The Chocolate War 2020

Reporting from Germany: Ritter Sport vs Milka. Ritter Sport will be the only company allowed to sell chocolate in square packaging in Germany, effective immediately. While we knew big brands used colo

The Chocolate “Square” War this 2020 ⚖️: Ritter Sport will be the only company allowed to sell chocolate in square packaging in Germany, effective immediately .

For decades, Ritter Sport has built it’s brand around colourful square-shaped chocolate bars.
Swiss competitor “Milka” (the lilac cow packaged chocolate brand🐮) had hoped to remove Ritter Sport’s trademark as the sole producer of square-shaped bars in the country arguing that “a square isn’t a trademark” .

However, the German Federal Supreme Court went in favor of Ritter Sport.
Turns out German consumers associate a square-packaged chocolate with the Ritter Sport brand & that brand has a pretty high value.

While we’re familiar with big brands using colors to influence their customers (For example, Hermes in it’s iconic orange box or Tiffany & Co. in their signature Pantone blue), shapes too, are now becoming increasingly common to create a unique brand identity!