Whether land deals, cosmetics, stocks and bonds, herbal potions or nutritional drinks, there will always be the unethical preying on the vulnerable. Why? Unethical individuals see the opportunity to take advantage of people and they have the means to do so.
In our current era, we have a new generation of the unethical appealing to a new generation of gullible college students. There is nothing new under the sun. In no way do I blame the students. They are falling for the same line that those in my generation fell for with herbal supplements, cosmetics, plastic eating ware and magazine subscriptions.
In an article carried by the Associated Press (August 27, 2015) entitled: “FTC: Vemma shut down for running pyramid scheme,” we are introduced to the Vemma Nutrition company.
What is remarkable is not so much the scam, but how similar the scam is to pyramid schemes of its type in the past:
”The consumer protection agency said that Vemma told recruits that they could make as much as $50,000 per week selling its nutritional beverage Vemma, energy drink Verge or protein shake Bod-e. An initial investment of $600 was paid for products and business tools and $150 in Vemma products had to be bought each month to receive bonuses. The FTC said Vemma provided little help on how to sell its products and instead rewarded them for recruiting more people.”
To help its product along, the Vemma company added just a slightly new wrinkle: reality TV.
“Chris and Heidi Powell, two married stars from ABC’s reality show ‘Extreme Weight Loss,’ appear in promotional videos and packaging of weight-loss drink Bod-e.” Since the FTC came down on the manufacturer, the weight loss stars (we used to call it “Going on a Diet!”) have disappeared. The company’s CEO and promoters have likewise disappeared into the legal mist awaiting, undoubtedly, legal action.
Apparently, representatives of the company – the company apparently earned $200 million last year – would visit college campuses and convince the students that selling this stuff was a great alternative to a full-time job. In addition to the reality stars, the company’s literature had pictures of jets, luxury cars, yachts and exotic places that were somehow tied in with the successes of selling the canned product line. The imagery has been long used by Ponzi scheme organizations to entice people of all ages to sell things that no one really wanted or needed.
Unfortunately no shortcuts
No matter the era, there has always been the knowledge among the unscrupulous that “desperate” people are often motivated by greed. Here is where the opportunists see great potential.
I get it. College students often bump along on a shoestring budget. They feel badly that they cannot do more, buy more and have more. Suddenly, like a vision, a couple of “clowns” show up on a campus and convince the kids that they can turn a measly $750 plus the promise to buy more products, into annual sales of $600,000 a year – or more! In addition, the clowns show the kids that real, live reality TV stars used the product to help them with their weight loss. It is all a scam.
The food business is incredibly tough. To generate revenues of up to $50,000 a month, part-time, is sheer fantasy. The company knows this. They know that the vast majority of students will not sell much more than a few hundred dollars’ worth of product and then they will go away. The lure of riches and status will fade into preparing for exams, homework and college social life. The greed-filled sales pitch will be re-cycled on yet another incoming group of students.
When (not if) the student fails the company can simply blame the student for not following the program, or the manual or the “Big Book” or the “Big Big Book,” or whatever device they convince the students to buy to make them successful. It is a set up. The Vemma Nutritional Products Company is no different than the Madoff’s. It is the same drink, just a different flavor.
Use your ethical antennae
“There are no shortcuts,” “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
They are trite expressions that are as applicable now as they were when Snake Oil sales people used to roll into a little town with bottles of miracle elixirs.
No matter our level of sophistication, we are never above being taken by the unethical. The only antidote is a dose of good ethics. Think something through no matter how slickly it is presented. Be wary of promises of riches and wealth especially with products that are notorious for low margins and intensive sales efforts.
If such riches abound, why would those guys in the pictures with jets and yachts want to share it with you? Don’t feel badly though. There were many adults who were convinced Bernie Madoff could give them double-digit returns when every other investment firm was struggling to stay even.
Greed will nurture opportunists and no matter the age or the “costume” they wear, the “clowns of opportunity” will always try to run their unethical acts.
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