Here’s a marketing rule of thumb for the modern age: there’s no better advertising for a small company than getting sued by a big company.
A little organic plant-food company called TerraCycle (which makes fertilizer out of worm poop) has gotten boatloads of free advertising out of its innovative strategy: rather than creating new bottles for the product, it asks schools and churches to collect used 20-oz. soda bottles. For each bottle collected, the company donates a nickel to the charity of the collector’s choice.
Now TerraCycle is being sued by Scotts, maker of MiracleGro, which alleges that TerraCycle’s product looks too much like its own. See, look:
You can barely tell them apart!
Scotts also doesn’t like that TerraCycle says on its bottle that its product works better than “a leading synthetic plant food.”
TerraCycle seems to realize that this development is a potential goldmine. It’s even started a new website: SuedByScotts.com. Some seriously funny reading.
You don’t need me to tell you that MiracleGro is fracking evil. Now you have an alternative.
