Hertfordshire ice cream maker rebrands Percy Pig flavour after letter from Marks and Spencer
An ice cream maker has been forced to rebrand one of its flavours after receiving a letter from Percy Pig's owners.
Fabio's Gelato only recently began making a new ice cream featuring the popular sweets.
But a swift response from Marks and Spencer has prompted a quick name change as the retail giant seeks to "protect its brand".
Fabio's, which is based in Hertfordshire, announced the new flavour on its Facebook page on 2 May and received the letter last Thursday.
It said: "It has recently come to our attention that you are intending on offering for sale at your Letchworth dessert parlour an ice cream / gelato under the sign Percy Pig.
"While we are flattered that you have been inspired to create a flavour based on our Percy Pig sweets, and in no way wish to stop you selling this flavour or from using our sweets to top it, we would be grateful if you could avoid using the name Percy Pig to do so."
The letter goes on to explain that M&S risks losing its trade mark on the brand if "we do not take steps to stop others from using them without our permission".
Instead, the retail chain suggests using a phrase such as "pig faces" or "pig sweets" "would be fine".
Fabio's was asked to respond to M&S within 14 days to confirm it had renamed the flavour.
Fabio Vincenti, who runs the business with wife Hannah, said they had taken the request in good humour.
He said the letter was "fair" and said he "respect[s] them as a brand" so was happy to make a change.
"We laughed when we got the letter with bags of Percy Pigs sweets to 'sweeten the deal'," he added. "But we were surprised at how they tracked us down so quickly."
After receiving the letter, Fabio's posted again on Facebook informing customers the ice cream would now be called "Fabio's Pigs".
"Aldi UK, can we call it Leo the Lion moving forward?" it joked.
A later post referred to the flavour as "those illegal piggies" and encouraged customers to come up with a name for them.
Among the suggestions were Pigs in Gelato, Piggylicious, Piggy McPigface and Notorious P.I.G.
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