It sounds like a great name for a film franchise, but the Caterpillar Wars are real.  Well... 'real' in the sense that it's a real legal tussle wrapped in a cocoon of social media silliness.

I could focus on the substantive legal issues, but I won't. 

Instead, I wanted to shine a light on the way in which Aldi has reacted to the threat of legal action against them by M&S, purveyors of not just any caterpillar cake, but the M&S Colin the Caterpillar cake.   

Aldi, seeing Colin's success, wanted a slice of the action. 

And before long, Cuthbert was born - a suspiciously similar looking cake. 

After threats of legal action by M&S, Cuthbert has recently taken to social media in an attempt to garner support. He was recently spotted boning up on UK intellectual property laws - albeit a little late.

Aldi has resorted to bringing out a 'limited edition' version of Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake, with the promise of donating all proceeds to charity (instead of paying lawyers).  

M&S responded to say they like the idea of giving money to charity instead of lawyers, mentioning that Colin is already central to M&S's existing relationship with cancer charity, Macmillan, but they suggested perhaps Aldi should use a different cake for that purpose, like a Kevin the Carrot cake - star of Aldi's recent Christmas ad.

In the latest twist, Aldi has called on other supermarkets' caterpillars to join Cuthbert's gang... possibly to turn the spotlight on them... in the hope that they turn into moths rather than butterflies.

Cuthbert has called on Cecil (Waitrose), Clyde (Asda), Curly (Tesco) and Wiggles (Sainsbury's) to join the Caterpillar Wars. But, so far, they are leafing well alone.

It's a risky tactic to try to bring the other caterpillar cakes down with him.  So be careful Cuthbert... I hear snitches get stitches, and stitches can really Smartie.

Serves 12?  Serves 12 years in the slammer maybe!