Marks and Spencer vs Aldi is a tale as old as time with no love lost between the two retailers.
Aldi is widely known for its discount prices, cheeky social media presence and of course, Cuthbert the Caterpillar.
M&S launched legal action against the German store in April 2021, accusing its rival of copying the design of its Colin the Caterpillar cake in a bid to force Aldi to take Cuthbert off the shelves and agree not to sell anything resembling it in the future.
Aldi, instead, doubled down and made a series of digs over the years.
.@marksandspencer drink Aldi wine pass it on pic.twitter.com/8NiNJIVVZP
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 9, 2024
In February 2024, Aldi lost again in its battle with M&S over a light-up gin liqueur, with an appeal by the discounter dismissed.
Seemingly still hurt by the loss, Aldi has now taken aim at M&S on X, formerly known as Twitter, suggesting the high-end retailer drinks their wine.
Social media users found the dig hilarious.
One said: "This has won the internet debate today".
Another joked: "Not just any wine this is Al Di wine".
Someone else asked: "What wine is it? Need a bottle now!" Aldi replied: "Grab two, some reason this bottle is selling mad today," with a link to this wine.
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Aldi copycat claims
It is the latest in a long list of disputes involving Aldi over copycat claims.
In 2020, Brewdog teased Aldi on Twitter over similarities between its ‘Anti-Establishment’ beer and the brand’s Punk IPA.
BrewDog’s CEO James Watt said the brand would launch a new beer called ‘BrewDog Aldi IPA’ and send some to the supermarket. The product was later launched in Aldi stores.
In 2019, Aldi redesigned the packaging of its Italian-style chicken sausages after Heck owner Andrew Keeble accused it of mimicking the brand’s chicken Italia sausages.
In regards to the latest M&S lawsuit, an Aldi spokeswoman said: “We are disappointed with this judgement and are considering our position, as we still believe there is no merit in the case put forward by M&S. We will continue to innovate and develop exciting, high-quality products for our customers.”
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