Cuthbert the Caterpillar, he’s tasty, is covered in chocolate and has a moist centre. You usually get him on your birthday as a treat. Yep Aldi’s caterpillar cake has gone viral!
It was announced last week that UK retailer, Marks and Spencer’s, were taking legal action against Aldi. They claimed that Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake was a copyright infringement on their own Colin the Caterpillar cake. The cakes are undoubtedly similar, however Co-op, Morrisons, Tesco and Asda have all also sold variations of the same cake.
Here is where the marketing team at Aldi got creative. They’ve created a series of social media memes using the hashtag #FreeCuthbert to protest their innocence.
The posts were instantly a hit with followers, racking up thousands of likes, shares and comments. One social media user commented “Very well played Aldi, your social media department all need a pay rise.”
It didn’t take long for other social media teams to get on the case, with many posting support for Cuthbert the Caterpillar.
The stunt, which some believe is a clever marketing ploy between Aldi and Marks & Spencer to drum up sales, has done exactly that. I guess we will just have to wait to find out whether this was a cleverly planned PR activity.
What’s the fate of Cuthbert the Caterpillar?
The latest on the case is that Aldi have propositioned Marks and Spencer’s with the offer of donating 100% profit of the sale of their special edition #CuthbertCaterpillar cake to 2 children’s cancer charities. These charities are already heavily endorsed by M&S so it’s a fantastic way to raise more funds. However the offer suggests the case is dropped and money is raised for the charities not for lawyers – Will M&S go for it?
We can see a range of Cuthbert themed goods heading to shops soon following on from the hype. Perhaps a stuffed toy? Will Cuthbert outshine Aldi’s Christmas mascot, Kevin the Carrot?
