How British Retailers' War Over a Caterpillar Cake Became Marketing Gold

Aldi takes M&S head-on in legal battle between Colin and Cuthbert mascots

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If you’ve ever attended a birthday or office party in Britain, here’s a staple you are likely to have experienced—the long, thin caterpillar-shaped chocolate sponge cake quickly bought from the local supermarket.

Marks & Spencer, the icon of British retail better known as M&S, claims intellectual property rights to the ubiquitous cake, which it has dubbed Colin, and has filed suit against rival Aldi in the U.K.’s High Court for selling its own caterpillar chocolate cake called Cuthbert.

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