The inventor of M&S’ Percy Pig brand, Julia Catton has said rival supermarkets creating copycat products are “lazy.”
Percy Pig has become an iconic brand of the retailers food division since it was first created in 1992, however M&S has since entered legal battles with other supermarkets over copycat versions.
Catton told The Telegraph: “My argument has always been, why can’t you do something different? There’s always a place for newness and consumers want it.”
“At many of the supermarkets, it all becomes a lot of the same thing.”
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In November 2022, M&S began seeking damages and an injunction against sweetmaker Swizzles after claiming the logo and branding for its Pigs Mugs brand was “highly similar” to Percy Pig.
However, earlier this month the Derbyshire-based confectionery company agreed to change the design of its sweets after reaching an “amicable resolution” with M&S.
A year prior in April 2021, M&S also started legal action against Aldi, accusing it of copying the design of its Colin the Caterpillar Cake.
In 2022, the retailer and Aldi managed to reach a settlement through a “confidential agreement” over the copyright dispute.
However despite this, the discount grocer reignited the feud with M&S last month through a new TV advert.
Featuring characters representing Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar Cake and M&S’ Colin, as well as Sainsbury’s Wiggles, Morrisons’ Morris and Asda’s Clyde the caterpillar cakes, Aldi looked to showcase the lower price of its chocolate cake offering.
