Gin

British Retail Giant M&S Pulls Popular Snow Globe Gin From Shelves Following Lawsuit Win Against Aldi Over Copying Product’s Design

Candie GetgenSep 19th, 2023, 8:07 pm

(Photo: Marks & Spencer)

British retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) has made a surprising decision to discontinue its highly popular snow globe gin liqueurs, The Sun reported on Tuesday. This move comes following a lengthy court battle the retailer had with budget supermarket chain Aldi, who was accused of infringing the design of the “very Instagrammable” gin liqueur.

These unique gin liqueurs, iconic for their glittery appearance and captivating bottle designs resembling snow globes, have become a cherished holiday tradition for M&S over the past three years. Shoppers particularly favored the clementine and spiced sugar plum gin flavors.

In previous years, these sought-after drinks flew off the shelves, prompting M&S to enforce purchasing limits due to overwhelming demand. The bottles featured suspended edible glitter and a light-up feature, contributing to their allure. Last year, the gin liqueurs were priced at £16 ($19.83) for a 70cl bottle, a reduction of £4 ($4.96) from the previous Christmas.

Aldi, a well-known discount retailer, had also introduced its own, shockingly identical glitter globe gin liqueurs at a more affordable price, leading to M&S filing a lawsuit in December 2021 over the alleged design infringement. In February, the lengthy legal battle concluded, with the High Court ruling that Aldi had, in fact, infringed on the registered designs of M&S’ light-up gin bottles. As a result, Aldi may have to pay damages or pass on profits from the product’s sales.

Despite the legal proceedings, Aldi continued to release new glitter gin variants, offering flavors like clementine, morello cherry and blueberry-blackberry — albeit in different shaped bottles.

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Candie Getgen

Candie Getgen is the managing editor for Gin Raiders. Before immersing herself in the world of spirits journalism, Candie has been many things: a bartender, a literary journal editor, an English teacher — and even a poet. Now, Candie shares her passion for gin with the world and hopes to help others fall in love with it, too (if they haven't already!). When not writing, Candie enjoys sipping a Negroni while drawing or relaxing by the pool with a campy mystery novel.