Duck Commander Sued By Kentucky-Based Iced Tea Company

The Robertson family brand Duck Commander is reportedly being sued by a Kentucky-based iced tea company that claims the family business did not do enough to sponsor their brand.

The Kentucky-based company Chinook USA LLC had originally signed a contract with the Duck Commander brand for an iced tea named after Uncle Si, one of the stars of "Duck Dynasty" who constantly carries around a blue cup filled with iced tea.

The lawsuit alleges that Duck Commander did not follow the agreement of the contract, arguing that the family company has overextended itself in agreeing to sponsor too many brands. The lawsuit adds that the Duck Commander brand failed to properly promote the Uncle Si-themed iced tea on nationally televised morning talk shows and in other media appearances.

The lawsuit argues that the company has spread itself too thin in granting sponsorships to too many businesses. The lawsuit quotes one branding expert as saying it's "sad to walk through [the Duck Commander] retail store in Monroe and see all the junk they've licensed."

The Duck Commander family has been known to promote a variety of items, including hunting gear, cookbooks, spices, sauces, clothing, furniture and YETI coolers.

"Sheer economic greed prompted this corporate marketing juggernaut to contract with licensing agents for the purpose of deliberately luring a host [of] licensees from across America into a Rubix's cube-like web of license agreements," the lawsuit states. "Within a year sixty-seven such licensees were consummated. As the proof will show, these licenses were consummated without regard to whether there were conflicting commitments among the licensees."