An eye-opener about MLM products (Advocare)
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AnvilHead
Posts: 18,343 Member
One of the MLMs that comes up frequently here on MFP is Advocare. This article from today on the ESPN website is an interesting read which provides a lot of insight into the practices of Advocare (and other MLMs which use similar structures, such as Beachbody, ItWorks, Body by Vi, etc.): http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14972197/questions-surround-advocare-nutrition-empire-endorsed-saints-qb-drew-brees
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
This pitch -- the promise that if you sign up for AdvoCare, you can reap "rewarding" financial results -- draws tens of thousands of new distributors every year. But an Outside the Lines/ESPN The Magazine investigation has found that few of those salespeople will ever achieve that vision. In reality, only a tiny fraction of AdvoCare members earn anything close to a modest income, even as they're pressured by higher-ranking distributors to keep buying inventory. "They plant the seed that you're gonna make money -- life-changing money," says Gabriel Chavez, who joined in 2010.
And while the company claims its primary objective is selling products, many of its distributors tell a different story. ESPN interviewed more than 30 current and former salespeople, the vast majority of whom said their focus, and the focus of their superiors, was on recruiting other distributors. These new members, many of whom are drawn to the business' strong religious culture or convinced of its credibility by its ties to the sports world, infuse the company with new funds -- money that ultimately flows up to the powerful people who walk the stage at Success School.
Chavez, who lives in Sierra Vista, Arizona, sat in the crowd when Brees spoke three years ago. He had been reluctant to fly to Texas for the event, which cost $119, but he says his superiors pushed him to make the trek. "They told me, 'Put it on your credit card. If your family doesn't support you, go anyways,'" he says. Friends and family members who raise questions about AdvoCare are labeled "dream killers" by other salespeople, according to several distributors.
By 2013, Chavez had spent three years trying to build an AdvoCare business. He had taken out a loan on his 401(k) and quit his government job, dropping $15,000 on products that he struggled to sell. He had hosted innumerable parties in his living room, handing out samples to reluctant attendees, and printed business cards with Brees' face on them. He barely broke even -- but he kept at it, convinced that someday he would be the one on AdvoCare's stage.
"You're always chasing the dream," he says. "And it never comes."
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Replies
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Some parents of a kid in one of my sons class were distributors. They invited a bunch of the kids to hang out one evening, they were all excited then they told the parents a high level Advocare rep would be there. We could sample products and hear about an opportunity.
Of course my kid was excited to go and he was long before being able to drive. The kids played and the adults got the pitch how great everything was, how much money you could make, etc, etc. They had samples of the weight loss products (the couple who hosted were the heaviest ones in the room BTW), Spark for energy, etc.
They ended up giving the kids Spark without the parents knowing. All the kids were bouncing off the walls from the caffeine after the parents got them home. One of the kids told his parents the hosts gave him some stuff called Spark. At this time Advocare wasn't out there like is it now, but it was pretty easy to Google and find out the caffeine content. The parents were p#ssed.
Nobody that was there was buying product or becoming part of their "team".0 -
I met a girl at my gym who was a mlm peddler. She pushed her woo on everyone and handed out samples and business cards constantly. She would sit in the locker room for hours at a time , pushing products on anyone who walked in. She was eventually asked not to come back to the gym because they got so many complaints. But before she was thrown out, I asked her why she was doing this and asked if she really believed these products worked. At first she gave me the usual pitch about how awesome her products where . when I straight up told her that I already knew it was junk , she finally admitted it. She said she was just trying to make money and wanted badly to become a diamond status woo peddler because they told her she could drive corvettes and live in a million dollar home . she really believed that if she kept at it, she would become rich.
I saw the girl working the drive through window at the Wendy's about a year ago. ( I'm not knocking fast food workers, I am just pointing out that she likely never became a millionaire by peddling her woo )0 -
thorsmom01 wrote: »
I met a girl at my gym who was a mlm peddler. She pushed her woo on everyone and handed out samples and business cards constantly. She would sit in the locker room for hours at a time , pushing products on anyone who walked in. She was eventually asked not to come back to the gym because they got so many complaints. But before she was thrown out, I asked her why she was doing this and asked if she really believed these products worked. At first she gave me the usual pitch about how awesome her products where . when I straight up told her that I already knew it was junk , she finally admitted it. She said she was just trying to make money and wanted badly to become a diamond status woo peddler because they told her she could drive corvettes and live in a million dollar home . she really believed that if she kept at it, she would become rich.
I saw the girl working the drive through window at the Wendy's about a year ago. ( I'm not knocking fast food workers, I am just pointing out that she likely never became a millionaire by peddling her woo )
There's a guy at my gym who's an Advocare peddler. He always wears their t-shirts when he's working out and has his pickup truck custom wrapped with a huge Advocare logo running down both sides and "INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR" on both front fenders. I've never seen him bothering anybody in the gym or pushing samples or anything though. He pretty much just keeps to himself and gets his workout done.0 -
This is a useful resource:
http://www.mlmwatch.org/index.html0 -
I have three high school/college "friends" that are distributors for ItWorks. (I use the word friends loosely) Ever since I started to talk to them again all they talk about is "Oh my gosh have you tried _____? It's amazing!" My facebook and instagram is flooded with it. It got to the point where I had to put my foot down and tell them I didn't want the products they were pushing on me and that I didn't want to become a distributor.0
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thorsmom01 wrote: »
I met a girl at my gym who was a mlm peddler. She pushed her woo on everyone and handed out samples and business cards constantly. She would sit in the locker room for hours at a time , pushing products on anyone who walked in. She was eventually asked not to come back to the gym because they got so many complaints. But before she was thrown out, I asked her why she was doing this and asked if she really believed these products worked. At first she gave me the usual pitch about how awesome her products where . when I straight up told her that I already knew it was junk , she finally admitted it. She said she was just trying to make money and wanted badly to become a diamond status woo peddler because they told her she could drive corvettes and live in a million dollar home . she really believed that if she kept at it, she would become rich.
I saw the girl working the drive through window at the Wendy's about a year ago. ( I'm not knocking fast food workers, I am just pointing out that she likely never became a millionaire by peddling her woo )
There's a guy at my gym who's an Advocare peddler. He always wears their t-shirts when he's working out and has his pickup truck custom wrapped with a huge Advocare logo running down both sides and "INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR" on both front fenders. I've never seen him bothering anybody in the gym or pushing samples or anything though. He pretty much just keeps to himself and gets his workout done.
Yeah this chick was sneaky about it. She would wait until ladies came into the locker room and then make small talk about fitness . then she would throw in her sales pitch. She got thrown out because everyone complained. It made me happy that so many people knew that mlm products where junk and didn't buy them. I have a strong dislike for woo peddlers. I feel like they prey upon desperate and naïve people to try to make a buck.
My dislike for them started when I had a IG acct. I was new to fitness and excited about the process. I accepted every female request that was sent to me . that was a big mistake. I found out the hard way just how disgusting these woo peddlers are. I already knew not to accept any requests from people promoting mlm products ( they love to use social media to hunt for victims ) but this one lady was smart. She created a separate acct for her mlm woo and another posing as an everyday mom on a fitness journey. To Make a long story short, she posed as a regular mom to get people to approve her requests. Once you add someone to your friend list, they can see all your photos. She went through my pictures and took screen shots of them. She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
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Packerjohn wrote: »Some parents of a kid in one of my sons class were distributors. They invited a bunch of the kids to hang out one evening, they were all excited then they told the parents a high level Advocare rep would be there. We could sample products and hear about an opportunity.
Of course my kid was excited to go and he was long before being able to drive. The kids played and the adults got the pitch how great everything was, how much money you could make, etc, etc. They had samples of the weight loss products (the couple who hosted were the heaviest ones in the room BTW), Spark for energy, etc.
They ended up giving the kids Spark without the parents knowing. All the kids were bouncing off the walls from the caffeine after the parents got them home. One of the kids told his parents the hosts gave him some stuff called Spark. At this time Advocare wasn't out there like is it now, but it was pretty easy to Google and find out the caffeine content. The parents were p#ssed.
Nobody that was there was buying product or becoming part of their "team".
I would've been so freaking angry if someone gave my child a mlm product!! I'm glad none of the parents fell for the mlm scam though0 -
Yuck - that stuff about calling family members who raise objections "dream killers" sounds like the Scientologists with their "suppressive persons"... RUN!0
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thorsmom01 wrote: »...She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
I've heard more than a few stories of people being taken advantage of like that with their before/after pics by MLM salespeople. That's just downright scummy.0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Some parents of a kid in one of my sons class were distributors. They invited a bunch of the kids to hang out one evening, they were all excited then they told the parents a high level Advocare rep would be there. We could sample products and hear about an opportunity.
Of course my kid was excited to go and he was long before being able to drive. The kids played and the adults got the pitch how great everything was, how much money you could make, etc, etc. They had samples of the weight loss products (the couple who hosted were the heaviest ones in the room BTW), Spark for energy, etc.
They ended up giving the kids Spark without the parents knowing. All the kids were bouncing off the walls from the caffeine after the parents got them home. One of the kids told his parents the hosts gave him some stuff called Spark. At this time Advocare wasn't out there like is it now, but it was pretty easy to Google and find out the caffeine content. The parents were p#ssed.
Nobody that was there was buying product or becoming part of their "team".
WTH? They gave kids caffeine? I hate these people and I don't even know them.1 -
thorsmom01 wrote: »...She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
I've heard more than a few stories of people being taken advantage of like that with their before/after pics. That's just downright scummy.
To this day, I still see my pictures being used by these companies on various social media sites. What's funny is that now more then one company is using it but both claim the results In the photos are from their product. ( just to be very very very clear - I have never taken a mlm product ever and did not consent to my pictures being used )
So now I don't use any social media but mfp. And I don't post side by side type of shots here. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the woo peddlers using my pictures to scam money from people.
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I am a Advocare Distributor.
I have been for 3 years. With that being said I have never pushed a single product on anyone. That stuff annoys me to no end. The only reason I became a distributor was to get the discount for my Spark.
I save $50 a year on it even after paying my fee 0 -
thorsmom01 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »...She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
I've heard more than a few stories of people being taken advantage of like that with their before/after pics. That's just downright scummy.
To this day, I still see my pictures being used by these companies on various social media sites. What's funny is that now more then one company is using it but both claim the results In the photos are from their product. ( just to be very very very clear - I have never taken a mlm product ever and did not consent to my pictures being used )
So now I don't use any social media but mfp. And I don't post side by side type of shots here. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the woo peddlers using my pictures to scam money from people.
That is sick. Do you have all the social media sites, that share your picture with out your permission, shut down?0 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »...She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
I've heard more than a few stories of people being taken advantage of like that with their before/after pics. That's just downright scummy.
To this day, I still see my pictures being used by these companies on various social media sites. What's funny is that now more then one company is using it but both claim the results In the photos are from their product. ( just to be very very very clear - I have never taken a mlm product ever and did not consent to my pictures being used )
So now I don't use any social media but mfp. And I don't post side by side type of shots here. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the woo peddlers using my pictures to scam money from people.
That is sick. Do you have all the social media sites, that share your picture with out your permission, shut down?
Yes but its often not easy. I have to prove that its me in the images and often go back and forth emailing for days . its frustrating and time consuming.
So I keep all my progress pictures to myself now and don't share them . if I do share a picture here, I make sure its only my face and not my body ( the mlm woo peddlers want body shots )0 -
Hey, while it's awful they did that to you, look at the bright side. Your pictures are obviously good enough for them to use. You can secretly gloat about that a little bit. It's super unfortunate that they are being used to dupe unsuspecting and naive people into thinking your success is contributed to their crap, though. 0
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I was at the counter at my vet's having just received some horrible news about my dog. I was paying for the visit and a lady was in the waiting room with a great big badge that said "lose weight now! Ask me how!". I could see her eyeing me up and down and I thought go on Herbalife Lady, I dare you ......... She didn't, maybe I am not as good at concealing my thoughts as I think!0
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Amway operates this way too, don't they? My aunt is an Amway distributor, she always gives our relatives stuff from them for free, but only few people actually buy anything through her. All the stuff I've seen from Amway is really poor quality, too.0
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thorsmom01 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »...She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
I've heard more than a few stories of people being taken advantage of like that with their before/after pics. That's just downright scummy.
To this day, I still see my pictures being used by these companies on various social media sites. What's funny is that now more then one company is using it but both claim the results In the photos are from their product. ( just to be very very very clear - I have never taken a mlm product ever and did not consent to my pictures being used )
So now I don't use any social media but mfp. And I don't post side by side type of shots here. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the woo peddlers using my pictures to scam money from people.
For this exact reason I'm kind of scared to ever put my progress shots online... But I'm wondering if watermarking them before publishing would help. As in, if I plaster giant watermarks on there that go all over my body in the pics. I don't care to have my name/username associated with my progress pics, but I want to put something like "CICO - NO SUPPLEMENTS" and whatever
Genius, right? 0 -
melonaulait wrote: »Amway operates this way too, don't they? My aunt is an Amway distributor, she always gives our relatives stuff from them for free, but only few people actually buy anything through her. All the stuff I've seen from Amway is really poor quality, too.
Yep. And low quality products is pretty much standard for all MLM products. Even Avon has subpar skincare and makeup products.
I have several coworkers who sell Plexus. They make the most ridiculous claims. It'll help you lose weight and have energy. It'll cure everything from lupus to diabetes to eczema. It's really upsetting to hear their sales pitches and know that they're lying through their teeth just to meet their sales quota.0 -
At least you know what you are getting into when you get invited to a Pampered Chef or Tupperware party (and their products last a lifetime, unlike consumables like Beachbody, etc). Even Mary Kay is upfront about their "parties" and products although a rep told us we should use Mary Kay moisturizer instead of Oil of Olay because you should never put oil on your face. I asked her why, since mineral oil was the first ingredient in the Mary Kay moisturizer. She had no answer.0
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