Master P and Snoop Dogg are demanding that their food brand, Snoop Cereal, receive fair treatment from Walmart.
On Tuesday, the rappers, entrepreneurs, and business partners filed a lawsuit in Dakota County, Minnesota against Walmart Inc. and Post Consumer Brands for alleging keeping Snoop Cereal in multiple store stockrooms instead of putting them on shelves, per The Hill. Claiming that the major retailer sabotaged their brand, Snoop and Master P allege that it stems from rejecting Post Foods' proposal to buy the cereal outright.
The cereal launched last July as part of Broadus Foods, and that December, a partnership was established with Post to develop promotional essentials like manufacturing, marketing, packaging, distribution and sales. The suit claims that the intent was for Post to “treat Snoop Cereal as one of its own brands” and begin distribution to “major retailers including Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Amazon.”
According to the suit, Post "pretended" to be in agreement with Broadus Foods, who sought to achieve the goal of “inspiring and creating opportunities” for minority-owned businesses. Flavors included in Snoop Cereal – which Master P and Snoop originally planned to name "Snoop Loopz" before a trademark infringement pursued by Kellogg Inc. – are "Fruity Hoops with Marshmallows,” “Frosted Drizzlers,” and “Cinnamon Toasteez.”
“Because the largest seller of Post’s products is Walmart, Snoop Cereal should have been placed on Walmart’s shelves right next to the dozens of other Post branded” cereals, the suit reads. "Unbeknownst to Broadus Foods, Post was not on board with their goals and dreams and had no intention of treating Snoop Cereal equally as its own brand."
The two men say that their efforts were disrupted due to not fully selling their brand. “Essentially, because Snoop Dogg and Master P refused to sell Snoop Cereal in totality, Post entered a false arrangement where they could choke Broadus Foods out of the market, thereby preventing Snoop Cereal from being sold or produced by any competitor," the suit continues.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that Walmart hiked up the cereal prices on their website to more than $10 per box.
Represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Master P and Snoop Dogg now seek a jury trial, along with damages of more than $50,000 for the cost of the lawsuit and attorneys’ fees, in addition to “further relief determined by the Court.”
