Red Bull Wins Another Suit Over Bar That Substituted Knock-Off

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-- Red Bull Wins Another Suit Over Bar That Substituted Knock-Off

Posted by LKD on May-06-2008 18:55:

Red Bull Wins Another Suit Over Bar That Substituted Knock-Off

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...0,5083163.story

quote:

Chicago nightclub to pay for serving fake Red Bull energy drink
Bar ordered to cough up $500,000-plus over substitute

By Deanese Williams-Harris and Ameet Sachdev

Tribune reporters

May 1, 2008

Red Bull, the energy drink, is seeing red over bars passing off less-expensive competitors as its product, a popular mixer in cocktails.

A Chicago nightclub was ordered to pay more than $500,000 in damages after people working undercover for Red Bull ordered drinks that mixed Red Bull with vodka but were served another energy drink.

The judgment against the Wet nightclub, 209 W. Lake St., marked the fourth time Red Bull has successfully sued bars over its trademark in the past 12 months.

The mystery-shopper tactics and lawsuits show the lengths to which popular consumer brands will go to protect their trademarks.

"Red Bull is going after high-profile bars and trying to make examples out of them. Their approach is to vigorously defend their brand," said Brian Morgan, a senior research analyst at Euromonitor International.

Energy drinks have grown to more than $4.8 billion in U.S. store sales, according to Euromonitor, with Red Bull owning one-third of the market. It's not clear how much is sold through bars. But energy drinks have become trendy mixers with alcohol, and Red Bull is the dominant player in that niche.

Competition is gunning for it, and more than 150 brands have emerged, with names like Rockstar, Monster, and Roaring Lion, which was launched by former Red Bull employees.

Some competitors have begun selling their products to bars and restaurants in a syrup that can be used with a beverage gun. Red Bull comes only in more expensive cans, and bar owners complain that they take up a lot of inventory space and produce a lot of waste.

Red Bull has found bartenders pouring energy drinks from soda guns and passing them off as Red Bull.

"We only use legal action as a last resort, when it is clear a bar or restaurant cannot effectively adhere to the law," Chad Peffer, vice president of sales for Red Bull North America, said in a statement Wednesday.

Suits also were brought against Dicey Riley's in Ft. Lauderdale, which was settled for $75,000; the Roxy Night Club in Orlando, which settled for an undisclosed amount; and the Tavern in Houston, which settled for $150,000.

The case involving Wet began in September 2004, when Angela Latino, a Red Bull manager, went into the nightclub and ordered Absolut vodka with Red Bull. Instead, she got a cocktail made with a different energy drink.

Latino asked the bartender if it was made with Red Bull from a can. The bartender replied that it was made with "something like Red Bull from the gun," according to a filing in the U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Over the next several years about a dozen Red Bull "scouts" and private investigators visited the nightclub and also were served a substitute energy drink.

One bartender told an undercover Red Bull investigator that Red Bull was something of a generic term for energy drink: "It's like if you ask me for Kleenex and I give you a tissue."

The investigator said the substitute didn't taste like Red Bull, to which the bartender replied, "That's because it is actually made with Roaring Lion, which is a little different."

The bar was warned several times not to misrepresent the Red Bull product to customers, according to court filings. Ultimately, Red Bull brought its suit in March 2007 against Simon Gordon and Selective Publishing Inc. Gordon is the president of Selective Publishing, the bar's owner, according to court records.

Gordon couldn't be reached for comment. He didn't respond to the suit, and the judge in January issued a default judgment against him and Selective. He was ordered to pay $576,000 to Red Bull, including $35,250 in lost profit, and $97,000 in attorney's fees.

In July 2007 Wet's owners also were sued in federal court in Chicago by four employees who claimed they were not paid. A judge last month ordered that they be paid about $28,000.

Posted by TO guy on May-06-2008 19:04:

Default decisions make for crappy law.

I don't know how I feel about this. "Coke" means cola. If I ask for a Rye and Coke, I don't really care what the mix is.

Posted by I_Am_Vince on May-06-2008 19:26:

Red Bull is a brand though, Bacardi won a similar case like this when someone ordered Bacardi mojito or with coke I don't remember. But now by law if a person asks for Bacardi it has to be Bacardi and not no other rum.

Posted by infinity HiGH on May-06-2008 19:26:

I'd love to see all bars drop Red Bull from their inventory. Stupid idiots...

Posted by Jayx1 on May-06-2008 19:55:

i guess this is why when you order coke they say "is pepsi ok?"

Kind of ridiculous but hey whatever...

Posted by exstasie on May-06-2008 19:56:

quote:
Originally posted by Invasionmix
Red Bull is a brand though, Bacardi won a similar case like this when someone ordered Bacardi mojito or with coke I don't remember. But now by law if a person asks for Bacardi it has to be Bacardi and not no other rum.

Exactly.

The club needs to at least mention that they don't have Red Bull but a substitute for an energy drink.

By not doing so, they are passing off the beverage as Red Bull, when in fact it might not be.

What if something were to happen to this individual as a result of drinking alcohol + energy drink. There are tons of studies out there that state drinking alcohol and Energy Drinks can put a lot of strain on heart.

What if an individual were to get seriously ill or even die as a result (a big what if).
What would be the cause of death? Red Bull + Alcohol.... (when in fact it wasn't red bull, but a an inferior energy drink, at a cheaper price being passed as red bull).

They are just trying to cover there ass in an event of an incident...IMO.

Posted by TO guy on May-06-2008 20:01:

quote:
Originally posted by Jayx1
i guess this is why when you order coke they say "is pepsi ok?"

Kind of ridiculous but hey whatever...

The point is they never say this. Not at a bar anyhow. And I'm not sure that I am prepared to believe that Coke is served in every single bar I have ever ordered a rye and coke in.

Posted by She_Fitz on May-06-2008 20:03:

Guv recently switched to something that tastes like donkey piss... (well I am guessing).

It tastes nothing like Red Bull.

Had I know I would have made a different drink selection. Red Bull and Jagger is not cheap - it would have been nice to get a heads up that I was not going to get what I ordered.

Posted by VDub on May-06-2008 20:27:

quote:
Originally posted by TO guy
Default decisions make for crappy law.

I don't know how I feel about this. "Coke" means cola. If I ask for a Rye and Coke, I don't really care what the mix is.

I'm sure Coca Cola has an issue with it though...

Posted by jonnystel on May-06-2008 21:03:

GOOD .... i hate how you ask for a redbull vodka and you get a franks or rockstar that tastes like shit lol .. cough. guv. lol

Posted by FunkyCrew on May-06-2008 21:22:

quote:
Originally posted by jonnystel
GOOD .... i hate how you ask for a redbull vodka and you get a franks or rockstar that tastes like shit lol .. cough. guv. lol

I thought in Guv then never mix red bull for you, you get a can and alcohol in the glass and then you mix it yourself?

Posted by jchung52 on May-06-2008 21:38:

quote:
Originally posted by TO guy
The point is they never say this. Not at a bar anyhow. And I'm not sure that I am prepared to believe that Coke is served in every single bar I have ever ordered a rye and coke in.

many do. it depends how busy the venue is. in many cases, the bartender will think you really dont care and that you just want a drink but i've been asked many times if "_____________" is good enough and i usually just say ya sure whatever

quote:
Originally posted by FunkyCrew
I thought in Guv then never mix red bull for you, you get a can and alcohol in the glass and then you mix it yourself?

its supposed to be illegal for a bar to mix the 2 together

Posted by VDub on May-06-2008 22:53:

quote:
Originally posted by FunkyCrew
I thought in Guv then never mix red bull for you, you get a can and alcohol in the glass and then you mix it yourself?

That's what they do yes...

'Cept it's Rock Star now...

Posted by FunkyCrew on May-07-2008 00:07:

quote:
Originally posted by VDub
That's what they do yes...

'Cept it's Rock Star now...

yeah true that:P last Saturday at Acid lounge it was indeed Rock Star

Posted by DigiNut on May-07-2008 00:18:

quote:
Originally posted by TO guy
The point is they never say this. Not at a bar anyhow. And I'm not sure that I am prepared to believe that Coke is served in every single bar I have ever ordered a rye and coke in.

All fine if they're small enough to stay under the radar. It IS a trademark violation; it's no different from paying for a Blackberry and being handed some Nokia piece of shit with the word "Blackberry" hand-painted on. Or buying an Armani suit and finding out that it's actually just a JNY with the old labels torn off and some Armani labels sewn on.

The media always likes to spin trademark lawsuits against the manufacturing corporations, and no doubt they're all profit-motivated, but trademarks are about consumer protection more than anything else, and it's we who benefit the most.

The fact is, most of those off-brand energy drinks taste Bangladesh bilge water mixed with MSG and lemon peel, and have about half the caffeine of a Red Bull or sometimes none at all. You're getting charged the same price for an inferior product.

Posted by TO guy on May-07-2008 02:34:

quote:
Originally posted by DigiNut

The fact is, most of those off-brand energy drinks taste Bangladesh bilge water mixed with MSG and lemon peel, and have about half the caffeine of a Red Bull or sometimes none at all. You're getting charged the same price for an inferior marketing.

It's not necessarily a better product.

Posted by Shaya007 on May-07-2008 04:01:

They're hurtin' in T.dot..

woohooo!

lol!

Posted by Yohan on May-07-2008 04:09:

fuck red bull.

it supports a shite team in new york (no offence kelly)

Posted by jchung52 on May-07-2008 04:50:

quote:
Originally posted by Yohan
fuck red bull.

i like em, esp the redbull girls\. when i worked at taphouse last year, the girls would drive up in their redbull cooper and come out with chilled backpacks filled with redbull and hand them out to all the staff. i would grab 2-3 at a time. that was when i started getting addicted to them

Posted by LKD on May-07-2008 06:23:

quote:
Originally posted by jchung52
i like em, esp the redbull girls\. when i worked at taphouse last year, the girls would drive up in their redbull cooper and come out with chilled backpacks filled with redbull and hand them out to all the staff. i would grab 2-3 at a time. that was when i started getting addicted to them

and u went home and spanked it like there was no tomorrow.....

....redbull tastes the nastiest....ewww

Posted by Jayx1 on May-07-2008 16:55:

Im glad the price of energy drinks in canada have come down in reflection of our higher dollar. At walmart they are selling redbull 4 packs for $7!

Posted by kitchTA on May-07-2008 17:13:

quote:
Originally posted by FunkyCrew
I thought in Guv then never mix red bull for you, you get a can and alcohol in the glass and then you mix it yourself?

alot of people say that they make you mix it yourself but ive bought a "redbull (rockstar) vodka" at guv and the bartender mixed it for me..

ive never seen anyone have to mix one themselves

side note: 1 rockstar vodka costs something like $12, but the bartender said its cheaper if you buy 2 of them, cuz i think they can get two drinks out of the one little can....

Posted by DigiNut on May-07-2008 22:25:

quote:
Originally posted by TO guy
It's not necessarily a better product.

Personally, I disagree, but it's not a question of whether or not it's objectively better or worse. Maybe Rockstar is a better drink but maybe I'm just allergic to all the ginseng and "natural" shit they put in it. Or maybe it's better but also cheaper, and I'm getting charged the higher price. Whatever the case may be, I expect to get what I ordered.

When I order a Red Bull, I should get a Red Bull and not a Rockstar. If I order a steak, I expect to get beef and not chicken. Red Bull isn't a generic word for "energy drink" - it's a specific brand name referring to a specific thing, and anyone who sells a different product under the same name is swindling me, even if they genuinely believe that they're giving me something better.

I forget who gave the Coke example earlier, maybe it was you. It's true - "Coke" has become kind of a generic name for any cola-type drink. That's exactly what happens when companies fail to protect their trademarks - they become genericized. It's not just their loss, it's also ours; when you order a coke, you never know whether or not you'll end up getting a Pepsi instead, and even though some people like Pepsi better, the ones who don't are getting screwed.