Pathik Patel, the founder of Fit and Flex, a healthy eating brand, has sent a legal notice to Sony Entertainment alleging unjust actions of the company following his company's appearance on Shark Tank India Season 3. After an appearance on the show on March 15 earlier this year, it has been a business nightmare, according to a LinkedIn post by Patel.
Fit and Flex has been enduring 50 days of zero direct-to-consumer (D2C) business, the founder wrote.
“Feels really sad to see this, but wasn’t left with a choice either! It has been 50 days of zero D2C business and all we get to hear is - We won’t do anything,” Patel wrote.
We recently aired on Shark Tank S3- on the 15th of March which was a dream come true, but what followed has turned into a nightmare. Despite our joy at being featured on national television, our happiness was short-lived.
Patel says that Sony Entertainment Television has “unjustly targeted” and accused the brand of trademark violations without prior notice. The repercussions were severe: social media posts containing clips from the episode were removed, the company’s ad account was blocked, its Facebook page unpublished, and collaboration features on both the brand's and Patel’s personal accounts disabled.
Patel detailed the sequence of events and the company's efforts to resolve the issue stating the content was removed within 25 days, after which Fit and Flex ceased using Shark Tank clips in both organic and paid posts.
The founder said that despite communications with Meta and Sony, they have not got a solution.
He also added: “The company has ceased using any clips for marketing and merely seeks the reinstatement of their original accounts.”
He also claimed that over 70 other brands are experiencing similar challenges and that he just wants a solution from Sony.
“All we want is someone from the Sony Team to talk to us and help solve this amicably but sadly not a single party (Sony legal or Shark Tank) chose to reply. Not only me but more 70+ brands are facing these challenges,” he wrote.
He also said that optimistic growth projections of up to 7X were touted by the show but have now instead resulted in significant losses and a business downturn of nearly 10-12X.
Expressing his anguish, Patel emphasised the emotional and financial toll the situation has taken. "As the founder of Fit and Flex, I've poured my heart and soul into building our brand from the ground up, and this is extremely disheartening to see that massive media houses are harassing startup brands," he wrote.
Sony is yet to respond to the legal notice.
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