Today's blog post is about MLM and the endorsements they give to people or corporations which are regularly involved in our popular culture. These endorsements range from sponsoring leagues (Advocare sponsoring Major League Soccer), stadiums (Amway Center for the Orlando Magic), people (Drew Brees for advocare, Cristiano Ronaldo for Herbalife), and of course Presidential-Elect Donald Trump (ACN). It is important to remember that these endorsements do not actually reflect the opinions these people or organizations have about MLM, but rather their financial bias to support these companies. While it is unfortunate that certain stars, such as Ronaldo and Brees, feel a need to get a few extra dollars from their sponsorship with these sham businesses, we can not take their reviews of the companies with 100% certainty that they are in support of their products or practices.
This type of conditioning is a huge issue, because it gives an air of legitimacy to the sham businesses. For many people, it would be hard to believe that drinks like Gatorade, Red Bull, or Monster are actually not regularly consumed by the athletes, and that the water coolers next to their benches are simply filled with water. This type of advertising is bad enough with reputable companies, because they are utilizing the visual success of athletes to push a product that has no connection to their journey or status among the top representatives of a given sport. Therefore, to allow a sham business like Herbalife or Advocare to regularly be highlighted by professional athletes is extremely devastating.
The mayo clinic wrote an article about meal supplement shakes, and their issues with being successful for long term results (http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/expert-answers/protein-shakes/faq-20058335). Professional athletes have an extremely rigorous diet that is constructed and monitored by professional nutritionists, and to suggest they would need a weight loss shake, let alone support one is utterly ridiculous without accounting for their financial bias.
On a side note, I always laugh when I see the commercials for Dannon's Oikos Yogurt with Cam Newton, or when Clay Matthews was being paid to eat Campbell's Chunky Soup. It is clear, if you have experience with the rigorous activities, that you will not be eating processed foods. While these commercials are relatively harmless, they are not attached to businesses designed to take people's money through money making opportunities.
MLMers that try and use celebrity endorsements to verify the legitimacy of their business and the products should be taken with extreme caution. These athletes/stars have little to no background in the MLM field, and are not taking the products they are promoting.
If you have a story involving abuses from your upline and would like me to share it on this blog as a guest post, then please e-mail me and I will be more than happy to post it! Your stories are not as unique as you may think, and your stories are some of the most impactful resources we have to fight MLMs. I will keep your anonymity upon request.
This type of conditioning is a huge issue, because it gives an air of legitimacy to the sham businesses. For many people, it would be hard to believe that drinks like Gatorade, Red Bull, or Monster are actually not regularly consumed by the athletes, and that the water coolers next to their benches are simply filled with water. This type of advertising is bad enough with reputable companies, because they are utilizing the visual success of athletes to push a product that has no connection to their journey or status among the top representatives of a given sport. Therefore, to allow a sham business like Herbalife or Advocare to regularly be highlighted by professional athletes is extremely devastating.
The mayo clinic wrote an article about meal supplement shakes, and their issues with being successful for long term results (http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/expert-answers/protein-shakes/faq-20058335). Professional athletes have an extremely rigorous diet that is constructed and monitored by professional nutritionists, and to suggest they would need a weight loss shake, let alone support one is utterly ridiculous without accounting for their financial bias.
On a side note, I always laugh when I see the commercials for Dannon's Oikos Yogurt with Cam Newton, or when Clay Matthews was being paid to eat Campbell's Chunky Soup. It is clear, if you have experience with the rigorous activities, that you will not be eating processed foods. While these commercials are relatively harmless, they are not attached to businesses designed to take people's money through money making opportunities.
MLMers that try and use celebrity endorsements to verify the legitimacy of their business and the products should be taken with extreme caution. These athletes/stars have little to no background in the MLM field, and are not taking the products they are promoting.
If you have a story involving abuses from your upline and would like me to share it on this blog as a guest post, then please e-mail me and I will be more than happy to post it! Your stories are not as unique as you may think, and your stories are some of the most impactful resources we have to fight MLMs. I will keep your anonymity upon request.
MLM can be sold and promoted in many ways, but generally, cannot be sold on it's own merits.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and wholeheartedly believe that without the "business opportunity" claims of extravagant wealth and the ridiculous sponsorships, there wouldn't be an MLM in business today. The false health claims, the deceptive claims of wealth and success, and the endorsements, seem to be the perfect trifecta to keep consumers coming into MLM.
DeleteIronically, there have been one or two PR disasters for 'MLM' racketeers, because they chose the wrong celebrity.
DeletePerhaps the greatest of these PR disasters was OJ Simpson who once was paid to promote 'Juice Plus.'
Simpson recorded a tape on which he claimed in front of 4000 fanatical 'JP' Bots that 'Juice Plus products' had completely cured his arthritis. During his trial for murder, part of Simpson's defence was that he couldn't possibly have weilded a knife, because he was so badly afflicted by arthritis. The JP tape was then produced as evidence for the prosecution, at which point Simpson said that he'd actually been paid to lie. The 'JP' racketeers, who previously had stood by Simpson, immediately dropped him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_Plus
The current 'JP' celebrity in the UK is Bear Grylls a popular television survival expert and minor sex-symbol. Interestingly, Bear Grylls is the son of former Conservative politician who was publicly disgraced for accepting bribes to ask questions in Parliament.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIn9WqLIiEM
David,
DeleteI think what makes this even more ironic is OJ's nickname being "Juice" because of his initials. Go figure that the criminal nicknamed Juice would be a paid spokesperson for a criminal enterprise selling juice called "Juice Plus". It is certainly fitting, and it is even more hilarious that he turned on them, and they in turn released him. As the famous expression goes, "No honor among thieves".
That is too bad to hear Bear Grylls is taking advantage of his celebrity status. I don't really like his show compared to the other survival shows (my wife is addicted to those stupid things), but regardless he does have a certain talent for survival and being good in front of a camera. Again, not surprising to hear that, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree".
The most upsetting thing about these celebrities taking advantage of their position, is the choice to then abuse the people who give them their value in the first place. They could stand up, and say something against these MLMs or some other form of corruption, but instead, because they clearly don't make enough money, they compromise their values to endorse them for a few extra dollars.
John - Some useful idiot 'celebrities' haven't got paid by 'MLM' racketeers, but they've still appeared in the propaganda.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen this on my Blog?
http://mlmtheamericandreammadenightmare.blogspot.fr/2016/07/britains-new-pm-theresa-may-was-easily.html
Given that his late father was a member of Theresa May's political party, it's very likely that Bear Grylls was involved in persuading Britain's (then) Home Secretary to come along to the 'Juice Plus' UK HQ and pose for photos. The fact that Ms. May is now UK Prime Minister, makes this tragicomic episode even more grotesque.
David,
DeleteI had not seen that before, and it is truly sad when our leaders get duped or worse, purposefully join the con and utilize their status to enrich their pockets. I'm scared that Donald Trump may try to pull some shenanigans after the FTC basically came out and said MLM is a pyramid racket. However, I don't think he has the potential to reverse the progress made, and it would be a wise political decision to stay as far away from this, pardon my language (proverbial s*** storm) that is looming in the coming years.
Unfortunately for the United States, celebrity endorsements are very popular and extremely effective. They have been so since the 1930s at least, when advertisers began to make use of them. In fact, such endorsements were even more common back then than they are now.
ReplyDeleteWhy anyone should care that a certain actor uses a certain brand of razor blade escapes me, but his endorsement of such blades always sends their sales zooming.
Anonymous,
DeleteSpeaking of weird celebrity commercials referencing razor blades, two of them come to mind as of recently. The oddest thing seems to happen when they go against the big boys such as Schick and Gillette.
1. Brett Favre (Hall of Fame QB) was pushing some stupid no name razor (Micro Touch Tough Blade) for a little while, and then those razor blade commercials seem to have quickly disappeared.
2. The host from Pawn Stars (Rick Harrington), was attempting to get into the razor blade business, and was also promoting his new razors in commercials. Those commercials also seem to have disappeared.
John & Anonymous - Perhaps you know that the first celebrity endorser of an 'MLM' racket was Alan Ladd (Shane) who was ensnared by 'Nutrilite.'
ReplyDeleteIn 1954, 'Nutrilite's' bosses, Messrs. Rehnborg, Mytinger and Casselberry, hired a leading advertising agency which handled the clean-cut, but fading, Hollywood star, Alan Ladd. Along with his wife and children, Alan Ladd then briefly-featured in a kitsch 'Nutrilite' advertising campaign - published in various mainstream magazines right up until 1959.
Alan Ladd (who secretly suffered from chronic depression and who had problems with alcohol and narcotics) was, however, soon to be air-brushed out of the 'Nutrilite' fairy story.
https://www.tias.com/stores/adsbydee/origpics/5287a.jpg
David,
DeleteI'm not familiar with Alan Ladd, or the movie "Shane", but that advertisement is a perfect resemblance to the Amway of today. Every diamond is that stereotypical perfect white family that has their beautiful white children. Amway is still stuck in the 1950's, and they are still using misleading and often vague terminology that you can see in the advertisement. The most interesting part about this advertisement is the fact that it initially targeted women to sell Nutrilite, but when I was approached about Amway/Nutrilite it was either a man's business or a family business. This "business" has evolved from targeting women of the 1950's to college grads and minorities of the 2010's.
John
DeleteAlan Ladd was very well chosen by the 'Nutrilite' racketeers. His clean 'all-American hero and family man' image must have prevented countless victims from facing the reality.
Although it's highly unlikely, perhaps the writer of the 1960s Batman TV series was having a go at Alan Ladd's involvement with 'Nutrilite,' when he created 'Shame.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNq0UkyuYn0
Nutrilite was spoofed in the Bud Schulberg movie "A Face in the Crowed" back in the 1950s. The vitamin was called "Vita-Jex," and was an essentially worthless nostrum composed of sugar and a few useless ingredients. But the story in the film was that it had a huge sale as a result of mindless enthusiasm and hype.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, and completely new to me, Anonymous. Thanks, I'll be looking for this movie.
DeleteThe 1963 Peter Sellers movie, 'Heavens Above,' has a similar, but different, theme, with a profitable traditional 'capitalist' cure-all product known as 'Tranquilax.' In the story, 'Tranquilax' is successfully peddled in shops using religious/spiritual terminology as 'The 3 in One.' But this is challenged by a naive Church of England Vicar who, via series of comical errors, gains influence over an elderly widow - one of the main owners of 'Tranquilax'. She sells her shares enabling the vicar to attempt to apply the 'socialist' teachings of Jesus to the letter. However, the Vicar's wide-eyed 'Christian' generosity becomes a magnet for scroungers and con-artists.
'Vita Jex.'
DeleteIn 1934, Rehnborg (aged 48) created ‘California Vitamins Inc.’, allegedly to manufacture and distribute what he arbitrarily defined as' the ‘World’s First Multi-Mineral/Multivitamin Plant-Based Food Supplement - a Unique Combination of Vitamins and Minerals in a Special Base.’ At first, this so-called ‘Health Tonic’ was brewed up, and peddled as 'Vita-6' a.k.a. 'Vitasol,' in insignificant quantities. Consequently, it was of no particular interest to regulators. However, anyone with an ounce of common sense could immediately tell that Rehnborg’s ‘invention’ was just another essentially-inert potion (in the absurd tradition of the medicine show); a random mixture of cheaply-procured common substances with an expensive price tag. It had probably taken Rehnborg 6 hours to concoct, not 6 years.
By 1939, Rehnborg had spotted the existing term, 'Nutrilites' (probably in an old scientific magazine). So he legally-changed the name of his pay-to-play game of make-believe to the technical-sounding ‘Nutrilite Products Company Inc.’ and moved his quackery onto an almost unprecedented scale.
Anonymous - You will observe that I've just posted an article on my Blog all about 'A face in the Crowd.' I now recall that this movie was mentioned to me in the past, but at that time, I couldn't find any links to it.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.