In context: If you've stepped foot in your local Walgreens at any point over the past several years, there's a good chance you witnessed a technological innovation that's now at the center of a messy legal dispute. The pharmacy chain started testing digitized refrigerator screens from a startup named Cooler Screens at select stores in early 2019. The idea is simple enough: replace the clear glass doors in the freezer section with digital displays, sensors, and cameras that can be used by marketers to serve targeted ads to shoppers based on factors like age or gender.The pilot was successful enough that the two sides entered into a multi-year contract, but the story doesn't end there.Cooler Screens ended up suing Walgreens for $200 million in June 2023, prompting the pharmacy chain to countersue for monetary damages. According to Bloomberg, Cooler Screens had already installed 10,000 smart doors at Walgreens locations across the country and had plans for 35,000 more when the pharmacy chain tried to back out over claims of faulty hardware and software. The publication notes that the screens often flickered, crashed, or showed the wrong products. Some units even reportedly caught on fire.At one point, Cooler Screens went so far as to cut the data feed to screens at 100 stores in the Chicago area. As a result, shoppers at those locations saw blank screens. Walgreens argued that it may have impacted their sales for that quarter.A spokesperson for Walgreens told Fortune they were disappointed in the company's attempt to interfere with their customers' experience in certain stores. Cooler Screens CEO Arsen Avakian, however, claimed they cut the feed to get Walgreens to respond to overdue invoices for the tech. // Related Stories"I got to tell them once, twice, three times, five times, 'Guys, you got to pay the f ing bill!'" Avakian told Bloomberg.For now, the legal dispute remains ongoing. Cooler Screens, meanwhile, has undergone several rounds of layoffs, and even rebranded as CoolerX. The company is now focusing on software than can be installed and run on existing platforms rather than also having to supply its own display hardware.