I first heard about MonaVie before it launched, over four years ago. Because I write about the Network Marketing industry for two media outlets in addition to this site, I try to keep up with what’s happening in the industry. I subscribe to hundreds of news feeds and follow companies as closely as possible.
MonaVie jumped back on my radar in 2006 when former Nascar driver Geoff Bodine claimed:
“It’s (Monavie) got rid of the majority of my arthritic pains,”
I wrote about it, but didn’t really think about it much further until a MonaVie distributor posted another comment on one of my blogs:
I’m looking for people who are suffering from asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, Monavie drink, has the #1 anti-oxidant to help peaple who suffers from these diseases…
God bless her, she is simply trying to grow her business and she mentioned that her upline told her about blogs that could get her leads.
I began to see a pattern of behavior on behalf of MonaVie distributors. About that time, I also got reports from people going to live MonaVie meetings where all kinds of crazy things were being said. "The lame can walk and the blind can see with MonaVie", wrote the reader. The reader was obviously joking, using an exaggeration about the lame and blind, but his point was that the meetings centered around miraculous claims.
Then a few months later, I was on YouTube and found dozens of MonaVie distributors talking about the product and diseases such as Lyme Disease and Arthritis. I wrote about and posted one of the videos on this blog. A day later, I found a comment on the YouTube video saying the following:
"who said there is no cure for Cancer Logon to the monavie,com and use
ID # 580838 from the Enroll to get ur health better,Cancer no more"
At this point, it was obvious that the culture in MonaVie was to make claims. Culture does not travel up from the newest distributor. Culture filters down from the leadership.
Because most of the time these MonaVie claims were made face to face, the FTC and FDA can not come down on the company without a complete and costly investigation. However in the age of YouTube and Blogging, the evidence of these claims was overwhelming and it forced MonaVie to react.
Rather than reel in the leadership and educating the distributors, MonaVie reacted by banning web sites produced by anyone below the level of Black Diamond, a move that might prove devastating to the Black Diamonds and above since they are now being sued over the Celadrin claims.
When you build your business on a culture of questionable (or untrue) claims, it will eventually catch up with you.
Ty,
I'm a regular reader (but not so regular commenter), and, while I rarely disagree with you, I must take exception with your statement that "Culture filters down from the leadership." That's generally the way it works in the corporate world but, as a professional MLM journalist, you should know that the sheer number of distributors makes it difficult to police them all, and that "telephone line" distortions are common.
I am associated with both Team and MonaVie, and attend regular meetings. I assure you, in the most emphatic way, that *all* leadership I've heard stresses the fact that MonaVie is a nutritional supplement and not a drug. It is not FDA endorsed, and it is not intended to cure, treat or prevent any disease or disorder.
Despite the above line being the standard FDA mandated disclaimer for supplements, who can argue that proper nutrition is essential for good overall health? When symptoms arise due to some nutritional deficiency, replacing the inadequate nutrient will relieve those symptoms. Who can argue that Vitamin C can treat/prevent scurvy? Who can argue that anti-oxidants can slow the destructive activity of free radicals? Or that fiber can help reduce cholesterol? (Ever look at a recent box of Cheerios or Quaker Oats? 🙂
Dietary supplements are permitted to make structure/function claims. These are broad claims that the product can support the structure or function of the body (e.g., "glucosamine helps support healthy joints", "the hormone melatonin helps establish normal sleep patterns"). The FDA must be notified of these claims within 30 days of their first use, and there is a requirement that these claims be substantiated.
Anyway, back to my point. When folks regularly include MonaVie in their daily diet, it's likely that they will notice some effect if their diet was previously lacking in some way. This effect, if present, will be different for everybody. These effects are real, and there is nothing wrong with these folks declaring what the juice has done for them. The problem arises when some irresponsible person takes one of those testimonies and twists it to say that "MonaVie can cure your ."
And, that is what I see. I see corporate and Team leadership constantly stressing the fact that MonaVie is a supplement, not a drug, and it is not intended to cure anything. And, despite this, I see a lot of irresponsible distributors take the claims of folks who have had positive results and twist those into inappropriate/illegal claims.
It's difficult to hold the leadership responsible for that.
Well, then we will have to disagree.
Again, the disclaimer is FDA mandated. Supplement manufacturers cannot say their products "cure," "treat" or "prevent." But, they can say they "help" or "support." When it comes to nutritional supplements, who can argue that they help and support a healthy body? (Well, I guess they wouldn't if your diet is already balanced and complete, but whose is these days?)
Both Celadrin and glucosamine are beneficial to someone suffering from arthritis by helping reduce pain and supporting healthy joints. Both of these statements are substantiated claims. This is true, despite the fact that these supplements are not intended to cure, treat or prevent arthritis. But, they help (reduce pain) and support (healthy joints).
Anyway, I just ran across a rather interesting turn of events regarding the Imagenetix vs. MonaVie case: http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/mlm_amway_quixtar_mona_vie_monavie_lawsuit.html
Will wonders never cease? 🙂
(Wow – I tried to make that a link, but normal HTML isn't doing it. 🙁 )
What about the phrase "helps lower cholesterol?" Again, have you seen a recent box of Cheerios or Quaker Oats? "Clinically proven," no less!
Captain,
We may have to agree to disagree on this one.
The culture in MonaVie, driven by the leadership is one of making claims.
You can't say…
"MonaVie is a nutritional supplement and not a drug. It is not FDA endorsed, and it is not intended to cure, treat or prevent any disease or disorder."
…and then ask someone (via testimony) how it "helped" their arthritis in the next sentence.
The Celadrin issue is either really sloppy management or more overlooking questionable ethics in order to spur growth.
This whole thing reminds me a bit of Amway in th early 90's. The company had no problem with the ethics of the top leaders (like they do today) when they were growing by $100 million a year.
I agree. MonaVie should never be marketed with "Try this, it will help your (insert disease here)" statements. And, I've never heard corporate or Team leaders market it that way.
I have heard plenty of irresponsible distributors market it that way. That's not the leadership's fault. They do all they can to get the right message across to their distributors.
As soon as you use the term "pain" and mention any disease, it is a slippery slope to a potential illegal claim.
MonaVie meet Seasilver.
Captain,
Is MonaVie clinically proven to do anything?
We don't even know how much Acai is in MonaVie.
I'm not saying it's bad for you, in fact send me some and I will gladly drink it. I'm sure that MonaVie is a good product.
However, when it is marketed as…
"Try this, it will help your (insert disease here)"
That is not a solid, long term business plan and it was obviously part of the plan at one point. Then add in this whole Celadrin fiasco and it appears as though either the company is mis-managed or the ethics are overlooked.
The Monavie Acai Berry Juice product, it’s timing, great compensation plan, and hugely successful management team backing you make this an incredible business opportunity. It is the best opportunity in product marketing.
The reality is that Monavie never stopped the distributors from saying the things that the distributors said. They were too excited about the fact that they were growing so fast, and did not want to stop it.
Next point in fact, their ethics are shown when they knowingly did not have Celadrin in their product and continued to allow the distributors to continue to talk. In addition to this, they did not even have enough Celadrin in the product to make a difference. They will almost say anything as long as they are able to show a profit!
I have to agree with OP here. Your methods of marketing are a direct result of what you are taught. Granted you can not police everyone however, distributors learned that behavior somewhere from one of the people they trusted to teach them how to grow this business.
I won't come down too hard because this is an industry wide problem, however the more people we have performing at top class with strict ethics and guidelines the better the industry image.
If you want to change the industry image it comes from everyone doing their part to ensure that what you say and do are consistent with corporate. If corporate isn't doing anything to make sure their people in the field are being responsible then I think it's fair to blame the top leadership.
Ty,
People behind Monavie are certainly much smarter than the product they created. You don't know but there are very close working relationships between the Monavie with FDA and USDA.
Read their distributor's policy & procedure you will see why FDA can not claim on Monavie. All Monavie distributors are "independent" contractors when they sign up on the distributor's agreement.
Here's the link to Monavie's Policy & Procedure:
https://www.monavievo.com/corporate/documents/P&P_US%20Eng_7-03-08.pdf
Monavie does not ever make any claim.
Plus, nobody can survive with the FDA with un-approved claims. So don't worry about it because Monavie has been able to stand the long term tests and growing big.
You may also say that this public TV network is crazy enough to broadcast news on Health Reports about Monavie: http://www.thinkyounger.info
I think your blog is good, but you obviously do not have some basic facts about the product and the people behind Monavie.
Until good things happen to your trusted friends and even yourself because of Monavie.
Andy
andy@thinkyounger.info
I never read or comment on these type of blogs for this reason. People who make a living by creating these “news” blogs and stirring the pot by calling out irresponsible distributors are they themselves irresponsible.
Network marketing is the business model of the future, even though it has been around since the time of Christ.
As in EVERY business there are good and bad, correct and incorrect distributors, workers, CEO`s etc. To claim that a Company has a culture of lies an unwarranted claims because of some irresponsible reps is just plain ignorant.
I have used may different products in the MLM industry. I used a product called Ambrotose from Mannatech that was given to be by a friend. I had just undergone Stage II Colon Cancer Surgery and was getting ready to have chemo. My Doctor kept postponing the chemo treatments because my blood cell counts were not sufficient. I had my blood work done and was denied treatment and was rescheduled for another blood test the following week. My friend gave me a jar of Ambrotose and told me to bulk up on it. I did and I felt really good on the second day. By the time my next appointment came around I felt amazing and my blood count was through the roof and I was cleared for treatment.
I was told my hair would fall out and it did, but not enough that I had to wear a wig, or shave my head. It just thinned. While others around me were losing huge masses of hair.
I did not experience severe nausea like a lot of others around me. I worked all the way through the 6 month treatment only missing 2 days.
I swear by the product and contribute it to the drastic change in my body.
I do not sell it nor am I out to make any money off it. I just know what happened in my body and the only thing I did different was to start consuming Ambrotose.
I now am a Distributor for MonaVie and I can tell you the difference I feel taking the product and the way I feel when I don`t take it are noticeable. I sleep better, wake up easier, and feel more energized throughout the day. Am I making false claims??? No.. I am sharing what I experience while consuming this product.
I am not here to sell anything, I did not post a link to my site.
I think it is sad that people spend so much time trying to “expose” the ill`s of this industry instead of promoting the most lucrative business in the history of mankind.
Yes, there are people out there making false claims with no other intent than to make money. But that is not a license to make such blanket statements about the leadership of a company. You don`t make the INC 500 list for being a company that is out of integrity. You don`t win the Earnst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for running a shady pyramid scheme.
Seriously…. I would prefer you stick to the age old saying of…. If you can`t find anything nice to say, don`t say anything at all.