There’s a headline I never expected to write…. but Iceland (North Wales supermarket, not country) is on the King Prawn Ring warpath.
It’s got Aldi, Tesco, Lidl and Asda in its sights as it applies for a trademark to protect its “iconic King Prawn Ring.”
“In 1991, we first launched the iconic King Prawn Ring within our stores. Let’s be honest, it was a shellfishly brilliant idea, but since then, we’ve seen more than a few copy-crustaceans crawling out of the pond.
“Aldi, Tesco, Lidl, Asda, we’re looking at you.
“You might think you’re pretty shrimpressive with your imitation offerings, but let’s get reel: there’s only one original, and that’s us.”
Yes, you get the feeling that Colin the Caterpillar is already considering providing legal advice.
“Over 30 years down the line and we’ve finally had enough of your fishy behaviour. We have applied to His Majesty’s Government for a trademark on the word, ‘King Prawn Ring’, as well as registering the iconic King Prawn Ring design with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and therefore we are writing this letter as a warning to all supermarkets,” continued the Iceland statement.
“We are today asking you to remove your pretender King Prawn Rings from sale and to not include them in any of your impending Christmas ranges. Doing so will ensure you don’t have any action taken against you should our applications be granted. Our lawyers are more than ready to dive into legal waters, and trust us, they’re well-armed to claw back what’s rightfully ours. We don’t want to have to scale things up, but if you continue to flounder in your ways, we’ll have no choice but to reel you in.”
The responses are as expected:
Lol our lawyers aren't scared of nothing https://t.co/kfzDOhpCxr
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) September 26, 2024
Sea-riously?
— @LidlGB (@LidlGB) September 25, 2024