Red Bull says substitutes don't fly

In a suit filed in April in federal court in New York, Red Bull alleges that a popular Manhattan nightclub, Centro Fly, served a substitute energy drink to patrons who requested Red Bull, neglecting to tell them of the substitution. A bartender told a Red Bull marketing manager, who was at the bar acting like an ordinary patron, that it was selling its "own" brand of Red Bull, the claim says.

According to papers in a 2001 suit filed in Las Vegas federal court, Red Bull's manager for bar and restaurant accounts, Jennifer Smith, testified that when she and two other customers ordered Red Bull cocktails at Drai's Restaurant, the bartender mixed drinks using a beverage gun.

Red Bull filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia alleging a nightclub there served an energy drink from a beverage gun saying it was Red Bull.

The three suits were settled for undisclosed terms.

[WSJ sub req: Marketer Battles Bars Serving Phony Red Bull]