Spinning Around the trade mark carousel: Kylie Minogue v Aldi?

It seems Aldi has yet again found itself dancing in the legal spotlight, and this time it’s Kylie Minogue’s sparkling rosé that seems to be in their sights with Aldi’s launch of Rosalie Cotes De Provence Rosé.

The resemblance between Aldi’s £8.49 offering and Kylie’s £9 rosé is perhaps not just a coincidence – it may be seen as a step back in time to the retailer’s infamous “Caterpillar Wars” of 2021. Then, as now, Aldi's cheeky marketing strategy seems to flirt with trade mark trouble, daring the original brands to play legal hardball.

Under trade mark law, Kylie must prove that Aldi's product causes consumer confusion or unfairly benefits from the reputation of her brand. Kylie’s camp will doubtless argue that Aldi’s cursive label and packaging has a striking resemblance to their own brand, and that Aldi has tried to make its bottle look so fine it’s almost indistinguishable.

Social media has erupted, with customers questioning if this is a case of clever retailing or a blatant rip-off. Aldi, ever bashful, has doubled down, even boasting that a wine expert deemed the two rosés practically identical.

If Kylie’s team proceeds with legal action, we might be in for a courtroom tussle. However, as Aldi’s marketing machine has shown in the past, any publicity – even legal action – can be spun to their advantage. Just ask Colin the Caterpillar, whose distant cousin Cuthbert became a social media sensation during the last legal spat.

Whether Kylie will take a sip of victory or Aldi will once again ride the locomotion of public opinion remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: Aldi’s cheeky marketing always hits a real groove.