cake. Speaking after the deal was struck, Alex Watt, Partner at Howard Kennedy LLP law firm said: "It always seemed like this was an unlikely case to go all the way to trial. "
He added: "The fact that there was a well-developed PR campaign by M&S launched at the same time suggests that perhaps typically given the subject matter this was always intended for public consumption." Since it's launch many supermarkets have created their own versions such as Sainsbury's Wiggles, Tesco's Curly, Morris by Morrisons, the Co-op's Charlie, Cecil by Waitrose and Asda's Clyde.
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