Cuthbert the Caterpillar strikes again in triumphant ad from Aldi

A King is being crowned this week, and his name is Cuthbert.

He is the Most High Class yet Low Priced, Most Tasty and Most Excellent Madeira, our Sponge Lord, Caterpillar, now, by the Grace of Food, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Caterpillarwealth, Defender of the Cakes, and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Party.

And now he has a new ad you didn’t know you needed in your life, but very much do.

There are more reasons to like it than Cuthbert has legs. The costumes! The gorgeous Welsh voiceover! The nod to other supermarket cakepillars! The fact that Colin looks absolutely nothing like someone in a M&S cake ad would! And of course, the unexpected scuffle at the end.

This is not just an ad. This is an Aldi ad.

It’s a triumphant return to its original roots of “we like this one” and “we also like this one”, which recognises the power of having a really great creative strategy and sticking to it (h/t in a similar vein to KitKat’s new ‘Have a…’ ad this week that leaves the reader to complete the rest).

Aldi knows not everyone is wedded to their supermarket.

You might do a big shop at Sainsbury’s and top-up at Tesco Express. You might shop for an average week at Asda and push the boat out at Ocado. You might have Waitrose tastes on a Wilko's budget. However you shop and why, the clear message is that you can get the same (or better) for cheaper at Aldi. A message we’re all grateful for in a cost of living crisis.

The ad is also a triumphant return to Aldi’s ‘gateway drug’ strategy. Remember when they lured the middle classes in with cut-price champagne and nappies? 

Cuthbert is a similar caterpillar cake-shaped Trojan horse. Pop in for one thing, walk out with more, then delight in saying ‘It’s actually from Aldi’.

Aldi’s third triumph is the fact they keep getting away with this shtick. I have absolutely no idea how but I’m glad they do. If Wagatha Christie got its own stage show, why hasn’t this captivating legal saga? Until then, we at least have this advert.

Aldi keep the beef just the right side of classy, too (naming no names, as I side-eye a certain airline) and Cuthbert has done that rare thing of crossing from ad land into real life (sorry Kevin the Carrot).

A wonderful new team member joined us from Australia this week and trying to explain Colin v Cuthbert, with Colin as the OG (or OC) and the supporting cast of Wiggles, Morris, Cecil et al, felt like an allegory for British society.

So this might seem to be a perfect 30 second ad about party cakes, but it’s probably about much, much more.