Since then, our boards have been growing, becoming ever more populated with supporter submissions. We’d like to share some of those submissions with you today.
This first piece comes from less of a BH Warrior and more of a BH Compatriot, HartzKills.org.
We’ve been absolutely thrilled by the level of attention we’ve received from this excellent Hartz protest website that’s been in operation for years, but when this graphic was created in honor of our 13-day Twitter trend, we were over the moon!
Next up, we have a submission from one of our longest standing, strongest supporters; Lulu (@Lulu_Lindi on Twitter). Lulu’s involvement in our mission has earned her the title of BH Ambassador.
Continuing, the revelation Skelanimals has partnered with Hartz prompted active Hartz opponent, Boycott Hartz (found on Facebook and Twitter) to add the following graphic to its prolific body of protest compositions:
Though slightly newer to our mission; BH Warrior, Corina (@Rinarubee on Twitter), has made many contributions to the mission, including this important message for Hartz:
The last example of great Hartz Mountain Corporation protest art we will be sharing today comes from none other than BH Warrior, Guye (@Di_sss on Twitter). When it comes to BH Warrior art, Guye is the grandfather. He pretty much launched the artistic wing of our mission all on his own, inspiring us and others to follow suit. Here is just one of his many excellent creations:
Thank you to everyone out there that keep making Hartz Mountain Corporation protest art to add to the collection. Art has a way of reaching people in a manner other forms of communication cannot and, in the war against Hartz, we believe artistic expression will continue to play a strong role in achieving our goal.
Broken Hartz has explained its method previously (if you haven’t read it, please do), but we’d like to expand on this subject.
After completing our research regarding Hartz’ Executive Summary, Broken Hartz affiliates discussed the best way to get this message to the public. The sad truth is, our message is very depressing and the information being presented is tedious and complicated.
Our response to Hartz was very clinical.
As damning as the evidence we had was, it did not make for interesting reading. We needed to make this information attention-grabbing if we were to have a chance of communicating with the public.
Thankfully, this is where Broken Hartz excels!
Our affiliates, among other skills, represent the Graphic, Web and Multimedia Arts. Additionally, we work as communications experts in Marketing Departments and actively use social media in a professional capacity.
TIME OUT
Okay, Okay. many of you in the BH camp are probably screaming:
“Say it ain’t so, BH! Are you really guilty of working in Marketing?”
It’s true, we are, however the companies BH affiliates work for do not conduct themselves unethically nor do they engage in heavy-handed Marketing efforts.
Lastly, we have turned these hated powers into weapons of good against Hartz, so there.
TIME IN
We are quite familiar with this arena.
We know the rules.
We know how to fight back.
This is the main reason Hartz, Banyan Branch and 5W Public Relations, led by the nasty parasite, Ronn Torossian (That is not a typo, Ronn really spells his name with two “N”s), have had such a difficult time dealing with us despite the fact we have invested $0 in this effort.
How much have you spent, Hartzy?
By the way, don’t just take our word for it, Here are screenshots to prove these companies are behind Hartz’ Social Media/Marketing efforts. We’ve made sure to highlight another company supported by 5W Public Relations as well. Many animal rights activists will quickly understand why we have chosen to do so at this time.
If you're an animal rights activist, don't forget to check out who else 5W Public Relations assists.
Hartz is in so much need right now, Banyan Branch has them splashed all over their home page.
Moving on, after completing our response to Hartz, we launched our counterattack to their socially-inept media campaign.
Our goal is to take Hartz to the Court of Public Opinion where they will be found guilty.
Reformulation is no longer an option.
Hartz and Dr. Melinda Fernyhough, the Vet who cried “Safe and Effective” are never to be trusted again.
Hartz Mountain Corporation will have no choice but to shut down.
The Broken Hartz mission has broken down in the following manner:
Step 1 – Servicemark
Man, did that pay off! We knew a good mark would assist with recognition as our message expanded, but we had not foreseen how crucial this step would be in providing legal protection from Hartz’ counters to our actions. As we later revealed, Penny is the affiliate responsible for this little gem.
Step 2 – Start WordPress Blog
The blog is our passion! We started it while working on the Summary to get our feet wet. Scaling back from our daily posting schedule was tough, but necessary to allow other branches of the mission to flourish.
Step 3 – Twitter
The information was there. Now we had to advertise. As with the blog, we started our Twitter account before submitting our Summary to Rite Aid. We immediately began tweeting at Hartz, but, from our blog views, they didn’t seem to take notice.
Step 4 – Jazz Up the Summary
It’s still tedious, but definitely entertaining. The day Rite Aid Senior Counsel finally clued Hartz in as to what we had been up to, our blog views spiked!
Clearly, we had gotten someone’s attention.
We had been reveling in their phony EPA article being witnessed by the public in all its glory for those four days before Hartz deleted it! That’s a very interesting, often overlooked, post. Be sure to check it out.
Step 5 – Get Loud, Very Loud
Hartz was on to us, so it was time to get as loud as possible on Twitter.
Step 6 – The Expansion.
It was time to spread the message, but there was a problem.
Step 7 – The Infringement Battles
Step 6 led to the discovery of Hartz’ “response” to our actions. This was a brilliant chapter in the BH mission in which Hartz was handed three sound beatings (on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest) thanks to Penny’s servicemark and our collective knowledge of how to defend it.
This also led to a huge spike in exposure and interest in our cause.
Thanks, Hartz!
Step 8 – Let Loose the Visuals
BH had been including graphics in posts for a while. They readily appeared in Google searches but we weren’t communicating a visual message beyond that point.
This changed when @Di_sss took it upon himself to create clever visuals and distribute them over Twitter. This rallied BH to get a move on and attend to this important avenue of communication that we had been relatively ignoring.
To be clear, @Di_sss is not an official BH affiliate. He is a compatriot that has taken up the cause in a most inspiring way. His contributions have not only added to the BH message on Twitter, but have been shared on our Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube pages as well.
Thank you for providing great content all on your own, Guye.
Your unique methods paved the way for the release of our “We Iz Anonymous Cats” video as well as drove us to creating “Melinda Wants Money“. We’re sure Mel just loves that one.
A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth tens of thousands of pictures.
Look Mel, you’re going to be a superstar!
Continuing
People don’t seem to readily care about this topic unless they are animal activists or have been affected themselves.
We welcome these individuals with open arms. They are a great boon to our mission, but our true goal is to reach those who are neither.
We seek to rally the disengaged public before this happens to them, but there are a lot of people talking on the internet and getting them interested in what one small organization has to say is difficult.
This is why we have taken our aggressively cutting and sarcastic approach to Hartz.
We have slowly built on this idea, in an attempt to make Hartz a laughing stock. We want all to readily associate Hartz Mountain Corporation as a joke. A pathetic excuse for a company that everyone knows to avoid.
Despite the joking, we make sure to always speak truth. It is our only protection and all that we need.
We make every effort to speak carefully, in our own crazy way.
For instance, Broken Hartz refrains from recommending any flea products, but simply asks people to speak with a reputable Veterinarian.
It’s not that we don’t have an opinion on the matter, we just really want to drive the point home that people should check with a reputable Vet before putting anything on an animal.
Some products are safer than others depending on certain variables and sometimes reputable products have counterfeits available online, making the whole matter more complicated.
There are even many organic solutions available but, again, we ask you to first speak with a reputable Veterinarian.
You may notice individuals supporting the BH mission mentioning their own product preferences but, these individuals are not official members of Broken Hartz and their opinions should not be attributed to us.
Followers are always free to state their own thoughts and recommendations even if BH has a differing opinion.
You are individuals with your own voices.
We are not responsible for what you have to say and, more importantly, you are not responsible for anything we say.
Nevertheless, we wish to announce the creation of our BH Warrior Kit page.
There, you will find many useful tools to aid you in joining our cause, should you wish to avail yourself of them.
Yes, Readers, the time has arrived! An official BH affiliate has appeared on Twitter, codename: @bhpenny.
Penny was given a warm welcome as she popped on to the Twitter scene last night.
We were lucky enough to score an interview with this little firecracker and ask her a few questions about BH, Dr. Melinda and Hartz in general.
BH: So, your first name is Penelope, right?
Penelope: Well, that’z mah hooman’s name for me. My kitteh mom named me “Meow”. You can call me Penny.
BH: What role do you play on the official Broken Hartz team?
Penny: Well, I iz the cutest…
BH: Naturally.
Penny: I also thinks Hartz is stoopid…
BH: Noted.
Penny: …and I likes to *hiss* and *rawr* at them.
BH: Effective, but what do you do?
Penny: You sees, I luvs teh animals. You may have noticed I iz an animals. I represents a Broken Hartz affiliate on the Twitters. I investigates, I manage the Broken Hartz Pinterest account and I even made teh BH servicemark!
Broken Hartz thought it wuz time for meow to get outs, strut mah stuffs, flash mah claws and talks to teh public on mah owns. *rawr*
BH: Oh, yeah! We forgot about that. You say you manage the Pinterest account?
Penny: I dos.
BH: Hartz has a Pinterest account, too, don’t they?
Penny: Yeah. Hartz haz had a Pinterest account fer awhiles now, but they only started to use it becuz they know we iz on Pinterest too.
Our boards are way coolers than dumb old Hartzy’s and we have more followers. But we could use mores. Do you remembers how Hartz tried to infringe on mah servicemark on Pinterest?
Penny: I’m not just here to be silly and cute, although I iz very cute.
BH: Yes, we’ve covered that.
Penny: I plan to do mah best to expose the dangers of the pawful Hartz Mountain Corporation, so kittehs and doggehs effurrywhere don’t get sick or die, all while being cute. Did I mention I’m cute?
BH: No, we don’t believe you did. Moving on, what are your thoughts on Dr. Melinda?
Penny: *HISS* She iz a mean mean lady. She should have her veterinary license revoked for the lies she haz told to protect stoopid Hartz. She took a vows to save us, but she broke it in exchange for monies. She probably cared about animals more than monies at one time, but not anymores. Iz sad.
BH: Yes, it is sad. What do you think about websites like HartzVictims.org?
Penny: They iz sad, too but impawtants for the hoomans to see so Hartz doesn’t keep gettings aways with hurting animals.
BH: Very true. Well, Penny, we know you want to get out there and start bringing the Broken Hartz message to the public, but is there anything else you’d like to say?
Penny: I may be small and cute, but I iz smart toos and I has seens what Hartz haz been doings and I can not haz.
I will not stops until Hartz goes away.
Penny’s no joke. Keep an eye out for this little girl. She’s sure to have a lot to say and Hartz isn’t going to like it.
She’ll be flashing her claws and spreading the truth, all while looking adorable.
Please follow @bhpenny on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did!
=^..^=
UPDATE: PENNY NEEDS YOUR HELP ON PINTEREST!
Penny’s comment about Hartz having less followers on Pinterest than the Broken Hartz account she manages really got under Hartz’ skin. Because of this, they have gotten far more aggressive in their Pinterest campaign.
If you’re on Pinterest, please remember to follow us at Pinterest.com/BrokenHartz. If you’re not on Pinterest, what are you waiting for, an invitation? Oh yeah, you do need an invitation.
If you’d like us to send you an invite, just leave a comment requesting one!
The Truth Week page is now up so, if you missed any parts in this series, that’s the place to go.
Broken Hartz has experienced a power surge as we keep bringing the hurt to Hartz.
Our Twitter campaign is growing rapidly, thanks in no small part to the overwhelming devotion of our #BHwarriors, the creativity and resourcefulness of our #BHambassador (@lulu_lindi) and the amusing tweets of our newly-crowned #BHcomic, @LVBarracuda.
In addition to that, Broken Hartz is thrilled to find long-time @BrokenHartzPets Followers, famous Playboy Playmates turned animal activists, @Barbi_Twins have gotten more involved with the cause.
We’re sure Hartz has seen our growth and, combined with the Facebook and Pinterest defeats we handed them last week, we feel it safe to assume they are not too happy about how this little war is going. Of course, if our struggling foe knew of all our endeavors, they’d have given up long ago.
What you see is only a fraction of the mission, Hartz.
We are always on the prowl.
We are always watching you.
We have seen more.
Due to the sharp growth and interaction we’ve experienced, Broken Hartz will be taking some time to assess the situation, complete some current investigations (while launching new ones) and dedicate some much needed time to other branches of the BH mission.
We will continue to maintain our presence on Twitter but, until further notice, the Broken Hartz blog will be adopting a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday posting schedule.
If you haven’t already, this may be a great time to go back through our posts and catch up.
With no Hartz products to defend themselves, we have easily taken over Broken Hartz and now the fleas call the shots.
Hartz Mountain Corporation’s President and CEO, Bill Ecker, tried to warn the stupid public in this 2009 article from Consumer Affairs, but instead you trusted dumb old Broken Hartz:
“Not using these products is not a good decision, Ecker said. This is a bad flea and tick season. If people get scared of using flea and tick products there will be other health problems that will develop that will have much worse adverse effects.
We want to make sure people arent [sic] scared to use these products.”
You have incorrectly blamed Hartz products, even though Dr. Melinda Fernyhough, an intellectual equal to us fleas, tried her best to let you know how stupid you are, but you just didn’t listen:
“From a veterinary perspective, these (Hartz) products are safe and effective to use, said Dr. Melinda Fernyhough, Hartz Manager of Scientific Affairs. But you have to respect them for the pesticides they are — and you must read the label correctly. Weve [sic] seen people apply too much product or grab any old box. Some people assume that if a product is good for a dog its [sic] also good for a cat. Thats [sic] not true. There are chemicals in these products and those need to be respected.
She added: There is a small population of animals that will be sensitive to what you give them. Nothing is without a reaction.”
Well the damage is done and the fleas will soon rule the world!
Without Hartz’ deadly products, there is nothing that can stop us!
Wait… what’s that? What are you saying?
You’re saying according to Hartz’ own document called “Hartz_Feline_Monograph.pdf”, which Hartz tried to hide from the public but Broken Hartz unearthed, Michael K. Rust, PhD said:
(Page 15, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2)
“New products have revolutionized flea control and provided veterinarians and pet owners with a broad arsenal of weapons.”
What’s that? Now you’re saying he even talked about non-pesticide solutions to the problem:
(Page 15, Paragraph 3)
“With the rise of on-animal treatments in the past 15 years, indoor and outdoor environmental treatments have been largely ignored. However, eliminating fleas in the environment helps to reduce the likelihood of reinfestation and to provide much quicker control. Methods that do not involve pesticides include vacuuming and using flea traps. Vacuuming kills eggs, larvae, and adult fleas and eliminates them from carpeting. Fleas do not survive in the vacuum bag, so additional steps to kill the fleas in the bag (e.g., freezing, discarding, adding insecticides to the bag) are not necessary.54 Intensive vacuuming stimulates adults to emerge from cocoons and eliminates them from inside the home. Vacuuming does not affect the residual activity of sprays applied to potential flea breeding sites. In one study, traps using a green-yellow light on a cycle of 10 minutes on, 5 seconds off collected more than 86% of the fleas in a room over a 20-hour period.19 However, not all flea traps are effective in trapping adult fleas.”
Well sure but… what? What are you saying now? You’re saying Dr. Rust went on to say:
(Page 16, Paragraph 2)
“Cats are particularly sensitive to some insecticides, such as permethrin and fenvalerate.62 The feline liver cannot conjugate pyrethroid metabolites with glucuronide, and cats’ small body mass, high hair density, and grooming habits probably contribute to the toxicity. There are reports of cats acquiring toxic doses from the hair of treated dogs. Newer active ingredients exploit physiologic differences between insects and mammals and provide a wider margin of safety.63 Insecticides such as imidacloprid, nitenpyram, and dinotefuran target the insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and have a low affinity for vertebrate nAChRs; thus they provide a margin of safety when applied to cats.64 Even so, pet owners should carefully read and comply with all label directions. Products labeled for use on dogs should never be used on cats.”
But… but Hartz said we would take over if people stopped buying their products. Now, we come to find far better products would still be available in the marketplace with newer active ingredients and wider margins of safety.
What’s that? You go on to say there is a lot of information to suggest organic, non-pesticide solutions can effectively control fleas as well?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The truth. It burns.
You win this time, public.
Click this link for the next article in our Truth Week series: Truthfairy Abroad
The Broken Hartz juggernaut continues to make a molehill out of Hartz Mountain.
This beautiful little email found its way to our account today from the good folks at Pinterest.com, regarding our infringement claim against Hartz:
“[Pinterest] Trademark Complaint ID #1580153031
On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 2:12 PM, [Pinterest Community Manager] wrote:
Hi,
The username “brokenhartzpets” is available now.
If you choose to change your username on your existing account, go to https://pinterest.com/settings when you’re logged in to edit your username. Then click Save Profile when you’re finished.
Hope that helps!
[Pinterest Community Manager]
Readers, it appears the scoreboard is in need of another update:
Broken Hartz – 3
Hartz Mountain Corporation – 0
The page is now populated with excellent BH content but, we’ll always have the screenshot below to enjoy Hartz Mountain Corporation’s shame!
Here's what happens when you mess with Broken Hartz! This page has now been populated with all things BH but, thanks to this screenshot, we'll always be able to have a good laugh at Hartz.
Broken Hartz wishes to thank all those who have helped our mission. We love our Twitter Followers, led by our tenacious #BHambassador.
Every time our #BHwarriors speak up, we watch our blog views rise.
Our message would never have spread as far or as fast without your support.
Broken Hartz is humbled by the level of devotion you have shown to the mission but, to be fair, our #BHwarriors haven’t done all the work.
Your criminal acts continue to amplify our message, Hartz.
Your attempts to silence us have forced internet giants Twitter and Facebook, as well as the quickly-growing Pinterest, to listen to our message. Their collective response of support shows the tide is turning.
RT @paige_doss: @BrokenHartzPets Put Hartz collar on my adult cat. She spiked a high fever, lost clumps of fur, vomited, refused to eat, ... 4 months ago
Happy New Year to all who've supported our mission in some way, shape or form. Without all of you, we would never have a chance of success. 5 months ago
@Di_sss Thank you very much, Guye. We look forward to a great 2013 together! =^..^= 5 months ago
