BOSTON—Stop & Shop, the largest supermarket chain in New England, claims in a federal lawsuit that rival Whole Foods violated its trademark and stole its “Real Deal” marketing campaign.
Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. claimed in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston on Thursday that just weeks after it launched its “Real Deal” advertising campaign to show consumers how to save money, Whole Foods Market Inc. began using the phrase “The Real Deal” to promote its own money-saving program.
The lawsuit alleges Whole Foods’ “The Real Deal” logo is identical to Stop & Shop’s logo and a Whole Foods’ “Real Steal” sign that identifies bargain items is substantially similar.
The use of the signs “is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake and to deceive customers,” the lawsuit said.
Stop & Shop asked the court to order Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods to abandon “The Real Deal” promotion.
The lawsuit said the continued use of “The Real Deal” and “Real Steal” logos allows Whole Foods to “trade on (Stop & Shop’s) reputation for value pricing, as Whole Foods tries to shed its longstanding reputation for high prices that has, among other things, earned it the nickname ‘Whole Paycheck.’ ”
A Whole Foods spokeswoman said the company was reviewing its options.
Stop & Shop is owned by Ahold USA, a unit of Royal Ahold NV.
