BULLETIN: Club Asteria Reconfigures E-Magazine, Removes All Content Related To Will Smith; Famed Entertainer’s Likeness Appeared Above ‘JOIN NOW’ Button

Now you see it, now you don't: Club Asteria's September 2011 recruitment magazine has been reconfigured to remove all content related to actor Will Smith.

BULLETIN: UPDATED 11:04 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Club Asteria’s September 2011 e-magazine has been reconfigured, wiping out an entire page of content on entertainment icon Will Smith that created the appearance that the actor and rapper had endorsed the company and was serving as a spokesman.

The reason for the removal and the precise time at which the content was deleted were not immediately clear. On Sept. 9, the PP Blog asked Smith’s publicist whether the actor was aware that Club Asteria was using his image and publishing a purported “interview” with Smith.

In the e-magazine’s original configuration, a Page 7 headline that used Smith’s name (and ended with an exclamation point), an image of the actor and a link to a video package featuring Smith appeared above Club Asteria’s “JOIN NOW!” button. The Smith-related content now has been replaced with what appears to be a generic article titled “Success Means More Than Just Having Money.”

The Page 7 replacement article does not reference Smith in any context. Previously, the page featured a headline of “Will Smith Inspires the World With Enthusiasm for Life, Work & People!”

Also gone from the page was a short deck that consisted solely of these words: “An Interview With Will Smith.” Meanwhile, a single paragraph that once existed below the deck and used the phrase “in this interview and discussion Will shares” also was a casualty of the sudden reconfiguration.

Gone, too, were an image of Smith and a video link in which Club Asteria appeared to have reframed a YouTube video of Smith-related interview footage and caused the video to play inside the e-magazine.

Club Asteria, which was widely promoted on the Ponzi boards, had its PayPal account frozen and came under fire by the Italian securities regulator CONSOB earlier this year, uses the publication to recruit affiliates.

See earlier story.

 

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4 Responses to “BULLETIN: Club Asteria Reconfigures E-Magazine, Removes All Content Related To Will Smith; Famed Entertainer’s Likeness Appeared Above ‘JOIN NOW’ Button”

  1. I’m guessing that Club Asteria has now been introduced to the pitfalls of implying celebrity endorsement where none exists. I wonder if Louise Hay is aware she is also included in the same e-mag?

  2. Great job Patrick! Will Smith is one of my favorite actors!

    Rod Cook

  3. […] last month, an image of actor Will Smith was featured in a Club Asteria promo. The image was removed after the PP Blog contacted Smith’s publicist. It is common for fraud schemes to trade on the […]

  4. […] placing a “JOIN NOW” button under an image of Smith in its September house organ and later removing both the  image and a purported “interview” with Smith, Club […]