How Category Codes Are Killing Creativity

Heavyweight food and beverage brands have been trading blows for decades. But there’s a new contender stealing market share without nearly as much air time: Private label brands.

Their rise in recent years is a testament to the perceived power of value alongside the increased cost of everyday brands. And now, they’re (finally) becoming more culturally relevant by leaning into branding. 

Private-label brands might deserve more than just the challenger nod, as category leaders are taking stock—and action.

In June, Mondelēz International filed a lawsuit against Aldi, claiming the discount retailer’s lookalike private-label branding “dilutes the distinctive quality of Mondelēz’s unique product packaging.” 

Of particular note are Oreo, Wheat Thins, and Nutter Butter—three of the snack giant’s flagship brands that have been blatantly infringed by Aldi’s Original, Thin Wheats, and Peanut Butter Créme store brands. The similarities are striking, from typeface to color palette. 

Some would call this lazy, unoriginal, copycat branding. But I see it differently. These store brands aren’t just mimicking. They’re capitalizing—and they’re doing it with the industry’s permission. Category leaders have become complacent, too willing to hide behind the codes they’ve spent years solidifying. 

So yes, private labels are copying. And I love it. 

From Code to Crutch

For over a century, Oreo has crafted a distinct identity (it needed to, given that it was a copycat brand itself). It created the colorways, structures, visual assets and cues that define what “good” looks like on the shelf for its category. 

But that success has come at a price: Oreo has created a cookie-cutter template for aspiring biscuit brands to follow. And despite the lawsuit, Oreo’s ability to retaliate is limited. It doesn’t own bubble typography, and the product positioning on the packaging isn’t exclusive. 

For up-and-coming private labels that lack the legacy, recognition, and equity of established ones, these ingredients are ripe for repurposing. It doesn’t matter that Aldi’s “Original” cookies didn’t come up with the visuals or the language. All that matters, in the eyes of the consumer, is that it’s “familiar enough.”

Although Mondelēz’s outrage is understandable, especially as the sector gets more competitive, there are more constructive ways to solve for this than through a legal sparring match. 

For Oreo, it’s a lesson in agility and a reminder of the value of experimentation. Becoming wedded to established category leader branding is a fast-track to stagnation. Brands that refuse to be flexible will find it harder to flex their assets when the time is right. 

How to Evolve Your Equity

This isn’t to say that equity should be discarded. From Oreo’s trademark blue to Coca-Cola’s contour bottle, these are powerful assets that put the consumer at ease. Their value lies in their familiarity. 

But established brands flush with equity have more room to work. Each product has more than one ingredient to play with. Tweaking a logo, refreshing a layout, or introducing a seasonal pun for a product name—these reinterpretations don’t compromise the brand’s identity. They demonstrate a capacity to evolve. 

The food and beverage landscape has become systematized and over-codified. With new challengers constantly emerging, category leaders must acknowledge that there’s no room for timidness. Success hinges on embracing tension and being brave enough to stretch equities in order to elevate them. 

Push + Pull = Progress

I’m all for copying, as it means you’re doing something right. But now is not the time to rest on what was. It’s time to drive toward what’s next.

This isn’t about standing out for the sake of it. It’s about recalibrating for the new status quo. How far can you push your assets before they become unrecognizable—and does that even matter? Could a small tweak deliver value on a global scale? To answer these questions, brands must first know what to protect and what to play with. 

Private label brands aren’t fringe players anymore; they’re providing a much-needed nudge to category leaders. Instead of suing these burgeoning competitors out of existence, legacy brands should take their emergence as a challenge to evolve, disrupt, and innovate.