Why Burger & Lobster’s seafood sharer is ‘definitely not a bucket’, despite its appearance

If we can’t say it’s a bucket, what are we calling it?​
A ‘cylindrical vessel’, according to Burger & Lobster’s press notes. Consider it a technical term. Indeed, just to make sure there’s no confusion, the now golden coloured tub in question has the words ‘This Is Not A Bucket’ emblazoned across it in capital letters.

Why can’t it be called a bucket, though?​
The upshot is that it can be. The complaint isn’t about the bucket, but the branding on it. Burger & Lobster, which operates nine restaurants in London alongside a growing international estate that includes sites in New York, Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia, Qatar and Kuwait City, originally launched its seafood feast last month. Called the B&L Bucket, it featured two whole lobsters, half a pound of prawns and fries all covered in butter sauce and served in a red and white-striped bucket that featured the tagline ‘it’s claw lickin’ good’.

Hmm, I think I can see where the issue might have arisen from​
Indeed. No sooner had the promo been launched than a certain fried chicken Colonel slapped Burger & Lobster with a cease and desist order. And so, having been advised to rethink the branding, the group has now relaunched the seafood sharer that’ll be available to order throughout August in a rebranded gold bucket… sorry, ‘cylindrical vessel’. “We want to be crystal clear - this is absolutely, positively not a bucket,” says Amy Illing, marketing manager at Burger & Lobster. “It's just a fantastic lobster feast that happens to come in a container that may or may not resemble a certain shape.”

Feels like KFC might have overreacted a bit…​
You say that, but for every restaurant group the protection of its intellectual property is crucial, especially when it’s such a dominant player in the market as KFC is. To be fair to Burger & Lobster, the whole thing was clearly designed to be tongue-in-cheek, and the decision to be upfront about the decision to change the branding and even harness it as part of a new marketing campaign neatly allows the group to control the narrative of what could otherwise of been a pretty embarrassing incident. It smacks of the irreverent, wisecracking confidence employed by the marketing team at supermarket chain Aldi, which famously launched a campaign #FreeCuthbert, a reference to its own-brand caterpillar birthday cake that became the subject of legal action after rival retailer Marks & Spencer claimed it infringed a trademark on its own Colin the Caterpillar Cake.

How often do instances like this occur in the industry?​
Burger & Lobster isn't the only restaurant group to have sailed close to the wind by riffing off bigger brand's product. Fallow's FOWL chicken shop recently teamed up with rapper Professor Green to create a Crunch-Rap Supreme that bears more than a passing resemblance to a key menu item at TacoBell; and Northern craft beer and Indian street food group Bundobust has been having a lot of fun on social media creating its own takes on supermarket and chain restaurant staples including the Müller Fruit Corner. Described as layers of samosa pastry, chickpea, potato, onion, sev and chilli sauce with a seperate serving of yoghurt and tamarind chutney. It sounds like an absolute winner but one that would sadly never get past the lawyers.