Diageo the drink giant, owner of such brands as Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff Vodka and Pimm's, said that it will be taking legal action against Sainsbury supermarket over what it claims is a copycat version of its popular summer drink...Pimm's.
The dispute started when Sainsbury released the drink, which it called Pitchers, in mid-April and started heavily advertising the product in the same way as Pimm's. It said that it could be mixed with lemonade and fruit (which is how Pimm's No. 1 is traditionally served). Apart from this, the bottle carries a high resemblance to Pimm's same bottle. In fact the bottle has the exact same shape, the letters are written in the same font and they both have a golden boarded with a coat of arms on the top.
The dispute started when Sainsbury released the drink, which it called Pitchers, in mid-April and started heavily advertising the product in the same way as Pimm's. It said that it could be mixed with lemonade and fruit (which is how Pimm's No. 1 is traditionally served). Apart from this, the bottle carries a high resemblance to Pimm's same bottle. In fact the bottle has the exact same shape, the letters are written in the same font and they both have a golden boarded with a coat of arms on the top.
Sainsbury, as all other supermarket brand didn't shy away from competition...to the contrary it use price comparison advertising to state that it's Pitchers was cheaper than competition and it performed better in taste tests. This has made it the obvious choice to many consumer for the summer season as the brand was launched in time for for all the top summer events...mainly Ascot, Henley and of course, Wimbledon.
The biggest problem for Diageo is that Sainbury's is one of the country's biggest retailers and one of their major customers...could this affect their trading relationship? Let's wait and see how it goes.
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