Utah Cookie War Heats Up in Court
Crumbl Cookies is suing smaller competitors Crave and Dirty Dough, claiming their brands and packaging are too similar to Crumbl’s. The defendants dismissed Crumbl’s claims as half-baked. Dirty Dough, whose sales have increased, fired back with commercials mocking Crumbl. Crave says it also has seen sales jump.
There’s a war going on in Utah – not over politics or drugs – but cookies.
Crumbl Cookies, which has more than 300 stores in 36 states, has declared war on smaller competitors Dirty Dough (six stores in Utah and Florida) and Crave (nine stores in Utah and Florida.) And it’s setting social media ablaze.
“Are cookies really worth suing over?” asked a TikTok user. For the founders of Crumbl, the answer is yes.
A Crumbl Rocky Road cookie. Crumbl Cookies
The lawsuits started flying in May, when Crumbl separately sued Dirty Dough and Crave, claiming in part that both brands’ “packaging, decor and presentation” is “confusingly similar” to its own. Crumbl filed the suits in Utah, where it’s headquartered.
Dirty Dough fired back with commercials mocking Crumbl.
In one advertisement, a big SUV pulls up next to a kids’ lemonade stand. A group of men jump out, telling the kids to “shut down the entire operation.” A young girl replies, “Are you crazy, why?” To which he responds, “Cause you’re selling cookies – that’s our thing.”
Dirty Dough also launched a billboard campaign in Utah, including one that read: “Cookies so good – we’re being sued!”
“It’s a silly situation,” said Dirty Dough founder Bennett Maxwell, “and it’s just like, OK, we’re gonna have some fun with it.”
He added: “Just imagine pizza companies doing to each other, right? Like sending pictures of a pepperoni pizza, putting them in a lawsuit, and say ‘Look, your pepperoni pizza looks mightly similar to mine’.”
The co-founder of Crave, Trent English, also believes Crumbl’s accusations are half-baked.
“Our branding is black and gold. [Crumbl’s is] pink and black. Their logo is … a chef wearing a hat. Ours is two overlapping cookies,” English said. “I don’t really see any confusion at all. I think most people can tell us apart just fine.”
Exterior of a Crave cookie store. Interior of a Crumbl cookie store with company’s logo on the wall.
Founded in 2017, Crumbl – which has 6 million followers on TikTok and 3 million followers on Instagram – has reviewers that rate its cookie flavors that are released each week.
In the lawsuits, the company claims the two other cookie makers stole its idea to release new flavors every week.
“They don’t want us to do rotating flavors,” Bennett said. “Because I mean, you know, they invented that – the ability to rotate and have it for
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