Cereal Company Post Foods Sues The Band OK Go

Indie rock band OK Go, who you might remember from their viral treadmill-hopping music video, have been sued by cereal company Post Foods. The band have been sued over the right to continue using their own name as the brand launches instant cereal cups called OK Go!

Post Foods filed a complaint on 13 January (via Billboard), stating that the band had threatened to sue and the cereal company would be "unfairly forced to continue investing in its new OK GO! brand while under the constant threat of unfounded future litigation by defendants." Post Foods is after a declaratory judgment that they've done nothing wrong.

OK Go made a statement to Billboard, writing, "A big corporation chose to steal the name of our band to market disposable plastic cups of sugar to children. That was an unwelcome surprise, to say the least."

The band added, "But then they sue US about it? Presumably, the idea is that they can just bully us out of our own name, since they have so much more money to spend on lawyers? I guess that’s often how it works, but hopefully, we’ll be the exception." Read more about the lawsuit here.

In December last year, Snoop Dogg revealed that his foray into breakfast cereal, Snoop Loopz, was no longer happening.

Snoop Loopz would have seen Snoop Dogg join a crew of rappers with their own signature cereals, including Travis Scott and Lil Yachty, who both dropped collaborative flavours with Reese's Puffs, but Snoop Loopz differs in some notable ways. The most notable of those is that, according to the official website, Snoop Dogg owns the company manufacturing the product. This gives the rapper the freedom to decide what to do with the profits, and he appears to be using that freedom to raise money for charities, including Door of Hope.  

Now, however, some hope has been taken from Dogg and his collaborator, Master P. The duo have been informed that they can no longer use the name Snoop Loopz - the most likely reason is Kellogg's making the staple Froot Loops and threatening legal action.

"So they don’t want us to use Snoop Loopz on our cereal box even though that’s my name," Dogg wrote on his Instagram account. "We’ve built a national brand and disrupted the cereal industry, we did it with hard work and integrity. I know they’re uncomfortable and scared."

He added, "But our mission is to build diversity and economic empowerment. Times have changed. There’s enough room for all of us to be successful. This is bigger than us, we are fighting for the next generation of entrepreneurs. We’re no longer just being consumers, we’re educating the culture building our own brands, and passing down generational wealth. Broadus Foods is all about helping the community. 

"It’s official we’re taking over the breakfast foods industry. They can’t stop us. It’s David versus Goliath. @masterp and I got the slingshot. This is a minor setback for a major comeback. #GodsPlan What do YOU think we should name our new cereal?"