What’s Really Golin On?

As the title suggests, we wish to provide an update to the post “What’s Golin On?”.

Those who have read that post are aware, on May 1, 2012; Hartz began releasing news of brand new products just in time for the 2012 flea season. Here are the examples we provided:

• BeaumontEnterprise.com
• YahooNews.com
• 5WPR.net
• PRWeb.com

The links in these press releases go to old products. This, combined with the fact we found no traces of new products at many different stores, caused us to believe Hartz was just making another false claim. Why did we make such an assumption, you say? Because Hartz had tried to do this back in 2009 with one of the same products they linked to in these press releases and the EPA slammed them.

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(EPA Registration #2596-150 Amendment, Dated January 13, 2009 Page 4, Paragraph 1)

The EPA clearly states to Hartz, “Delete the following claims which suggest that the product is new, when it has been registered since 2000.”

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The only other links provided in the press release examples above go to Hartz.com and a gallery of old Hartz application videos from the HartzUltraguard.com website:

So, why are we revisiting this topic?

As stated before, we at Broken Hartz make every attempt to speak truthfully. We have no interest in spreading false information and have come upon evidence there is a little more to this story than we first uncovered. Besides, the whole story doesn’t pan out much better for Hartz anyway.

The following video provides a walkthrough of the original press release from PRWeb.com. You’ll see evidence of our above claims regarding the links on this release going to old product information, however, this particular release (unlike the 3 other versions of the press release we cited) features an embedded YouTube video.

That embedded video is the key to getting to the bottom of this issue. Check out the walkthrough:

There you have it; Hartz indeed has a new dog product, though they make it quite hard to find evidence of their newest poison. Here is its labeling amendment data.

Furthermore, the active ingredient in Hartz’ new dog product, etofenprox, is certainly nothing new to the world of pesticides. In fact, Hartz has been using etofenprox for a while now in some of its cat products.

Also, it is very important to note they have not released a new cat product.

The etofenprox cat product featured on the new HartzUltraguardPro.com website (EPA Reg# 2724-504-2596) was named in the EPA Public Advisory, published in March 2010.

We went more in depth on this particular product in one of our Hartz Exposé posts, “Fun With Charts!”. This is a very interesting post because it highlights the fact Hartz’ problem seems to reside in its inert ingredients, not its active ones.

Moving on, now that we have cleared up confusion, we’d like to take a closer look at this recent Hartz commercial.* As usual, Hartz is blurring the line. You’ll also see, it looks like they’ve decided to go with a more “camera-friendly” representative than previously seen:

^{*Bonus points to the first individual that comments, letting us know how many explosion effects there are in this commercial.}

By including Hartz cat products and cat imagery in this new product announcement, Hartz is definitely making it hard for consumers to determine what is new and what is not. This is made even more confusing by the alternate version of this new Hartz commercial, found on the homepage of HartzUltraguardPro.com.

In this second video, near the end, the announcer states:

“To ultra-protect your dog within 15 minutes or ultra-protect your cat, and all for half the price of Frontline Plus or Advantage II, call now for your 3 month supply of new and improved Hartz Ultraguard Pro for only $19.95.”

As if these two commercials aren’t misleading enough, we fear the confusion won’t end there.

Those who follow us on Twitter, may have seen the following tweet a little while ago:

The reason for our trip was an individual had spotted new Hartz products in a store. As mentioned above, our previous searches for new Hartz products in stores had come up empty-handed, so we were off. Of course, some of us had other concerns:

BH Affilates checked many different stores: pharmacies, pet stores, grocery stores and big box retailers. We found some new Hartz dog product (as revealed above) but, only sparsely, and it was always heavily outnumbered by old Hartz crap, like in the photos below:

In this photo, you see Hartz’ new dog product (EPA# 2596-168), flanked by old crap.

Again, you see how outnumbered the new guy is.

Hooray! A coupon!

What makes this whole thing truly interesting is the new Hartz dog product was not the reportedly new product that had been spotted. The products that had been spotted featured silver and purple boxes.

The following products are not new. They are merely old Hartz products that have received new packaging and labeling.

These are examples of the products that had been spotted:

The first example is none other than Hartz cat product 272-504-2596. This is the same product featured in Hartz latest commercial, though the commercial utilizes a version of this product with its old packaging. This product has not been reformulated.

For evidence, please note the highlighted EPA registration number 2724-504-2596.

This is product #2596-150, the same Hartz product linked to from the original press releases that announced the arrival of new products, This product has not been reformulated.

Again, please note the highlighted EPA registration number.

As you can see, Hartz has even re-packaged its dangerous, tetrachlorvinphos-containing flea collars. These collars present a danger to humans, especially children, according to many reputable sources, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). They have not been reformulated.

These newly packaged products feature improved labeling, but they are still nothing earth-shattering. Aside from that, seeing as how misuse is only a fraction of the problem, we fail to see how re-labeled products are going to recitfy the issue. In fact; we fear these new packages, combined with a new product announcement, are going to cause many individuals to think this old Hartz junk, including their ultra dangerous, out-dated, organophosphate collars, are something new and therefore operating with a clean slate. That could not be further from the truth.

Despite having found Hartz still had plenty shady actions to go along with these press releases, we did not like having stated something incorrectly. Of course, this could have been avoided if Hartz would contact us but, they don’t dare because it would only serve to highlight that for which they have no answers.

Regardless, that has caused our crew to re-double our investigative efforts. Because of that, we found many labeling amendments for newly registered products, though none were for cats. Most interestingly were two separate amendments for technical formulations of Fipronil:

Here are the labeling amendment documents for the above formulation:

http://iaspub.epa.gov/apex/pesticides/f?p=PPLS:102:692438572295901::NO::P102_REG_NUM:2596-172

Here are the labeling amendment documents for this alternate Fipronil formulation:

http://iaspub.epa.gov/apex/pesticides/f?p=PPLS:102:692438572295901::NO::P102_REG_NUM:2596-173

Looks like fipronil-based products are in Hartz’ future as well, but seeing as how so much evidence suggests the real danger comes from all the unlisted crap being shoved into these products, we’re not breathing any easier from this knowledge.

Lastly, we wish to state the post, “What’s Golin On?” will be left as it was originally posted. This will be done to allow individuals to see what our original assessment had been and that we do not wish to hide the error, we only seek to correct it. The post will, however, feature a bold header and footer, noting the crucial update so people will not miss the complete story.

Also, for those who are curious as to whether or not Penny got her wish:

See you next time.

=^..^=

Alex Gweneth's Moral Bankruptcy Exposed by Broken Hartz

Reblogged from Hartz Kills:

We've been unable to obtain Alex Gweneth's baby photo, but we can only imagine that when he was born, he had the face of a cherub. His parents surely beamed with pride at their newborn boy. Would he become a surgeon? A teacher? An art historian? Little Alex's future was not yet written. Oh, but it is written now. Mr. Gweneth, sadly, became a soulless…

Read more… 159 more words

Our esteemed colleague over at HartzKills.org has weighed in with some additional thoughts on Alex Gweneth, 5W Public Relations and, of course, Hartzy! We thought it best to re-blog his piece in order to keep it in the chronological history of the BH mission, as well as provide a wonderful opportunity to leave this act of fraud sitting out all weekend long. See you Tuesday! =^..^=

 

Alex Gweneth

 

There’s someone Broken Hartz hasn’t yet mentioned, but has been dying to introduce you to.

Meet Alex Gweneth:

 

Alex Gweneth has created a sickening amount of blog entries all over the internet as a willing lackey for Hartz Mountain Corporation.

Here’s just a sampling of the places you can find Alex’s shoddily constructed “articles” (in no particular order). Just Google him for more:

• ezinemark.com
• articlealley.com
• articlesvision.com
• amazines.com
• goarticles.com
• artipot.com
• sooperarticles.com
• articlemark.org
• readyourarticles.com

Get the idea?

This individual has been shamelessly spreading Hartz’ lies all over the internet for years, building a vast pile of poorly written, deceptive crap intended to clog internet searches with Hartz’ propaganda.

Are you ready for this?

 

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(Hartz Flea & Tick Control for Effective Elimination of Cats Fleas posted on ewagz.com on January 25, 2012, by Alex Gweneth Paragraphs 2 and 3)

“I sincerely hope you are not one of those people who feel that they can handle the health issues of their pets on their own and don’t consider consulting a vet necessary. A veterinary doctor has the right qualification and experience to suggest [sic] you the most appropriate treatment plan, keeping in view the general health of your cat and severity of the problem. Your cat is not just any other animal; it is only one of its kinds [sic]. So let a decent and reliable vet help you chalk out the best flea treatment for your cat. The treatment plan for your cat is determined by three things – their age, weight and overall health of your cat.

Hartz flea & tick shampoo is a highly recommended way of getting rid of fleas from your feline friend. But giving a cat a bath is easier said than done. If you can manage to [sic] your cat [sic] bath once every 30 days then you have half the battle won. However, you need to stick to this routine to ensure that your pet remain [sic] flea free.”

 

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Notice how Alex uses the first paragraph to establish how seriously he takes this matter, telling people it is crucial they consult a vet. He then follows this up by misleading consumers into believing Hartz is highly recommended by Veterinarians.

In this way, Hartz hopes consumers will think, “Well the guy just told me how important it is to know the facts. He’d never lie about this. I’ll save myself the Vet bill and just go get some good ole Hartz. Thanks, Alex!”

Moving on:

 

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(Combat Cat Flea Allergy with Hartz Flea & Tick Control Products posted on ewagz.com on January 9, 2012, by Alex Gweneth Paragraph 5, Sentences 1-3)

“Flea control is absolutely necessary for the health and well-being of your cat. But it is important to choose the flea treatment product very carefully otherwise it can put the life of your cat in jeopardy. It’s advisable to opt for a reputable brand like Hartz when going for a flea control treatment.”

 

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Again, you’ll notice Alex first makes it appear he is deeply concerned with making sure the public doesn’t use an inferior, dangerous product only to follow it up with referring to the worst Flea & Tick brand to ever sit on the shelves as a “reputable” brand, trying to sway consumers into just taking his word for it.

Shameless.

 

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(Flea Free Feline with Hartz Flea & Tick Control Products posted on ewagz.com on March 16, 2012, by Alex Gweneth Paragraph 3)

“Eliminating fleas from your cat’s body is never an easy task as they are very sensitive to chemicals used in pesticides. However, Hartz flea & tick control products made specifically for cats help you get rid of these pesky bugs without causing any adverse side effects on your cat.“

 

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This calls for the chart.

If your cat experiences an adverse reaction to any of the Spot-On cat products listed in the EPA Public Advisory Published in March 2010, this chart represents the likelihood (based on percentage of reported events) of your cat experiencing Death or a Major, Moderate or Minor event.

As you can see, in the case of an adverse event, your cat is 3 times more likely to die from a Hartz product than any of the other brands found in the EPA Public Advisory published in March 2010. Hartz also tops the list for Major events and comes in second for Moderate, clearly making it the most dangerous of these products.

 

Likelihood of Death, Major, Moderate or Minor Event if Your Cat Experiences an Incident With a Manufacturer’s Product Listed in the EPA Public Advisory published in March 2010:

 

The statement made above by Alex Gweneth, miraculously, is a bolder lie than anything spouted by Dr. Melinda Fernyhough, but it doesn’t stop there.

Although Hartz is clearly the most dangerous brand in the Flea & Tick Control market, the following “Author” description prominently accompanies the 20 Hartz articles posted by Alex on Ewagz.com as well as his Ewagz.com Author page:

 

 

Hartz, through Alex Gweneth, have told the public their cat products don’t cause any adverse effects. None.

This is a clear case of fraud, but we’re not quite done with Alex Gweneth.

He’s not a Hartz employee.

Alex Gweneth works for Ronn Torossian at 5W Public Relations, one of the many PR & Social Media organizations gleefully leeching blood money from this bloated beast:

 

 

Here’s a link to the article pictured above.

The evidence provided proves 5W Public Relations, Ronn Torossian and Alex Gweneth are willing accomplices in Hartz Mountain Corporation and Dr. Melinda Fernyhough’s diabolical mission to grow fat from the needless injuries and deaths of countless, beloved animals.

Ronn Torossian should be no stranger to the Broken Hartz Twitter Camp, though he is better known as “#SleazyDouche”, “#IronDick” (Coined by #BHrogue, @Di_sss) or the newly dubbed and quite fitting “#IronDouche”.

For great information on our buddy “Iron Douche“, check out this information from Gawker.com and FailedMessiah.com

Ronnie is on a totally different level of crazy, making him the perfect ally for a corporation such as Hartz.

It’s anything goes with, Iron Douche.

Watch out, Hartz!

If the Law Offices of Carella, Byrne et al hear about this, it may not be so good.

 

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ON A SIDE NOTE:

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In a hilarious turn of events, Broken Hartz ended up inadvertently assisting poor Ronnie with getting a hold of Saucony to discuss an important sneaker dilemma he has been experiencing:

Poor Ronnie tweeted this out, but apparently Saucony wasn't too keen on talking with ole "Iron Douche". We imagine his reputation preceded him.

 

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Saucony ignored Ronn for another day, so BH stepped in on his behalf to sort out the matter and clarify his request.

 

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Broken Hartz clarified the reason for Ronnie's urgency and, once Saucony understood "Iron Douche" was in great peril, they came to his aid.

You’re welcome, Iron Douche.

Enjoy your run.

=^..^=

 

The Art of BH War

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.

 

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TIME OUT

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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.

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TIME IN

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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.

 

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If you're an animal rights activist, don't forget to check out who else 5W Public Relations assists.

 

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Hartz is in so much need right now, Banyan Branch has them splashed all over their home page.

 

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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.

Welcome to the mission.

=^..^=

 

Liars Needed, Apply Within

 

Hartz Mountain Corporation is currently seeking a new Manager of Scientific & Medical Affairs/Resident Veterinarian/PR Spokesperson. This position has been noticeably held by Dr. Melinda Fernyhough. It is unclear as to whether the good doctor is staying with the corporation, striking out on her own or if she’s been let go for failure to deceive the public as Hartz had hoped.

We here at Broken Hartz think our readers would be great for the job! Think you don’t have enough experience? That didn’t stop Dr. Melinda!

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UPDATE: HARTZ FINALLY REMOVED ITS MANAGER OF SCIENTIFIC & MEDICAL AFFAIRS/RESIDENT VETERINARIAN/PR SPOKESPERSON JOB POSTING.

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Those who wish to apply for this job are now out of luck.

As of May 14, 2012; Hartz’ Manager of Scientific & Medical Affairs/Resident Veterinarian/PR Spokesperson job posting still functioned.

This job posting was finally removed some time between May 14, 2012 and May 16, 2012.

It is unclear if the position has been filled, if Hartz has decided not to advertise the position on their website or if they’ve given up trying to fill the spot for the time being.

We’ll let you know if it crops up again.