It Will Take a Miracle

It should come as no surprise to those of you who read this page that I am a supporter of the little guy. I champion the cause of those who are perpetually victims of the powerful and the privileged.

Such is this case.

Meet Tom Szaky. He is 25 and CEO of a company that had 1.5 million dollars in sales last year. Aha! You may think - who did this rascal, this Ivy League entrepreneur take advantage of? Well, I’ll tell you …. He’s the victim.

Tom dropped out of Princeton in 2003 and started TerraCycle, an eco-friendly maker of organic fertilizer. So environmentally friendly is his company, that all of its products come in recycled soda bottles. He takes garbage - waste and feeds it to worms, the worms poop, he takes the poop, puts it in used soda bottles and sells it. The entire operation is taking waste, that would otherwise end up in a landfill and reusing it in an environmentally friendly way. Heck, the fertilizer it makes is even better for the environment than chemical fertilizer. Who could have a problem with that?

Oh.

TerraCycle is being sued by the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, a 7 billion dollar juggernaut that racks up an impressive 59 percent share of the global fertilizer market. Their claim? Read on -

in its complaint, Scotts claims TerraCycle willfully infringed on Miracle-Gro's "distinctive and famous" look, mimicking its yellow and green packaging and including a picture of flowers and vegetables on its label. Miracle-Gro claims that the packaging similarities could lead to consumer confusion between the two companies' products.
"TerraCycle has passed off its goods as those of Scotts," the suit alleges.
The plant-food giant also accuses TerraCycle of making false and misleading advertising claims on its Web site and at point-of-purchase displays.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Let’s take a look.

Here is Scott’s product –


Here is TerraCycle –


Gee real confusing huh?

This is a classic case of the monopoly bully on the block trying to money whip the competition out of business. It disgusts me.

I must confess, I have used Scott’s product for years. I do some organic gardening, and I try very hard to avoid most pesticides, I prefer Garden’sAlive products to Scott's, but the Scott’s is cheaper and much more available, but no more. . I don’t know yet if TerraCycle is available in my area, but I am going to look for it this weekend.
Here is a company selling a viable, needed product in a very environmentally friendly way, and they are being money whipped out of business by these ass-holes at Scott’s.

I plan on running out and buying TerraCycle product immediately. Please do the same. Even if you don’t garden, it is made out of worm poop, it won't hurt anything, buy a bottle and pour it on a shrub on your way to work.

TerraCycle has set up a web page explaining the suit with excellent David vs. Goliath pictures and numbers. Please, go read it. They also have a defense fund set up. This is a company that has yet to turn a profit. Please go to their defense site and read it to the bottom.
You will be glad you did, I promise.

Let the people at Scott’s know how you feel. Don’t buy their product. And -

If you don't think Scotts should be suing TerraCycle, please write to the Scotts Board of Directors and tell them why. Separate letters should be sent to each director. The envelope should be marked "INTERESTED PARTY/SHAREHOLDER - DIRECTOR COMMUNICATION - PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL" and should be sent to each director c/o Corporate Secretary,The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, 14111 Scottslawn Road, Marysville, Ohio 43041. The Scotts directors are: Mark R. Baker, Gordon F. Brunner, Arnold W. Donald, Joseph P. Flannery, James Hagedorn, Thomas N. Kelly, Jr., Katherine Hagedorn Littlefield, Karen G. Mills, Patrick J. Norton, Stephanie M. Shern, and John J. Shiely. Please send a copy to your local newspaper and to TerraCycle at 121 New York Ave, Trenton, NJ 08638.

My letter(s) will be going out in the morning mail. I needed to use up my stamps anyway right?

Fucking Assholes.