How Bizarre Will MLM Get? YouTube Video That Drives Traffic To Empower Network Feeds On Name Of ‘CashCropCycler’ And Trades On Images Of White House, Obama And Biden

"President Obama" and "Vice President" Biden in a video that appears to be designed to drive sign-ups for Empower Network, an MLM "program."

“President Obama” and “Vice President Biden” in a video that appears to be designed to drive sign-ups for Empower Network, an MLM “program.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our thanks to reader “Tony” for pointing out the video described below.

UPDATED 9:26 A.M. EDT (SEPT. 10, U.S.A.): How bizarre will MLM get? Well, there may be no ceiling: A 2:47 video animation playing on YouTube depicts U.S. Vice President Joe Biden as a recent enrollee in the CashCropCycler HYIP “program” who confesses to President Obama that he’s “[j]ust out bumbling around and sticking my foot in my mouth.”

The video has a publication date of July 17 and appears to be a bid by an affiliate of the Empower Network MLM “program” to target traffic meant for CashCropCycler and refocus it toward Empower Network. “President Obama” appears to speak with a British accent in the promo, which also features a jab against Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

At approximately the 0:48 mark, after “Biden” informs “Obama” that he’s just joined CashCropCycler, “Obama” seems to say this: “Bernanke started that one, didn’t he?”

Some MLMers appear to believe that raising conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve is helpful to MLM HYIP “programs.”

A URL below the video at the YouTube site goes to a page at JoinVicNow.com that displays a photo of an oversized “Commissions Earned” check from Empower Network for $464,913. The check appears to be dated September 2012. It is made out in the names of “David Wood & David Sharpe” and is presented by an individual wearing a Guy Fawkes mask.

Source: Sceen shot at JoinVicNow.com

Source: Sceen shot at JoinVicNow.com

CashCropCycler, a “program” promoted on the Ponzi boards, appears to have gone missing in recent days. NEOMutual, a purported “crowdfunding” company promoted alongside CashCropCycler on the Ponzi boards, also appears to have gone missing. Both “programs” planted the seed that extraordinary profits would come to enrollees.

The Guy Fawkes mask sometimes is known as the “V for Vendetta” mask, which sometimes is used by members of “Anonymous,” the so-called hacktivist group associated with DDoS attacks on government and commercial sites.

Here, in part, is how WikiPedia describes the mask and Guy Fawkes (italics added):

The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605. The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations.

Why an individual is wearing a Guy Fawkes mask in the photo depicting the Empower Network check is unclear. The company, however, has described itself as “bad ass.” (Also see July 19 report on BehindMLM.com.)

Trading on the name of the President and Vice President of the United States was one of the things that led to the downfall of the AdSurfDaily MLM “program” in 2008. (The President at the time was George W. Bush; Dick Cheney was the Vice President.)

After Obama replaced Bush in the White House, an affiliate of an MLM “program” known as MPB Today depicted Obama in a 2010 promo as a left-handed saluting Nazi subordinate to then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was depicted as a whining drunk who’d knocked out First Lady Michelle Obama in the Oval Office. In 2012, MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun was charged in Florida with racketeering. A federal forfeiture complaint that targeted the headquarters building used by MPB Today specified the crimes of access-device fraud and fraud in connection with identification documents.

Calhoun was sentenced to a three-year prison term last month. MPB Today MLM affiliates claimed a one-time purchase of $200 from the firm could result in free groceries and gasoline for life. Claims were made by affiliates that the U.S. government or Walmart or both had backed the MLM “program.”

In January 2013, an online promotion turned Obama into a pitchman for a Ponzi-board “program” known as UltimatePowerProfits.

Some members of the TelexFree  “program” now appear to believe there is MLM hay to be made while trading on the name of Democratic politician Anthony Weiner. TelexFree is under investigation in multiple states in Brazil, amid allegations its is conducting a massive pyramid scheme. Even though there have been reports in Brazil about death threats against a judge and a prosecutor, some U.S. affiliates continue to promote the purported “opportunity.”

One promo for TelexFree claims a payment of $15,125 to the MLM firm will produce a profit of more than $42,000 in a year. The “Aunt Ethels” of the world — older people with money — will become keen on TelexFree, according to the promo.

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4 Responses to “How Bizarre Will MLM Get? YouTube Video That Drives Traffic To Empower Network Feeds On Name Of ‘CashCropCycler’ And Trades On Images Of White House, Obama And Biden”

  1. Quick note: The story linked to below is unrelated to the story above — except in the sense that it speaks to a clownish attack on the President of the United States and a diminution of the U.S. Presidency:

    Snippet from AP via Fox News:

    ____________________________________________________

    A clown wearing a President Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend and the announcer asked the enthusiastic spectators if they wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull.”

    The antics led the state’s second highest-ranking official, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, to denounce the performance in a tweet Sunday. He said it was “disrespectful” to the president.

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/12/missouri-fair-clown-draws-criticism-for-obama-mask/#ixzz2bls963k0

    ____________________________________________________

    Source:

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/12/missouri-fair-clown-draws-criticism-for-obama-mask/

    Other stories on the Missouri event:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/11/obama-rodeo-clown_n_3741218.html

    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/12/politics/missouri-obama-rodeo/index.html

    http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/11/4404230/clowns-obama-stunt-at-missouri.html

    Patrick

  2. The guy behind the mask is David Wood himself, head of Empowered Network. This is one of their capture pages:

    http://i.imgur.com/fQx4FTl.png

    (it’s a screenshot, not clickable) Basically it’s a sob story about how two ex-homeless guys (themselves) figured out how to get people to pay for stuff that’s free, mainly by convincing other people to fall for the same thing they fell for, and to convince other people this is a good way to make money. :)

  3. admin:
    Quick note: The story linked to below is unrelated to the story above — except in the sense that it speaks to a clownish attack on the President of the United States and a diminution of the U.S. Presidency:

    Snippet from AP via Fox News:

    ____________________________________________________

    A clown wearing a President Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend and the announcer asked the enthusiastic spectators if they wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull.”

    The antics led the state’s second highest-ranking official, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, to denounce the performance in a tweet Sunday. He said it was “disrespectful” to the president.

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/12/missouri-fair-clown-draws-criticism-for-obama-mask/#ixzz2bls963k0

    ____________________________________________________

    Source:

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/12/missouri-fair-clown-draws-criticism-for-obama-mask/

    Other stories on the Missouri event:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/11/obama-rodeo-clown_n_3741218.html

    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/12/politics/missouri-obama-rodeo/index.html

    http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/11/4404230/clowns-obama-stunt-at-missouri.html

    Patrick

    Rather funny that this is such a big deal. No-one complained when the rodeo clown dressed as president Bush. Guess that didn’t diminish the presidency. Good grief, people can’t even jokee anymore.

  4. […] Aug. 12, the PP Blog reported that a video playing on YouTube sought to drive traffic to Empower Network by depicting U.S. Vice […]