Snoop Dogg, Master P sue Walmart, Post over cereal sabotage
Entertainment legends and entrepreneurs Snoop Dogg and Master P are suing Walmart (WMT) and Post Holdings (POST), alleging the companies purposefully left their cereal brand Snoop Cereal off of shelves. Yahoo Finance spoke with Master P about the launch of Snoop Cereal and the importance of black-owned businesses in June 2023.
Yahoo Finance Anchors Brad Smith and Seana Smith break down the latest development for all involved and what it could mean for the companies moving forward.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
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BRAD SMITH: An alleged serial sabotage on aisle 7. Legendary rapper Snoop Dogg and Master P suing Walmart and Post Foods accusing the largest US retailer and the consumer packaged foods manufacturer for purposefully leaving their cereal off of store shelves. Last June, Master P joined Yahoo Finance to talk about the importance of becoming involved in the cereal space take a listen.
MASTER P: We also have the first Black-owned cereal company. This has been going on for over 100 years that we've been consumers and never owners. So we're changing that game.
BRAD SMITH: The latest theory is that the two hip hop moguls rejected a proposal by Post Foods to buy the cereal outright according to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday. I got to say that you will not find a better tagline in the entirety of corporate America than you will on this particular cereal box here. Because at the end of the day, I think it's the creativity for "bussin yummy for the tummy oh, yeah" that ultimately, I think, is just showcasing some of the creativity that's needed in a very stale market here at the end of the day.
SEANA SMITH: Yeah, it certainly is creativity that's needed. I was on set there when Master P did join us last year. A lot of excitement around the debut of this brand. I think there's disappointment clearly on the side of Master P and Snoop Dogg but also some of the other companies here involved. Walmart has not yet responded to this lawsuit but when it comes to some of the disappointment that they have been seeing in sales.
Now, a lot of this tied to the fact that it has not, at least they are alleging, it has not been put out on store shelves. At Walmart, they said that they went around asked some employees about whether or not they had the cereal in stock. And when they looked it up within their system, it showed that it was out of stock when in fact they had it in the back room. So clearly there is a lot of clarifying that needs to be done within this accusation.
But I think it points to the fact that this is an industry it's tough to break into, right? A lot of people have loyalty. You need a creative brand like that. But if you have that creative slogan and you have recognizable names, you would think an initiative like this, especially in a chain that has such customer loyalty like Walmart, it would do well. So I think there are a lot of question marks just about the sales on this product and why it hasn't done a bit better.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah, this is a vastly different category than what we had seen Diddy and Diageo go through Diddy alleging that they had neglected his vodka and tequila brands. But we'll see exactly what comes of this particular proceeding here for Master P and Snoop Dogg.
