UPDATE: Ortho Caves on Monarch Butterfly Goof!

Thanks to everyone who signed the petition. Ortho has agreed to re-print the labels for this product. The Monarch will no longer be pictured on their products!

Monarch Butterfly is one of the best known insects, and one of the most loved visitors to out gardens. The migratory monarch has fallen on hard times. Although not given ‘endangered’ status, it is listed as ‘threatened’ with habitat loss, pesticide use and climate changes all listed as species threats.

But now, Othro, maker of garden chemicals for use by the home-owner, has apparently declared war on the Monarch, pointing it out as a dangerous garden pest that must be eliminated.

David Snow with Ortho bottle and live butterflies and caterpillars

My long-time friend, David Snow (at right, with Ortho bottle, live Monarchs and caterpillars), local Monarch advocate, recently alerted me to this problem.

David speaks at schools and garden clubs on Monarchs, their life cycle and habitat. The problem came to his attention while he was in a garden center giving a talk on the Monarch. An attendee asked him about Ortho Bug B Gon, and showed him this bottle to the right (click for larger image):

This clearly shows a Monarch caterpillar on the label! And guarantees a kill rate on more than 100 insects – including Monarchs! What sort of a world does Ortho envision us living in – one where we’re not threatened with beauty? I guess asking for a sane approach to pest management is out of the question, though…

David has called Ortho out repeatedly on this – he now has his own representative that handles his calls – but so far she is silent on why they picked the threatened Monarch as their Evil Garden Poster-Child. In fact, she insists she doesn’t know what product he is calling about…

Is it the worst advertising blunder of the year, or is it a clever marketing ploy? Is it conceivable that Ortho is preying on the ignorance of the average home owner and generating fears of those dreadful ‘bugs’? One bug is the same as another, and if it is on a poison label, it must be bad, right?

Cornell University says:

“The Monarch butterfly is one of the most familiar of butterflies; it is a widespread, common species. The Monarch is native to North and South America, but spread throughout much of the world in the 1800’s.  They were first seen in Hawaii in the 1840’s, and spread throughout the South Pacific in the 1850’s-60’s.  In the early 1870’s, the first monarchs were reported in Australia and New Zealand. Both sexes have quite similar appearance, although the male monarchs have a dark spot on the hind wing (scent scales, associated with pheromone production). The almost equally well known caterpillars are banded with yellow, black, and cream. Long tentacles are present at both ends of the body of the caterpillar. The larva feeds on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.).”

Why are you an a marigold? We hate those!

Why is it Ortho chose these ” equally well known caterpillars” as their label bad-guy insect for this brand of toxin? Do they suppose Milkweed is  garden plant to protect at all costs? Is it ignorance or greed?

They are supposed to understand what they are putting on their labels – a lot of time and money goes into creating corporate sales materials. They study their market, the study their fears, and they sell to those fears. To Hell with the environment…

I am going to put my voice behind David’s in asking Ortho to put an end to this deceptive advertising. David is calling for Ortho to end the use of the Monarch and to make a public contribution to Monarch Watch to help alleviate the damage their advertising has done to the species.

David has created a petition on change.org to get Ortho to remove the Monarch caterpillar from their advertising. Please sign it today – it only takes a second, and don’t forget to share it with your friends!

Click here to Sign the petition!

Ortho! Stop Targeting the Monarch!

Check out the ingredients and you see Acetamiprid as the main ingredient. Acetamiprid is detailed is this EP data sheet where it is noted that the chemical is classified as a ‘clastogen’ and that the greatest concentrations will be found in children 1 to 6 years old with up to 20 times the assumed limit.

“A clastogen is a material that can cause breaks in chromosomes, leading to sections of the chromosome being deleted, added, or rearranged. This is a form of mutagenesis, and can lead to carcinogenesis, as cells that are not killed by the clastogenic effect may become cancerous. Known clastogens include acridine yellow, benzene, ethylene oxide, arsenic, phosphine and mimosine. Exposure to clastogens increases frequency of abnormal germ cells in paternal males, contributing to developmental effects in the fetus upon fertilization.” (Wikipedia)

The data sheet also has these important caveats attached:

“Acetamiprid is only moderately toxic to bees” and “Moderate risk to be mitigated by label restrictions and warning.” Let me ask, are you comfortable with your neighbors following “label restrictions and warnings”?

UPDATE: David received this response denying the similarities, claiming artistic license:

Begin forwarded message:

From:ortho@scotts.com
Date: June 2, 2012 6:54:14 AM PDT
To:glbrodie@aol.com
Subject:Scotts Miracle Gro Contact Center Response Ref #10239437

Thank you for your interest in Ortho and for the opportunity to help you with your lawn and garden endeavors.

We are sorry that you were disappointed by the artistic representation of the caterpillar pictured on the Ortho Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer label. Ortho makes every effort to provide clear and accurate information on every label, and appreciate that you have brought to our attention the similarities that this artistic representation has with other non-target caterpillars. We have forwarded this information to our Marketing Department so that they can further evaluate this and look to improve the label on future packaging.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and for your interest in Ortho. Please feel free to contact our company anytime we may be of assistance.

Jeremy Walker
Specialist, Consumer Services
The Scotts Company and Subsidiaries
14111 Scottslawn Road
Marysville, OH 43041
800-225-2883

Ref # 10239437

And this one:

—–Forwarded Message—–
From: ortho@scotts.com
Sent: May 15, 2012 6:59 AM
To: dsnowdesign@earthlink.net
Subject: Scotts Miracle Gro Contact Center Response Ref #9922771

Thank you for contacting us concerning Ortho products. As always, it is our goal to make sure that our customers are completely satisfied with our products and services.

 

Mr. Snow, I appreciate your comments on our Ortho labeling. I will forward your comments on to our Marketing Department. They take consumers’ comments seriously. This information will be taken into consideration when they are designing new labels. As we discussed on the phone, please send me the UPC bar code information from the green bottle so that I can forward this information.

 

Again, thank you for taking the time to let us know of your concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any additional help to you.

Ginny Clark
Senior Specialist, Consumer Service
The Scotts Company and Subsidiaries
14111 Scottslawn Road
Marysville, OH 43041
800-225-2883

Ref # 9922771

I invite you to give Jeremy and/or Ginny a call or e-mail and don’t forget to sign the petition! Let’s see how many calls it takes to make this threatened species a little less threatened…

For more information on Monarch butterflies, their plight and how you can help provide them with the habitat they require, see the following resources.

• Sign the petition
• E-mail David Snow for information on creating your own Southern California Butterfly habitat, Asclepias.
• Monarch Watch – home of the Monarch Waystation program and rich source of information on Monarchs and their habitat
• Cornell University – Monarch Abstract
• Monarch Habitat Video on Science Daily
• Mother Earth News – Sources for Monarch Waystation Plants