A message from Johnny Cupcakes...
Posted February 6th, 2011 by Johnny Cupcakes
Watch Thread
As a business owner of a clothing brand, receiving anonymous slanders kind of come with the territory. They're mainly annoying cheap-shots from a coward, but every so often, someone crosses the line. Please bare with me as I break down a recent string of events.
I couldn't help but be intrigued recently, when someone by the user name of 'gonehoggin84' aka 'Martin Zane' of "Newport Beach, CA" continued a serious barrage of public bashes, to myself, my brand, as well as other people and brands on Emptees. They've successfully been doing it for 2+ years. What started as public posts, led to a series of unprovoked, hateful and accusatory emails targeting my personal character and business practices. This person even dragged my mom and sister into this :(
**Please note, this person somehow had every post or comment they ever made, completely wiped from Emptees a few days ago, but you can still stumble upon posts & comments where other people quoted 'gonehoggin84'. However, most of the juicy, disappointing, disgusting posts have been removed. If you read some of the 'Worst/Most Cliche, Yet Successful Companies Around' thread - you would have noticed and remembered how creepy this person was.**
To say the least, these were pretty heavy, odd, creepy, personal attacks. As if someone had been stalking me and my brand since day one. Heck, before it was taken down, they had gone through all 2,160 tweets from my twitter, trying to find ones that made me look bad. They then used their research by posting strange comments (ie: "On this date, I noticed that you posted about some charity work you did with your family. Do you think you're special for helping people out? Do you need to post about it to make yourself look better?"), they referenced the few random blogs and websites where supposed "real people" left negative comments. These were left by some anonymous people (is it coincidental that 'gonehoggin84' typed & used the same exact mannerisms, grammar, and creepy statements almost word-for-word as some of these other "real people"?).
Here are a couple smaller examples of what 'gonehoggin84' said to me, and how I replied;
*(at one point I thought this was a different person on Emptees, and that he had multiple profiles. I apologize)*
-----------------
Seeing hatred for my brand was not upsetting the least bit. With every business comes a bit of, this and that, when you put yourself in the public. This I learned when I was in a band at age 15. I was just genuinely intrigued by the time and effort that this person spent on researching everything I've done with my brand since day one, spending what looked like, a month, to compose it all while hiding their identity. I was not the only person who thought their research and odd obsession with my brand, was strange. Like, a Lifetime movie, jealousy-obsessed, serial-killer kind of strange. I kind of feel bad for them.
Here's where the story really starts -
Emptees member "Gonehoggin84" was selling his Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt. People asked why, then he started posting many slanderous, ignorant, personal attacks that were all blown out of proportion and again, seemed a bit odd and obsessive. "Who is this maniac?" I asked myself. Not only did I ask myself, but I took the liberty to ask the Emptees member who purchased the Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt from Gonehoggin84.
The e-mail that was sent back to me, read;
--------------
"Just got the package and you're not going to believe the fishy business. NO RETURN ADDRESS! It just said ' Martin Zane '. It did ship from Trenton, New Jersey though.
However, he said it was at his parents house and his fiancee shipped it. The writing looks totally like a guys writing, bold, mix of capital and lowercase. ( but some females have ugly writing )
I also found a white hair. I believe he has a cat. Or his father has white pubes. Both irrelevant deductions. Hmmmm... ( takes puff of bubble pipe )"
-----------
I mentioned this to my pal Rob Dobi...
"Trenton, New Jersey - eh? Isn't that right next to where Pyknic is based out of?"
...checking their website I see multiple blog posts with photos of The Butchers little white & black pug. Interesting...isn't that the little bits of animal hair that was on the Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt that was sold by Martin Zane / gonehoggin84 "of Newport Beach, CA"?
Was still a mystery. Oh well, shrugged it off as it was time to pack for my trip to London. On my way home I got a call from my designer pal, who told me he had an interesting chat with his designer friend, Kyle Crawford, who had sent me an email. He told me to check my e-mail asap. I pulled over and refreshed my mail on my iPhone. This is where the story gets really interesting. Kyle had the brilliant idea to send $0.01 via PayPal, to "Martin Zane's" e-mail address. I give "Martin Zane" credit for deleting his account and trying to cover up his tracks, but his e-mail was already floating around in the Emptees ozone when he had posted his e-mail up,martinzane84@gmail.com - in regards to the selling of his t-shirts. If you're a registered PayPal user, your full name shows up if/when you do business with someone - as does the person you do business with. Well, looky here;
Bingo — 'gonehoggin84' aka Martin Zane aka martinzane84@gmail.com aka Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher aka Pyknic Wear.
I made a call back home. My web company pulled up not one, but multiple orders from Robbinsville, New Jersey's very own Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher of Pyknic Apparel aka gonehoggin84 aka Martin Zane. Do they need that much more "inspiration" for their culinary based t-shirt line - that they have to make multiple orders from my website?
I see the real reason they're trying to sell their Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt — why would they want to be caught wearing shirts from the brand that they've been known to rip off? The only reason they've made multiple orders from my online shop, is to see what we do and how we do it, so they can continue to alter Pyknic in more Johnny Cupcakes'-like ways. If they wanted advice, they could have called my office and I'd be more than willing to talk to them for more than an hour, just like I've done before; when I gave them honest, creative criticism. I knew I shouldn't of given them the benefit of the doubt.
In the past & present I've received many e-mails from random people calling them out. Even people they've worked with & stores that they were trying to get into. Pretty much stating, "Hey Johnny, these Pyknic dudes seem to biting your brand...just a heads up!" It's funny because it almost goes without saying, common-thought, among many design colleagues, that Pyknic "gets a lot of ideas" from Johnny Cupcakes. It almost seems redundant to state it here in this post.
I also feel bad for everyone that 'gonehoggin84' aka Stephen Thomson aka The Butcher aka Pyknic Wear - used to slander. After some searches, I found that 'gonehhoggin84' aka Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher aka Pyknic Wear would leave positive comments under many threads where Pyknic was mentioned. Classy. Good job being sneaky, guys. Shame on you. You should be leaving positive examples for others and acting a bit more professional. In the wake of the unnecessary drama, myself, my family, employees, friends, and a number of Emptees pals are left with disgust & sincere disappointment.
***This just in.***
It saddens me to find yet another new discovery/fake profile of Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher of Pyknic Wear aka gonehoggin84. This time he even brings in and bashes my littler sister for no reason (who he doesn't know or ever met). Not only that, but he displays more of his behavior, his same exact wording + mannerisms as used in his other personal attacks, and a few bashes on other wonderful Emptees people, etc.. All while hiding behind another fake profile.
Say hello to 'horokifuel' aka Martin Zane aka gonehoggin84 aka Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher of Pyknic Wear. Another one of his many fake profiles that he's made up over the years to hide behind and send hateful remarks to myself and my family. At one point he put down my Portuguese heritage, while asking me to tell my little sister to shave her mustache.
Take some time and read the many comments in this thread, as other peers are coming forward with their own horror stories. This is all unnecessary and unfortunate. I hope we can all learn from this as how to not act in business and in life.
I couldn't help but be intrigued recently, when someone by the user name of 'gonehoggin84' aka 'Martin Zane' of "Newport Beach, CA" continued a serious barrage of public bashes, to myself, my brand, as well as other people and brands on Emptees. They've successfully been doing it for 2+ years. What started as public posts, led to a series of unprovoked, hateful and accusatory emails targeting my personal character and business practices. This person even dragged my mom and sister into this :(
**Please note, this person somehow had every post or comment they ever made, completely wiped from Emptees a few days ago, but you can still stumble upon posts & comments where other people quoted 'gonehoggin84'. However, most of the juicy, disappointing, disgusting posts have been removed. If you read some of the 'Worst/Most Cliche, Yet Successful Companies Around' thread - you would have noticed and remembered how creepy this person was.**
To say the least, these were pretty heavy, odd, creepy, personal attacks. As if someone had been stalking me and my brand since day one. Heck, before it was taken down, they had gone through all 2,160 tweets from my twitter, trying to find ones that made me look bad. They then used their research by posting strange comments (ie: "On this date, I noticed that you posted about some charity work you did with your family. Do you think you're special for helping people out? Do you need to post about it to make yourself look better?"), they referenced the few random blogs and websites where supposed "real people" left negative comments. These were left by some anonymous people (is it coincidental that 'gonehoggin84' typed & used the same exact mannerisms, grammar, and creepy statements almost word-for-word as some of these other "real people"?).
Here are a couple smaller examples of what 'gonehoggin84' said to me, and how I replied;
*(at one point I thought this was a different person on Emptees, and that he had multiple profiles. I apologize)*
-----------------
Seeing hatred for my brand was not upsetting the least bit. With every business comes a bit of, this and that, when you put yourself in the public. This I learned when I was in a band at age 15. I was just genuinely intrigued by the time and effort that this person spent on researching everything I've done with my brand since day one, spending what looked like, a month, to compose it all while hiding their identity. I was not the only person who thought their research and odd obsession with my brand, was strange. Like, a Lifetime movie, jealousy-obsessed, serial-killer kind of strange. I kind of feel bad for them.
Here's where the story really starts -
Emptees member "Gonehoggin84" was selling his Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt. People asked why, then he started posting many slanderous, ignorant, personal attacks that were all blown out of proportion and again, seemed a bit odd and obsessive. "Who is this maniac?" I asked myself. Not only did I ask myself, but I took the liberty to ask the Emptees member who purchased the Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt from Gonehoggin84.
The e-mail that was sent back to me, read;
--------------
"Just got the package and you're not going to believe the fishy business. NO RETURN ADDRESS! It just said ' Martin Zane '. It did ship from Trenton, New Jersey though.
However, he said it was at his parents house and his fiancee shipped it. The writing looks totally like a guys writing, bold, mix of capital and lowercase. ( but some females have ugly writing )
I also found a white hair. I believe he has a cat. Or his father has white pubes. Both irrelevant deductions. Hmmmm... ( takes puff of bubble pipe )"
-----------
I mentioned this to my pal Rob Dobi...
"Trenton, New Jersey - eh? Isn't that right next to where Pyknic is based out of?"
...checking their website I see multiple blog posts with photos of The Butchers little white & black pug. Interesting...isn't that the little bits of animal hair that was on the Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt that was sold by Martin Zane / gonehoggin84 "of Newport Beach, CA"?
Was still a mystery. Oh well, shrugged it off as it was time to pack for my trip to London. On my way home I got a call from my designer pal, who told me he had an interesting chat with his designer friend, Kyle Crawford, who had sent me an email. He told me to check my e-mail asap. I pulled over and refreshed my mail on my iPhone. This is where the story gets really interesting. Kyle had the brilliant idea to send $0.01 via PayPal, to "Martin Zane's" e-mail address. I give "Martin Zane" credit for deleting his account and trying to cover up his tracks, but his e-mail was already floating around in the Emptees ozone when he had posted his e-mail up,martinzane84@gmail.com - in regards to the selling of his t-shirts. If you're a registered PayPal user, your full name shows up if/when you do business with someone - as does the person you do business with. Well, looky here;
Bingo — 'gonehoggin84' aka Martin Zane aka martinzane84@gmail.com aka Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher aka Pyknic Wear.
I made a call back home. My web company pulled up not one, but multiple orders from Robbinsville, New Jersey's very own Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher of Pyknic Apparel aka gonehoggin84 aka Martin Zane. Do they need that much more "inspiration" for their culinary based t-shirt line - that they have to make multiple orders from my website?
I see the real reason they're trying to sell their Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt — why would they want to be caught wearing shirts from the brand that they've been known to rip off? The only reason they've made multiple orders from my online shop, is to see what we do and how we do it, so they can continue to alter Pyknic in more Johnny Cupcakes'-like ways. If they wanted advice, they could have called my office and I'd be more than willing to talk to them for more than an hour, just like I've done before; when I gave them honest, creative criticism. I knew I shouldn't of given them the benefit of the doubt.
In the past & present I've received many e-mails from random people calling them out. Even people they've worked with & stores that they were trying to get into. Pretty much stating, "Hey Johnny, these Pyknic dudes seem to biting your brand...just a heads up!" It's funny because it almost goes without saying, common-thought, among many design colleagues, that Pyknic "gets a lot of ideas" from Johnny Cupcakes. It almost seems redundant to state it here in this post.
I also feel bad for everyone that 'gonehoggin84' aka Stephen Thomson aka The Butcher aka Pyknic Wear - used to slander. After some searches, I found that 'gonehhoggin84' aka Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher aka Pyknic Wear would leave positive comments under many threads where Pyknic was mentioned. Classy. Good job being sneaky, guys. Shame on you. You should be leaving positive examples for others and acting a bit more professional. In the wake of the unnecessary drama, myself, my family, employees, friends, and a number of Emptees pals are left with disgust & sincere disappointment.
***This just in.***
It saddens me to find yet another new discovery/fake profile of Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher of Pyknic Wear aka gonehoggin84. This time he even brings in and bashes my littler sister for no reason (who he doesn't know or ever met). Not only that, but he displays more of his behavior, his same exact wording + mannerisms as used in his other personal attacks, and a few bashes on other wonderful Emptees people, etc.. All while hiding behind another fake profile.
Say hello to 'horokifuel' aka Martin Zane aka gonehoggin84 aka Stephen Thompson aka The Butcher of Pyknic Wear. Another one of his many fake profiles that he's made up over the years to hide behind and send hateful remarks to myself and my family. At one point he put down my Portuguese heritage, while asking me to tell my little sister to shave her mustache.
Take some time and read the many comments in this thread, as other peers are coming forward with their own horror stories. This is all unnecessary and unfortunate. I hope we can all learn from this as how to not act in business and in life.
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