MonaVie Shares Oprah Winfrey’s Concerns over Health Claims… Unless They Are From A Black Diamond

So, the big news from last week is that Oprah Winfrey is suing several companies — including MonaVie — over the use of her name, likeness, and quotes. Oprah states on her web site that she is not “associated with nor endorses any açai berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products.”

MonaVie’s response? Let’s not forget Dallin Larcency’s quote about trying to rein in distributors making illegal claims was like herding cats. Now, CFO Devin Thorpe is saying the following:

We really feel like we’re the victims of these Internet scammers every bit as much as Oprah is a victim of them,” said Thorpe. “Monavie really created the açai business in the United States … And it’s really [Internet scammers] trading on our good name.

On one hand, MonaVie is tooting its horn about being numero uno in the food and beverage industry; on the other hand they are claiming themselves as victims. Sorry, MonaVie, you can’t have it both ways in this case. Victims? Cry me a river. Internet scammers? Why don’t you look at your very own Crowne Black Diamond Brig Hart?!? Check out the SL 130 MonaVie Information Brochure PDF that I discovered in multiple locations on the Internet:

Click on the photo above to see a larger image (pages 1, 2, and 6 from the 6-page document). Note the following:

1. Oprah’s photo and endorsement of the acai berry is used prominently on page 2.
2. The copyright on page 6 is by Global NetMark LLC, which is owned by none other than MonaVie Crowne Black Diamond Brig Hart.
3. Various medical claims on page 6.
4. Note the disclaimer about the Oprah quotes, “Oprah, NBC and CBS Radio are registered trademarks of their respective holders and are shown as news related media.”

Oh, I guess the last bullet item absolves Brig Hart of any wrongdoing? Maybe I should start putting his photo (or Dallin’s) next to all of my posts and see how he likes it?

Admittedly, the copyright on the SL 130 is from 2005. I would strongly wager, however, that there exists promotional material being printed to this day from the Black Diamond Tools Organizations that has Oprah’s likeness being used to tacitly endorse MonaVie. And, of course, tacit approval of Oprah is transformed into, “Oprah loves MonaVie! Oprah endorses MonaVie!” by the hungry and greedy MonaVie distributors across the country and world.

As for MonaVie Corporate? They didn’t give a rat’s ass… so as long as their fat cats were bringing in the money. I hope Oprah comes down hard on MonaVie and doesn’t get paid off like the other celebrities or athletes who are currently pitching this overpriced purple juice concentrate.

The Flip Side of Functional Foods and Nutriceuticals

Read this article on the flip side of nutrient-spiked foods. Here’s a brief snippet:

The industry calls these products “nutraceuticals” or “functional foods.” Critics say they could lead people to consume too much of certain nutrients, plus too many calories and fats.

New York University food scientist Marion Nestle calls them “calorie distractors.”

“Functional foods are about marketing, not health,” she said. “They delude people into thinking that these things are healthy,” and they often eat more than is wise, she said.

Her shame list includes a candy bar pumped with caffeine and B vitamins, marketed as an “energy boost,” and fattening ice creams enriched with calcium and helpful bacteria called probiotics.

Sound familiar? Both MonaVie and XS Gold are described as “functional” beverages. Maybe they are good for you. Maybe they are not. Don’t fall prey to the marketing!

Humor: MonaVie Air

In my previous post, I believed that the next product from Dallin Larceny and MonaVie would be a sugar-free version of MonaVie Emv.

Yet, I have just been handed this top-secret document detailing the real next product to come from Mount MonaVie.

Working closely with the Black Diamond Deities, God… err… Dallin… is ready to release an amazing new supplement that will sustain you throughout the day.

You… absolutely… cannot… live… without…

MONA•VIE AIR

Here is the description of MonaVie Air:

MonaVie Air is a proprietary blend of oxygen and carbon dioxide retrieved from the forests of the Amazon and the United States. Acai berries, waiting to be harvested and turned into MonaVie juice concentrate and MonaVie Emv lovingly emit carbon dioxide and stored in our wonderful plastic MonaVie Air bags. But that’s not all! MonaVie has signed up your favorite Black Diamonds: Orrin and Laurie Woodward, Brig and Lita Hart, Robert Dean, Randy Schroeder, and many more, to provide their breaths into each and every package of MonaVie Air.

“To show their dedication to the MonaVie cause,” Larsen explains, “every distributor, upon reaching the lofty rank of Black Diamond, not only receives the Mercedes, the big check, but also a Black Diamond MonaVie Air Extractor. This machine collects their breaths, processes it, and stores it safely for future injection into MonaVie Air bags.” The photo to the right shows Orrin Woodward modeling the Black Diamond MonaVie Air Extractor.

Additionally, Dallin Larsen himself is providing a drop of his man sweat, taken from MonaVie Regionals and Super Regionals across the globe, in each bag.

MonaVie Air provides that which you need to survive in each $5/bag. The recommended daily usage is to breath one bag in the morning and one bag right before bed. The essence of Larsen, combined with the wonderful breaths of Black Diamonds, coupled with the acai infused carbon dioxide, and, of course, oxygen, will power you through the day and night, allowing you and your family to reach their dreams.

“For many people, breathing MonaVie Air is as close they are ever going to get to being a Black Diamond,” proudly states Orrin Woodward. “In fact, I’ve made a deal with my good friend, Dallin Larsen, to include a coupon for one TEAM CD in every case of MonaVie Air. Distributors will be able to get a free CD of my latest sermon by returning the voucher to my compound in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Tax and shipping charges will apply, of course. After all, I have four kids to feed!”

MonaVie Air: Smell It, Breathe It, Share It.

MonaVie Air will be available April 1, 2010. Cost per bag for distributors is $5/bag. A case of 24 bags will cost $120. Suggested retail price per bag and case is $10 and $240 respectively. You can pre-order your case of MonaVie Air today. Warning, supplies will be limited, but your orders will eventually be fulfilled.

MonaVie Emv = 170 Calories Per Serving for $2.80

One look at the nutrition label for MonaVie Emv (also known as MonaVie Energy), and I already know what MonaVie will be releasing next: a sugar-free, low-calorie version of MonaVie.

170 Calories per serving. During the Salt Lake City Regional, Founder and Vice Chairman Henry Marsh, joked to Dallin Larsen that he already had four cans of MonaVie Emv that day. That’s nearly 700 Calories. If he’s downing that much juice each day… they are going to have to roll him out onto the stage at the next regional!

Seriously though… I hope the diabetics in the MonaVie crowd are careful not to drink too much of this MonaVie Emv, lest they get a sugar overload!

So, do you want to take bets on the name of the sugar-free MonaVie Emv product? They made a joke on stage that Einstein, in writing his famous E=mc² formula, really wrote E=mv. It’s got to be:

Emv/0.

Yup, Emv Divide by Zero.

Now, let’s take a look at pricing. Consider the following:

MonaVie Emv	Price per can	Price per case (24 cans)
Distributor	$2.80	$68
Suggested Retail	$3.71	$89

Let’s compare this to the closest equivalent, Amway’s XS Gold:

XS Gold	Price per can	Price per case (12 cans)	Price per 24 cans
Distributor1	$2.30	$27.60	$55.20
Suggested Retail	$2.99	$35.88	$71.76

And I thought Orrin Woodward left Amway because the prices were too expensive and the products were too difficult to retail??? Check out Orrin’s own words from his legal complaint:

20. Quixtar’s products are simply too expensive to be effectively retailed to any disinterested customer.
21. Quixtar’s products were, and are still, priced significantly higher than national brand equivalents, which dictates that retailing is a losing proposition. Illustrative of this fact is the XS energy drink line.
22. XS energy drink is the number one selling product in the Quixtar business.
23. Distributors can purchase a twelve pack of XS for $20.40 at wholesale cost. The suggested retail price of a twelve pack is $23.99. This yields an 18% retail margin.
24. If a distributor were to order four cases of XS in the state of Michigan, their subtotal before taxes and shipping would be $81.60, and after taxes and shipping the total would be $97.35. With taxes and shipping, there is a 19% mark-up from the wholesale price
25. If a new distributor were to purchase four cases of XS and personally sell them at the suggested retail price, they would be operating at a 1% loss for their efforts. This is obviously an untenable selling proposition for a new distributor.
26. With XS, Quixtar placed the distributor cost, which is supposedly the wholesale cost, at significantly above the retail market value. If a distributor purchases the product at the distributor price, it is impossible for that IBO to then re-sell the product for any profit. People just won’t buy the product.
27. When Quixtar’s number one selling product is substantially more expensive then its competitors, Quixtar essentially insures that its distributors cannot retail the product.
28. XS energy drink is not the only Quixtar product that is over-priced. Scott Larsen, a vocal detractor of both the Quixtar business, posted articles on his website highlighting the price disparities between Quixtar products and their national brand equivalents (See attached exhibit A).
29. Because Quixtar’s products are unmarketable, financial gains to Quixtar distributors are primarily dependent upon the continued, successive recruitment of other participants who purchase Quixtar products in order to qualify for commissions.
30. Since Quixtar distributors predominantly focus on recruiting other participants, there is an emphasis for distributors to purchase the Quixtar products and personally consume them. This is known as “internal consumption.”

Well, now XS has a competitor that is even more overpriced than it is! And Orrin is selling it!

I have written before on how I think the energy drink market is a racket. In my opinion, paying $3 to $4 for 8.4oz is highway robbery. What’s wrong with water and a spritz of lemon?

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¹ Does anyone have distributor pricing for XS Gold? Thanks to Candace for providing the distributor cost of XS Gold.

MonaVie Emv (Energy) to Compete with XS Gold

I had it all backwards when I wrote that XS Gold was going to be a competitor to MonaVie. It turns out MonaVie has been readying its own entry in the energy drink marketplace, MonaVie Energy.

According to the corporation, an independent blind taste¹ taste rated it numero uno against other energy drinks on the market.

And so, here we go again. Let the wild claims about benefits to this new elixir begin, as the drink doesn’t go on sale for another two months. I wonder how much it will cost for one can of MV Energy. The folks at LazyMan will no doubt be breaking down the price difference between MonaVie Energy and other competing energy drinks, including XS Gold. I would expect MonaVie to charge a premium for the drink, as they do today with their purple grape juice concentrate. My bet, however, is that they charge a multiple less (i.e. instead of 10x, how about 2x?), and pass it off as part of the MonaVie Economic Stimulus Plan.

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¹ I bet their blind taste test involved 50 Diamonds and above (and their children). After several years of chugging da juice, their taste buds have now been trained to pick up even the most microscopic presence of the magical acai berry in MonaVie and MonaVie Energy.

Store for More, Now with Less

Saw this from a forum post on AmwayTalk. Article originally from WZZM13:

“Amway Global, Amway Corporation’s North American affiliate, will stop selling name-brand fashion, footwear, and home merchandise through its Store for More Catalog effective August 2009. The company will eliminate these categories to focus its resources on its strategy to build its Nutrilite health and nutrition and Artistry skin care and cosmetics brands and other product categories.”

This is a good idea for the corporation in a number of ways. IBOs probably weren’t buying name-brand products from the Store for More because of higher prices, shipping costs, and low PV/BV ratio. Cutting ties to these products allows Amway to focus its marketing and development on the things it manufacturers in-house: Nutrilite, Artisty, home-care products.

Supporters of the Amway business have always touted how you could buy name-brand products through the biz. With the Store for More now having less, what can they say now?

WWDB Triple Diamond Greg Duncan Bankrupt?

Is this true?

Triple Diamond Greg Duncan has been in bankruptcy court since the end of 2007???

What Else Are They Making?

From mlive.com, an interview with Steve Van Andel and Doug DeVos on the state of Amway. Here’s a quote from the end of the article:

A number of years ago we made the decision to begin contract manufacturing here and we did that because our volume here was small enough we needed to fill up the capacity here.
…
Today, it looks like half the business we do here is contract, the other half we do is Amway business. We expect as time goes on that will always shift a little bit to make sure we’re competitive.

I touched on this topic before in the past, but I never got a satisfactory answer on the nature of these contract products and the identities of the third-party customers. Anyone have any additional information to share?

Also, does “half the business we do here is contract” mean $4.1 billion out of the $8.2 billion sales figures came from contract manufacturing not tied to the Amway business? Somehow I don’t think that’s the case, but the way the quote is worded makes it seem that way.

Like I said in my earlier post, it makes sense for the corporation to do contract work if they have the resources and availability. I would like to see more light shed on these third-party deals that have in place. What third-party products are manufactured by Amway and how much do these rebranded products cost?

Spending More Than You Should

Much has been argued and debated about prices in Amway/Quixtar. Critics say that the products are overpriced whereas IBOs contend that the prices are fair considering the value. There’s just one problem with the IBOs argument, however: Every product has the bonus structure factored into the price. So, if you’re stuck at the bottom, you’re paying at least a 3-31% premium on everything you purchase.

So, what if the corporation lowered prices? They would have to make up for the lost profits by selling more products. Unfortunately, the majority of IBOs aren’t exactly retailing like gangbusters these days. I wonder what is the true purpose of Amway’s recent Now You Know (What?) marketing campaign. Could it be one day the corporation will start selling direct to consumers? I can certainly envision marketing like, “Amway. Same Great Products. New Lower Prices.”

I’ve been reading about these new performance bonuses for next year. There’s a 2-year Founder’s Diamond bonus of $500,000 that was recently announced. That’s a nice chunk of change, but how many IBOs are really going to achieve this? I’m suspecting that these super-sized bonuses are really geared towards keeping the kingpins happy and affiliated with Amway. With the TEAM debacle last year, the corporation doesn’t want other IBOs moving over to another MLM, so they have to provide incentive to stay in and work harder. I’m more interested in hearing about the incentives for people who are at the bottom. IBOs – tell us about those incentives!

Top Posts and Affiliate Marketing

Looking through this site’s logs, I see that the top posts are for my humor story on Dean Kosage in Who Moved My MonaVie and What Is XS Gold: Part 1. In aggregate, however, all of my posts on Orrin Woodward would probably take the top spot:

Now, let’s see how these terms stack up on Google compared with some other searches:

• iPhone: 297,000,000
• Red Bull: 21,900,000
• Amway: 4,110,000
• XanGo: 2,500,000
• MonaVie: 1,100,000
• Quixtar: 549,000
• Orrin Woodward: 18,800
• XS Gold: 4,190
• Dean Kosage: 1,790

I was a little surprised by Quixtar’s low ratings, until I remembered the corporation’s rather heavy-handed approach to how IBOs can market their business. One of the areas of transformation that I feel the corporation needs to work on is allowing IBOs to more effectively market their products and services to customers beyond the face-to-face, one-on-one approach. While I understand why in the past they didn’t want IBOs to be advertising in newspapers and TV ads, but times have changed.

For instance, why can’t an IBO have hyperlinks to products on their blog that link directly to their IBO account like with Amazon Associates? Right now, it appears customers have to go through this portal — often password-protected — in order to buy something from the corporation through that IBO. That’s not making things any easier, you know. IBOs, please correct me if I’m wrong on this one.

Technology is designed (although it doesn’t always succeed) to make things easier and more efficient. Sometimes I think the corporation is afraid of embracing technology because it wants to keep a level playing field.

Celebrity Endorsements

Companies frequently sign celebrities to help endorse their products, and MLM companies are no exception. When I was in the business, Amway used to sell a product called the Shaq Bar, a snack bar with the image of Shaquille O’Neal on the box. At the time, he played for the Orlando Magic which is owned to this day by the DeVos family (founders of Amway). I’d like to think the Shaq bar was discontinued because it tasted so bad, but it’s probably because Shaq left to play for the Lakers.

Lately, Amway has signed on more celebrities to assist in its marketing efforts: Ronaldinho and the AC Milan soccer team for Nutrilite, Sandra Bullock for Artistry, and most recently, John Tesh and Connie Selleca. In addition, they are sponoring a number of high-profile events such as the Tina Turner tour, as well as pumping millions of dollars into print, web, and television advertising. I was always told that the IBOs were such good marketers that Amway didn’t need to market through traditional means, so why the big change all of the sudden? On the MonaVie front, the purple juice is being hawked by the Boston Red Sox and the Cannondale Bike Racing Team.

What does each party get out of the deal? For celebrities, signing an endorsement deal can mean big money, not to mention free products for the lifetime of their contract. The company gets the big-name with which it can use to say, “Hey, so-and-so uses our products, so you should too!”

Does the fact that your favorite television, movie, or sports star endorses a company legitimize that company in your eyes and make you more likely to buy from the its products? Supporters of Amway are quick to say that if Amway were a scam, why is it that they have the support of the business community and celebrities?

At the end of the day, I think it’s about money, pure and simple. “You help me, and I’ll help you,” is the way many of these deals work. As long as each party doesn’t get into trouble, they’ll continue the relationship. Sometimes, however, these business deals go bad. When celebrities get into trouble with the law, companies are quick to cut the deal, as we’ve seen with Michael Vick and Marion Jones. It works in reverse too. This past week, GM/Buick announced that they were cancelling the endorsement deal with Tiger Woods. I wonder if the cancellation was actually initiated on Woods’ behalf, seeing that the automotive industry is in such dire straits.

As for Amway, I recall them having a deal with MCI and even starting up a deal with Enron in the late 90s. Diamonds would say on stage how one day you would be able to get all of your utilities through Amway: gas, electric, phone, and Internet. Then, without much warning or explanation, the Enron deal was cancelled. For Amway, that was probably a very good move, as we all know how the Enron saga eventually turned out.

What are your thoughts on celebrity endorsements?

Happy Friday: It’s The Economy, Stupid!

It’s Happy Friday again! It’s been awhile since I published a Happy Friday post and look what’s been happening in the economy lately! How is everyone is coping with the poor economy at the moment? A number of companies have been laying off employees and/or raising their prices. I wonder to what extent companies like Amway Global or MonaVie have been hit by the economic downturn. To my knowledge, they have not raised prices on products nor shipping (current IBOs — correct me if I’m wrong here). Will this remain the case for the foreseeable future?

With prices being more expensive across the board on food and gas, how are IBOs coping? With less money available at the end of the day, have you adjusted your purchases from your MLM? Are you getting by with less Perfect Water, less XS or XS Gold, or a bottle less of MonaVie? Have you cut back on your tape and tools expenditures? How about your downline volume? Have you noticed an increase or decrease in the size of your group PB/BV each month?

As you prepare for your weekly team meeting tonight, think about where you are in the business today and where you were several months ago when you started reading this blog. Are you where you wanted to be today? If not, why?

Emergen-C Vitamin Drink Mix vs. XS Gold

With all of the hoopla surrounding XS Gold, I took a look at some other products are there on the market. I recently got several packets of Emergen-C Vitamin Drink Mix. It’s a mixable powder¹ that you add to water to give you the following vitamins and minerals (based on the original raspberry flavor). Compare it with XS Gold:

Item	Emergen-C	XS Gold
Calories	20	12
Vitamin C	1667%	50%
Vitamin B12	417%	8000%
Vitamin B6	500%	300%
Thiamin	25%	n/a
Riboflavin	25%	n/a
Niacin	25%	100%
Biotin	n/a	50%
Folate	n/a	50%
Folic Acid	3%	n/a
Panthothenic Acid	25%	100%
Phosphorus	n/a	2%
Calcium	5%	10%
Magnesium	15%	15%
Molybdenum	n/a	50%
Zinc	13%	50%
Manganese	25%	50%
Selenium	n/a	50%
Chromium	8%	50%
Sodium	3%	1%
Potassium	6%	3%
Cost per serving	$0.30	$3.00

If we wanted to compare percentages, one can of XS Gold has in general a higher percentage of vitamins and minerals. Plus, it has the magical Essentra ingredient which is supposed to be so good for you.

But here’s where the two products really differ. The per serving cost of Emergen-C? 30 cents according to this Amazon.com listing. The per serving cost of XS Gold? $3.00.

That’s a 10x cost difference!

I like quality products. At the same time, I like products that have a good cost value proposition. For me, a serving of orange juice or Emergen-C is cheaper and offers plenty of nutrients. Or, I could tap drink water filtered through my Brita water filter.

These products might not offer everything that XS Gold offers, but they do have one unbeatable thing going for them: price.

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¹ Amway used to sell a mixable powder drink called Active-8. What ever happened to that product?

The Front Lines of XS Gold

XS Energy has finally released official information about XS Gold. Here’s a chart comparing it to its competitors from Bridgett’s web site.

Note that MonaVie is not listed as a competitor as I had predicted. It does, however, contain the “magical” acai berry like MonaVie¹. On paper, XS Gold’s listed competitors are other beverages in the “functional drink” market. Two of the drinks listed above, 5 Hour Energy Berry and Nutrisoda Calm are sold via traditional marketing channels, whereas Vemma Verve Energy is an MLM product sold through distributors ala XS Energy and Amway. Incidentally, the Phoenix Suns basketball team signed a deal back in February to be a distributor of Verve energy drink.

I would like to comment on this quote on the XS Gold web site:

XS Gold will provide deeper, more meaningful energy to the XS Nation. As an IBO, you are on the frontlines of this exciting new gold standard in energy drinks, what we are calling “functional energy.”

In military parlance, the being at the front line means being at the leading edge of battle. It’s a dangerous position to be in, since your enemies are right there in front of you. Your generals, on the other hand, are usually well protected and survey the battle from afar. By describing an IBO as being on the front lines, XS Energy, led by WWDB Triple Diamond Greg Duncan, is treating you like a mere disposable foot soldier. As an IBO at the bottom of the organization, you’re out there, trying to sell $3 energy drinks or the business opportunity to friends, family, or strangers. Who’s way, way, way up the line, profiting from your efforts? The generals, the kingpins, your loving and caring Diamond Greg Duncan!

Some IBOs, like some soldiers, make it all the way to the top. There’s no denying that some people have become successful in Amway/Quixtar. After all, it’s a numbers game. Show the plan to enough people and sell enough products through your organization, and you too can become profitable. Likewise, in military history, having an overwhelming force will usually win you more than your fair share of battles. The sad truth of the matter is that most IBOs, like most soldiers, never make it to Diamond, let alone Platinum.

Most of them fail in the business and want to have no reminders of their bitter past. Some, excited by the prospect of action and riches, go onto to other MLM companies. And finally, a few go on to become vocal critics of the business and industry.

What kind of soldier are you? Where will you be when you retire from the field of battle?

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¹ Behind the closed doors of an Open or Major Function, I’m curious how the Diamonds advertise XS Gold to the IBOs. Do they solely mention other functional beverages like the ones listed above or do they also mention MonaVie in their presentations as well?

XS Gold Pricing and Odwalla Orange Juice

I recently bought a gallon jug of Odwalla fresh-squeezed orange juice from CostCo for $5.59. I consider Odwalla to be a premium purchase, but when compared to the price of XS Energy and XS Gold, it seems downright cheap! The gallon jug contains 16 8 oz. servings at $0.35 per serving. 16 servings of XS Gold would cost $48! Regular XS Energy would cost $32!

Forget XS Gold and its magical ingredient Essentra, even regular XS Energy is a rip-off compared to this. Are these products that much better that they should be over five to eight times more expensive? Don’t get me started with MonaVie, which has even more expensive per serving costs!