M&S removes T-shirt after being accused of 'ripping off' pub name

Marks and Spencer has removed a T-shirt from sale after a London pub chain accused it of "ripping off" its trademark name.

The T-shirt had the "Craft Beer Co." name in a graphic on the front and back.

M&S said it took "intellectual property very seriously" and added that its design was "in good faith".

The pub chain had tweeted the retailer on Thursday, writing: "What's the idea with these T-shirts!?"

It went on: "Can we expect a royalties cheque in the post!?

"Surely one Iconic British Institution shouldn't be ripping off another….!!"

In a further tweet the company said: "It really is hard to believe in 2023 such things can be signed off by someone at huge PLC."

After being approached for comment, M&S said it had taken the decision to remove the product from sale "so we can investigate further".

In a description of the T-shirt on its website, M&S had said "the St Michael Brewery-themed graphics on the back and chest add a distinctive theme".

The Craft Beer Co. was set up in Clerkenwell in 2011 by friends Martin Hayes and Peter Slezak, and now operates seven pubs in London and one in Brighton.

The Craft Beer Co.'s logo on a sign in one of their pubs

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hayes said they were alerted to the T-shirt when a punter mentioned it to one of their bar staff on Wednesday.

"I'm not angry about it, but it is a little annoying," he said.

"I've got a lot of respect for M&S. It's an iconic British business and I think somebody's just made a bit of a boo boo really, but I'm sure it will be sorted out," he added.

Mr Hayes said his company was not planning to take any legal action.

"We're a relatively small business so I don't think we'll be taking on a PLC. This isn't Aldi versus Marks and Spencer," he said.

In 2021, M&S took legal action against supermarket rival Aldi arguing that the latter's Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake infringed its Colin the Caterpillar trademark.

Marks and Spencer claimed at the time that Aldi's cake "rides on the coat-tails" of its reputation, and lodged an intellectual property claim at the High Court.

The two companies reached a settlement in the case last year.

On Thursday night, Aldi tweeted in response to this story: "OH HOW THE TABLES HAVE TURNED."

Mr Hayes said he was pretty sure M&S would withdraw the T-shirt in any case, calling some of the language used in the graphic sexist.

One of the lines reads: "Proper good beer... for proper good blokes", which received an angry response on Twitter.

"So only 'proper blokes' can enjoy beer? It's 2023!" said one.

"It's really awful wording, very sexist," said Mr Hayes. "It's hard to believe anything like that could be put on a T-shirt these days.

"Our pubs are very inclusive. We've always championed beer, and it's for everybody.

"I can see online that a lot of people are upset about it, and I feel bad about that. I think it reflects really badly on M&S."

Mr Hayes said one of their pubs was located very near to the M&S headquarters in Paddington in central London and said a team from the company had a booking for this evening.

"I'm not sure if they'll come now, but if they do come, they can rest assured they'll be treated as well as always," he said.