Lidl ordered to melt thousands of lookalike chocolate bunnies by Swedish court

The stuff of nightmares, honestly.

In an act that can only be described as Easter Bunny Genocide, Lidl have been ordered to melt and destroy thousands of chocolate bunnies after a Swedish court ruled they were too similar to Lindt's flagship Easter treat. In a ruling this week, Switzerland’s highest court stated that the iconic Lindt chocolate bunny should be protected  from copycat products, including one made by Lidl. The federal court in Lausanne has ordered Lidl to stop selling its version of the rabbit-shaped confectionery and to destroy all their remaining stock, the Guardian reports. The court deemed the destruction of Lidl’s stock of bunnies as “proportionate, especially as it does not necessarily mean that the chocolate as such would have to be destroyed”, suggesting that the bunnies in question could be melted down and reused in another incarnation. Lindt's chocolate bunnies are easily identified by their gold foil wrapping and red ribbon with small bell, and are no strangers to the court. Lindt has been to court multiple times in recent years to protect its popular treat, according to the Guardian, and applied for a trademark on the three-dimensional shape of its bunny back in 2000, which was granted the next year. Header image via Shutterstock  READ NEXT: 10 Irish dog accounts to follow for some truly wholesome content