Love, Sugar, War
We love sugar in Utah. If you didn’t know… Well, ya you do. The state with the lowest alcohol consumption and tobacco use can’t get enough of that sweet white dust. Though there are no reliable statistics on sugar consumption by state, driving around any town built on a grid system will give you an indication of just how much we love the sweet stuff. And let’s be real, we at The Honey are as guilty as anyone of pushing the sugariest of agendas.
C is for Cookie, L is for Lawsuit
Big-ass cookies have been the centerpiece of the sugar craze for a minute now, and just as cream rises to the top, Crumbl is easily the cookie king of diabetes mountain.
Started in Logan, Utah in 2017, Crumbl has grown to over 500 locations across the nation and is projected to top $1 billion in sales this year… Ya, billion with a MF capital B. Crumbl is the flavors-of-the-week cookie champ with the pink boxes, teenage staff and confections the approximate size, shape, and calories of a McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger. 🤤
But it’s not all sunshine and celiacs for Crumbl. In the past month or so, it came to light that bakery behemoth filed not one, but two lawsuits aimed at a couple cookie competitors along the Wasatch Front. The first is against Crave, which is located in the Salt Lake Valley, and the other is against Dirty Dough, started in Arizona, but primarily located in Utah County, and St. George.
Crumbl alleges that Crave and Dirty Dough have infringed on their trademark and ‘trade dress’ (which is law-speak for the way the packaging/product looks), as well as trademark infringement… Nobody tell Crumbl that Domino’s was putting cookies in boxes back in 2015 (check this incredible 11-minute food review featuring the cookie/brownie which you won’t regret… You might, but whatever).
A cookie divided against itself cannot stand
While it might sound like a low-budget drama, the news of the lawsuit has our sweet, sweet state crumbling before our very eyes. Emotions are high, blood sugar is low, the divide is deep and Utahans are breaking into biscuit factions with each side being swift to extol the virtues of one cookie shop over another.
The backlash has been sharp for Crumbl, whose series of billboards down I-15 exalt the success of the “fastest growing restaurant chain in America,” as they’ve been cast in the minds of many consumers as a Goliath trying to crush smaller entrepreneurs under the weight of a metric ton of butter and sugar (and legal fees).
Crumbl CEO/Co-founder Jason McGowan shared a letter with LinkedIn last week defending the action. Much of the complaints surround the accusations that the founders of Crave and Dirty Dough had inside information about Crumbl, and used it in the formation of their business.
In a followup article that interviewed the founders of Crave and Dirty Dough, each disputed the claims made in the lawsuits. Dirty Dough CEO Bennett Maxwell claims that no opportunity to correct was made by Crumbl prior to filing the lawsuit.
Will the real slim sugar please stand up?
Many powdered sugar pundits have pointed out that Crumbl’s packaging and logo look strikingly similar to Chip Cookies — the OG in the space — which was registered in Provo, Utah a full year earlier than Crumbl. Jason McGowan confirmed that Chip threatened to sue at one point, but Crumbl ‘made changes and are all the better for it.’ So it would appear that (at least in the case of Dirty Dough), cookie courtesy is more of a one-way street.
As for Dirty Dough, they are capitalizing on their nationwide press coverage with billboards of their own to poke fun at the lawsuits. Though the issue will resolve itself in real court, the Honey’s Court of Public Opinion declares Dirty Dough the winner of the #CookieWars
(BTW… Let’s remember that actual war is still going on).
