Andi Dorfman & Josh Murray - Bachelorette 10 - General Discussion

stuckinsc wrote:

Ash2214 wrote:^ Drew Brees markets Advocare's products and is a national spokesperson for the company. What I was referring to was that a popular NFL QB is marketing and telling people to buy Advocare's products just like Andi and Josh are. It was more so actually just to state that my friend, who had a positive experience with Advocare, found out about it in the first place.

I was just wondering if Andi and Josh are paid sponsors like Drew Brees or if they are selling the products?  Also do they plan to do the 24 day challenge?  

Advocare seems to be a pyramidal marketing company, I have been part of one, so if they are paid advertisers or part of the sales force.

Yes, they're distributors for the multi-level marketing company. Well, I guess Josh is, Andi seems to be along for the ride

I find this a class-less move on the part of a couple I otherwise like.  There I said it.

Multi level marketing is by and large a sleazy business IMO.  This is a controversial statement.  Every MLM company must post and distribute a statement of how much distributors should expect to earn ... do people have actual financial success or do they lose their initial investment.  99% of Advocare (and Herbalife, and all the others) lose money following an initial investment. http://advocarecorporate.s3.amazonaws.com/microsite/downloads/pdf/incomedisclosurestatement.pdf  Josh and Andi have a ready-made pool of potential recruits and a chance to build a network, not just sell some supplements/meal replacement products.  So maybe they believe they can make a lot of money and build their own network of distributors.  It's a cheesy move to me though. Just an opinion.

In MLM, money comes from sales and recruiting other distributors.  To make big money (as opposed to having a hobby and doing it mostly for the discounts one gets as a distributor), one has to recruit distributors, who recruit distributors, who recruit distributors.... until you have the classic MLM pyramid.  

Without getting into it here, where it has no relevance to the forum, this is a subject I know an awful lot about professionally.   MLMs are very expert at crafting documentation and very complex compensation schemes designed to (let;s assume, legitimately) "dance between the raindrops" of the FTC definitions of what makes an MLM an illegal pyramid scheme.  I have no comment about whether Advocare is or isn't such an illegal pyramid scheme.  The FTC criteria yield a very circular, unsatisfying analysis, driven by economics and motivations of distributors (i.e., whether to recruit or sell shakes), and a bunch of considerations not pertinent to this forum.  

Some may recall I was disgusted by how Jef Holm's father Monte had amassed his millions.  I'm nothing if not consistent.  

At any rate, I just had to post to say ... I am not impressed.   I would have thought they'd go in a different direction with their celebrity than selling nutritional supplements in some MLM company.  Bleck.

Good post jlccaz.

I am very surprised they are going this route also, I really hope that those interested take the time to educate themselves on the product.

Thus far I have been impressed with this couple in terms of returning to normal life and feel they have a strong foundation.

However I am not impressed with this "new business venture", makes me feel they are taking advantage of their fans, whether they intend to or not, JMO.

sbolduc wrote:
However I am not impressed with this "new business venture", makes me feel they are taking advantage of their fans, whether they intend to or not, JMO.

Me too. The whole announcement felt icky to me. :hidingchair

Eagle Eye wrote:
She's not doing the two together. They're starting the challenge on September 22nd.

They haven't even started yet? With the way she's looking recently, she has nothing left to loose. Weightwise I mean.

I was part of Stampin' Up! for a few years. I enjoyed their products and only focused on recruiting people if they also enjoyed the products. It became too much with graduate school, so I gave it up and sold my supplies to my downline. We enjoyed the company, but for us it was a hobby.

I was a little shocked by how much sucralose is in the product. I am sensitive to this is a severe irritant to my colon and many of my friends get severe headaches from sucralose/splenda. It is everywhere now, so they are no different than most, but I was a little surprised. Also lots of artificial sweetner is generally not considered good for weight loss as it engages the desire for sweet things, not supresses it.

Anyway, I hope Josh and Andi have looked into it. I went to their page and it feels a bit like taking advantage of people who like them from the show. Maybe they really truly believe in the products, but the selling part to me and making money off sales and recruitment of others is a little odd. I will add, I was a huge critic of Hearts and Diamonds by Des and Chris too, as I felt it was taking advantage of their fans as well, but at least that was a one time buy.

Not an MeandI fan, but still saddened by this ridiculous endorsement. This should really raise her professional value for her future.
I would hate to see others that are fans, however, either waste their $ trying to endure themselves to this couple or worse--jeopardize their health.

stuckinsc wrote: I will add, I was a huge critic of Hearts and Diamonds by Des and Chris too, as I felt it was taking advantage of their fans as well, but at least that was a one time buy.

Yes, I cringed when my favorites did it too. Thankfully that was shortlived, I tried to forget all about it. 

Eta: though I think with the poetry the fans kinda knew what they were getting if they watched the season, the sales pitch was more tacky than anything. This in particular is risky and I am no fan of these diet supplements.

bleuberry wrote:

stuckinsc wrote: I will add, I was a huge critic of Hearts and Diamonds by Des and Chris too, as I felt it was taking advantage of their fans as well, but at least that was a one time buy.

Yes, I cringed when my favorites did it too. Thankfully that was shortlived, I tried to forget all about it. 

Eta: though I think with the poetry the fans kinda knew what they were getting if they watched the season, the sales pitch was more tacky than anything. This in particular is risky and I am no fan of these diet supplements.

I thought Hearts and Diamonds was tacky, but most people who bought it were very happy.

I think this is asking people to invest money to help you make money and unless they are going to be great support to help these other people be successful, it could be really bad.

I also don't think being involved with a business like this is very good for either a lawyer or a financial planner. But that is just my opinion.

Some prior contestants have been able to use the celebrity they gained from the franchise to their advantage.  But I find these were folks who had some skill they were able to "sell".  For example, Jillian is a designer, Chris Lambton has landscaping experience, Reid is a realtor.  Others like Ali have been able to parlay their skills into media work.  
Some others turn to blogging which while I think it can be self-promoting to the extreme, at least it does not take money from fans, but from advertisers.    
The MLM stuff however to me is crossing the line.  People can lose a lot of money in these, not just a one time thing.

I'd have more respect for Josh if he used his education/training in financial planning and maybe hit up tptb etc to help guide them financially. LOL.

Diamonds and Hearts may have been tacky, but at least it seemed to be as much about Chris's silly dream of being poet as it was about the money. And it wasn't potentially dangerous to people's health (though I doubt my mental health would survive reading a whole book of Chris's "poems").

This Advocare stuff smells like nothing but a money-making attempt and it's a dangerous one at that, both healthwise and financially. For fans at least.

sbolduc wrote:Good post jlccaz.

I am very surprised they are going this route also, I really hope that those interested take the time to educate themselves on the product.

Thus far I have been impressed with this couple in terms of returning to normal life and feel they have a strong foundation.

However I am not impressed with this "new business venture", makes me feel they are taking advantage of their fans, whether they intend to or not, JMO.

I am not a big supporter of this type of program. I will say, however, that as far as I can tell, there are several other UGA athletes (including Josh's good friend Chad Gloer and Chad's mom Kathy) who have been involved with Advocare for a few years. In fact, Aaron has had its website as part of his twitter profile for many months. So Josh likely is familiar with its products and did not simply become involved without doing some due diligence.