Relaxation Drinks Face Less-Than-Mellow Lawsuits

Posted September 1, 2010 5:13 pm by Jeffrey Klineman

Their names imply calm and quiet, but an angry lawsuit has broken out between the founders of two of the first relaxation drinks, Drank and Lean.

The suit dates back to the early launch of Drank, when Marco Moran, who eventually went on to start his own company, Lean, was representing Drank as a master distributor.

According to Drank representatives, the company sued Moran to try to get money for Drank products it had sent him to distribute. Moran was the original distributor for the product in Louisiana, Mississippi, Southeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas regions.

Moran, who eventually went on to start Lean, a relaxation drink with a similar marketing approach pulled from the “chopped and screwed” hip-hop scene, recently filed a counter-suit of his own, claiming that Drank founder Peter Bianchi allowed his partners to negotiate agreements with other distributors in his region, costing him money and violating his rights as a distributor.

The suit, filed in Harris County, Texas, features several accusations of fraud and breach of contract between the two companies.