Is it an Aldi fish or a Saucy fish? A fishy tale continues…

The question I would ask is: why copy, or closely replicate, a branded product’s packaging? I would suggest that apart from identifying a product type, it is to make you think it is a similar product. It may or may not be similar in quality or quantity. So it is designed to be misleading. If I am happy to buy an own-brand product I will do – in it’s own packaging. If I need any help finding it, it will be near the branded version presumably. I may want to buy the branded version, in which case I will look for the familiar pack. So I see no reason not to take action, just as in other copyright infringements.

Providing that the brand name is shown in large text so that there is no danger of confusion even if short sighted customers do look at the packaging, this does not concern me. As Malcolm says, the purpose of having similar packaging is to encourage the customer to believe that a product is similar to another brand. As long as the customer can see which brand is which, I am not concerned.

What concerns me much more is counterfeit goods, where the design and branding are copied in order to persuade the customer that they are buying a genuine product. Prison is too good for those who counterfeit goods.

In a Conversation about copycat products a year ago, McVities chocolate digestive biscuits were on sale for £1.75 and Lidl were selling the same size packet of their own brand (Tower Gate) for 59p. I bought a packet of each and thought that there was very little difference in taste and texture. Not surprisingly, McVities have dropped their prices considerably.

Copycat packaging is encouraging consumers to try alternatives to the big brands. Generally it is the big brands that spend a lot on advertising, so the cost gets passed on to the consumer.

We should demand that the brand of a product is shown in LARGE TEXT but perhaps enjoy the fact that cheaper brands are helping create healthy competition. That is something that is urgently needed with weekly shopping bills heading steadily upwards.

The Intellectual Property Bill will give protection for companies whose packaging is copied by others. and is now just waiting for Royal Assent:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2013/may/lords-intellectual-property-bill/

I am coming to this thread late and have not read all the comments thoroughly but would just like to add that Aldi are very upfront about their products being the cheaper version of known brands so its not as though there is any intention of fooling the consumer . I am sure some said this at the beginning of this thread!

I actively choose own-brands. It’s one of the reasons I like Aldi – fewer big brands.

Can we cover misleading websites in the same legislation?

Having invested considerable resources in a package design it must be rather frustrating for the big brands to find their images imitated by others.
However, consumers are short-sighted if they are unable to spot a copy.
Long live the ingenuity if the imitators

I think competition is good. Some supermarket brand products I like and some I don’t. If the branded names are so worried then bring their prices down or change the label. If branded products weren’t so expensive there wouldn’t be any need for the cheaper supermarkets. Mr the brands sort it out.

I think you are missing the point. Yes, competition is a good thing but the essence of this conversation is the way that supermarkets are trying to fool customers by copying the packaging of the brand leaders. Brand leaders put a lot of effort and money into developing a product and marketing it. The packaging design is, obviously, a significant factor in the marketing process so that customers can recognise the product on the shelves. If the supermarkets copy the packaging design the obvious intention is to gain sales on the back of the brand leader’s marketing efforts.

I have been caught out by this copying activity. In a rush one day I took a supermarket own brand product thinking it was my normal choice. The product, when I came to use it, was inferior to the extent that I had to throw it away. I check much more carefully now!

The point is, is the aim of the companies trying to bring actions under consumer protection legislation to protect their customers or their profits. I am all for customers being able to bring complaints about companies to court if they feel they have been mislead, but I do not want a company stifling competition in my name. If they want to set up an independent fund to allow customers to take companies to court then they would have my support, but I feel their interest lie with their own profits rather than my rights.

I am suspicious of own-brand items where the packaging is in the same colour / style as a brand item, as I assume all the cost has gone into copying the packaging not the contents, so I avoid these particular own-brand items, which seem to be a hallmark of Aldi.

I am more than happy to purchase ‘normal’ own-brand items and rarely buy brand items from reputable supermarkets, preferring to buy their own-brand items.

Conclusion: for me, copycat packaging stops me purchasing the item so is counter-productive.

It’s annoying when supermarkets deliberately mislead consumers.
A casing point was Asda had an offer on an isle end offering 4 pot noodles priced at £2.50 which was good value. Then the following week they had replaced the pot noodle for their own branded snack noodles in the same position at the same price as the pot noodles. I picked them up and realised I had been duped when I got home. The packaging and colours where almost identical.