PatrickPretty.com

Tag: MLM

  • RECOMMENDED READING: Salt Lake Tribune Expands Series On Multilevel Marketing; Christian Pitchman Poses With Rolls-Royce; Trade’s Defenders Scold Critics; Critics Fire Back

    Kudos to the Salt Lake Tribune for expanding on its earlier series on multilevel marketing, which we referenced here. On May 27, the newspaper published two more stories — and one of them features a photograph of a Rolls-Royce with the words “mona vie” emblazoned on its side.

    The expensive car is one of the possessions of evangelical Christian Brig Hart, a top-of-the heap MonaVie distributor who openly told the Trib he mixes religion and business. Hart lives in a Florida mansion, and also has a Lamborghini, the newspaper reported.

    Hart has made questionable health claims about the benefits of MonaVie’s  juice product, the Trib reported.

    In a separate story, the Trib reported on local MLM participants who had given up on the dream.

    Both stories have accompanying comments threads in which readers both defend and criticize MLM. As always, the PP Blog views the comments from the defenders as the most instructive. People who complain about MLM are “victim mentality people,” one reader observed. “End of story!”

    An MLM critic, meanwhile, opined that the trade was “morally repugnant.” Another quoted scripture and wrote that he believed the “big guy might have had something different in mind than rolls royces and armani for his followers.”

     

  • EDITORIAL: Salt Lake Tribune Publishes Series On MLM; Reader Claims Reporter A ‘Broke’ Purveyor Of ‘Negativity’; Separately, Len Clements (IQ-155) ‘Assumes’ Reporter Was ‘Duped’ By The ‘Flimflam’ Of MLM Critics

    We highly recommend an even-handed series the Salt Lake Tribune published on the subject of multilevel marketing in Utah. (Link appears at bottom of post.) The series includes comments from MLM enthusiasts, the Direct Selling Association, attorneys for well-known MLM companies, MLM critics and the FTC.

    Meanwhile, the series shows that MLM has some political clout, and points out that Utah has more MLM firms per capita than any other place in the United States. It also publishes data supplied by a number of companies.

    The series is accessible through a “State of the Debate” Blog entry by George Pyle, a longtime journalist who was a finalist in 1998 for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing. Don’t miss the cartoon that accompanies Pyle’s presentation of the links to the stories. The cartoon pokes fun at the ready supply of over-the-top MLM sales pitches.

    Pyle’s Blog entry does not hold forth on the subject of MLM; it simply introduces the series. Readers can draw their own conclusions after clicking on the links and reading the stories

    The series consists of articles by Tribune reporters Steven Oberbeck, Matt Canham, Tom Harvey and Kirsten Stewart.

    MLM Fans (Again) Demonstrate Lack Of PR Savvy

    As often is the case when media outlets tackle the subject of MLM, the post-publication opinions of the Tribune’s readers were strongly divided. MLM perhaps always will be a “scam” to one side in the long-running debate — and a marvelous thing to the other. One of the best things about the series is the comments submitted by readers. The PP Blog believes the comments submitted by MLM enthusiasts are the most instructive.

    Although the PP Blog publishes relatively few stories about MLM, the ones it has published have been met with organized (and bizarre) resistance. After publishing a series of stories on the MPB Today “grocery” MLM last summer and fall, supporters of the firm arrived on the Blog to call MPB Today’s critics  “roaches,” “IDIOTS,” “clowns,” “terrible” people, “misleading” people, people who have led a “sheltered life,” people who have been “chained up in a basement,” people who have “chips” on their shoulders, spewers of “hot air,” “naysayers,” “complainers,” “trouble maker[s]” and “crybabies.” (See this editorial.)

    They were doing this on behalf of a business that had any number of reps who apparently licensed themselves to film commercials inside Walmart stores and to use Walmart’s intellectual property to drive dollars to MPB Today. At least two reps declared it best to do business with them because other MPB Today affiliates were lying scammers. Meanwhile, another MPB rep sought to drive business to the firm by creating a script that depicted President Obama and Michelle Obama as welfare recipients aspiring to eat dog food. The President and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were cast as Nazis, with Obama subordinate to Clinton, who also was cast as a drunk.

    One thing that continues to drive criticism of MLM is the bizarre  behavior of some of its supporters. This behavior can be described fairly as cult-like, Stepfordian, incongruous, supremely awkward and monumentally ham-handed. It is utterly predictable, and the lack of PR savvy contributes to the industry’s poor reputation.

    In response to Oberbeck’s story, which referenced the disclosure statements of a number of well-known companies and reported that “nearly all” distributors “will fail,” one reader surmised in a Comments thread that the Tribune reporter was “broke” and driven by “negativity.” It was a familiar refrain.

    Naturally the comment precluded the possibility that the reporter had any pure motives such as enlightening the Tribune’s readership about some of the realities of MLM. How the industry ever could hope to elevate the debate by attacking the messenger — in this case, Oberbeck — is left to the imagination.

    What happened at the Tribune, however, is hardly unique.

    After the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi MLM case in 2008, some ASD affiliates advanced theories that the agency’s work was the work of “Satan” and that a Florida television station should be charged with Deceptive Trade Practices for carrying news unflattering to the company. They later complained that reporters seemed disinclined to put much stock in their point of view.

    Prosecutors said ASD created as many as 40,000 victims while gathering at least $110 million in a classic Ponzi scheme put together by Andy Bowdoin, a recidivist felon. Rather than distancing themselves from Bowdoin, some ASD members reportedly sent him brownies and delicious baked goods. Others signed a petition calling for the prosecutors to be investigated. Still others advanced a theory that the U.S. Secret Service was guilty of interference with commerce. The key prong of the theory was that all commerce is legal as long as both parties to a contract agree it is legal, a position that would legalize (and legitimize) Ponzi schemes, slavery, human trafficking and narcotics trafficking, among other crimes.

    Len Clements Lectures Tribune Reporter

    Well-known MLM aficionado Len Clements, who advertises his IQ of 155, apparently believed that Oberbeck’s story in the Tribune deserved a response in the form of a five-page “open Response Letter.”

    Clements noted in his “open Response Letter” to Oberbeck that he assumed the reporter had been “duped” by MLM critics Robert FitzPatrick and Jon Taylor — and Tracy Coenen before them.

    In his “open Response Letter,” Clements accused Fitzpatrick, Taylor and Coenen, a forensic accountant, of being “anti-MLM antagonists” who were “slathering” the profession with misplaced criticism.

    “Slathering” is a good and powerful word. It doesn’t describe the efforts of FitzPatrick, Taylor and Coenen to educate the public about the perils of endless-chain recruiting schemes, but it’s a good word nonetheless. We’re glad that Clements, who advertises his IQ of 155, used it; it gives us a chance to use the word “unctuous.”

    Indeed, we view Clements’ “open Response Letter” as “unctuous.” It begins with a doozy of a misplaced modifier, but that’s only worth a brief mention — and only because Clements advertises his IQ of 155. Plenty of people with high IQs don’t have command of grammar, which likely bores them to tears.

    The reason we’re using the word “unctuous” to describe Clements’ “open Response Letter” is that it practically drips with stinking, vomitous verbal slime. It’s the sort of passive-aggressive letter in which the insult is deeply embedded in the vomit of the opening lines, with the vomit theoretically neutralized later with softer words that are supposed to demonstrate Clements’ sincere desire to be helpful.

    Any “professional journalist” should be interested in “accurately, fairly and responsibly” presenting the topics they write about, Clements unctuously points out at the top of the letter, setting himself up as a journalism cop. After implying that Oberbeck isn’t a pro and hasn’t done his homework, Clements goes on to trash the story and the MLM-unfriendly sources used in the story.

    The roadmap to professional reporting about MLM as provided by Clements in his “open Response Letter” includes at least 10 footnotes. It was submitted to the newspaper in the form of a link to a  PDF that contains multiple link’s to Clements’ website. The document is unctuously titled “OberbeckResponse” and asserts that Oberbeck’s reporting “seem[s] to betray any objective research and analysis of the subject.”

    Clements, who started out by lecturing Oberbeck on what constitutes professional journalism, eventually positions himself as the sincere cure for what purportedly had dragged down the quality of the reporter’s work.

    “Should you ever need assistance in researching any topic related to the field of multilevel marketing I sincerely hope you will contact me,” Clements un-vomits to Oberbeck at the conclusion of the “open Response Letter,” after earlier coming out of the gate with embedded slime, a lecture on professionalism and an attack on sources used by the reporter as “remarkably ignorant” people and the purveyors of “flimflam.”

    At least Clements didn’t summon his advertised IQ of 155 to call them “roaches” or to declare that Oberbeck was “broke.” He merely relied on his unctuousness. In doing so, he demonstrated once again that MLM often is its own worst enemy.

    A five-page, de facto letter to the editor — one filled with slime reimagined as a sincere effort to be helpful and 10 footnotes? This is supposed to beneficial to the trade?

    Little wonder that MLM finds itself the topic of constant criticism.

    Access the Tribune’s MLM series at this gateway page.

  • NEWS/NOTES: AdPayDaily Announces Tweak; Data Network Affiliates Asks Members To Participate In Imaginary Relaunch After Lecturing Churches On Their ‘MORAL OBLIGATION’ To Hawk MLM Program

    UPDATED 12:39 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) An upstart autosurf pushed by members of the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme has announced a confusing tweak in a confusing manner.

    In its announcement, AdPayDaily (APD) quoted 12 words from an attorney — and the quotation did not appear to be on the subject of legality. Rather, it appeared to be a general statement that all companies need sales to survive.

    Separately, a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that claimed churches have a “MORAL OBLIGATION” to tell congregants about its $1,500 mortgage-reduction program that pays commissions 10 levels deep now is asking members to participate in an imaginary relaunch.

    Prospects willing to pay Data Network Affiliates (DNA) a fee to qualify for “Pro” status earn up to a “100% Matching Bonus” in the mortgage-reduction program, DNA said.

    In an email to members, DNA did not explain why it was lecturing churches on their purported moral duty to hawk an MLM program or instruct the churches on how to overcome sales objections if a minister, pastor or priest used a worship service or church facility to preach the gospel of DNA.

    DNA also did not explain if the clergy of non-Christian faiths had the same moral duty to flog a $1,500 MLM program targeted at people who could be on the verge of losing their homes.

    DNA supplemented the email with yet another email, asking members to imagine the company, which launched in March after missing at least two launch dates in February, was only now launching.

    “We are asking and calling on all DNA Leaders to FOCUS ON THE FUTURE… Make believe that July 26th, 2010 is the LAUNCH DATE for DNA…” the company said.

    In an apparent bid to drive home its point that an imaginary launch can be as effective as an actual launch, DNA again has added what it called a “NEW COUNTDOWN CLOCK” to its website.

    “OFFICIAL LAUNCH 7/26/2010,” DNA roared on its site. “Earn Up To $4500 Per Sale. LOCK IN YOUR POSITION NOW.”

    The message may be confusing to website visitors stopping at DNA’s site for the first time because it flatly states a launch is under way despite the fact DNA actually launched in March.

    A graphic that once advertised DNA Cellular, the company’s purported cell-phone arm, has been removed from the main page of the site. In April, DNA declared “GAME OVER — WE WIN” when it announced its purported cell-phone business that hawked a free phone with unlimited talk and text for $10 a month.

    The company later acknowledged that it studied cell-phone pricing only after announcing it had become the world’s pricing leader. It then withdrew the $10 offer, but members continue to promote it.

    In an email yesterday, DNA said it had learned “a lot of NOT TO DO kind of things” since it has been in business. It did not describe what it had learned not to do, choosing instead to inform members that “we have every guest you can have on tonight’s webinar” and urging members to focus on “the area of COMMISSIONS.”

    A previous guest on DNA’s conference calls has suggested that churches were wonderful places for members to record the license-plate numbers of congregants for entry into the company’s purported database. The same guest also recommended that DNA members record plate numbers at doctors’ offices.

    DNA has said its database could be used to locate abducted children.

    APD Tweaks Autosurf Pitch

    Saying it was relying on the advice of counsel, APD has tweaked its offer. In an announcement to members, the upstart surf provided a threadbare quote purportedly from its lawyer to explain the tweak.

    Here are the only words attributed to the attorney:

    “Every company needs new sales for survival and growth of the business.”

    And here is how APD explained the tweak after providing the 12-word quote:

    “To remain active and continue to earn commissions and viewing payments each month, all Reps are required to attract at least one new advertiser who makes a minimum purchase from outside funds of at least $100 or as an alternative an Advertiser/Rep can make a purchase of $100 from outside funds to qualify and remain active,” the company said.

    APD then pitched members on an 80/20 program.

    “[If] a Rep attracts a new advertiser who make (sic) a minimum purchase of $250 or more and the Rep rolls over at least 80% of the funds in their Cash account each month, they will earn a 20% commission for all additional sales in that month,” the company said. “10% of the commission will be paid with the sale and the remaining 10% will be paid on or before the 15th of the following month, assuming you qualify. Failure to qualify for two consecutive months will result in the deactivation of a Reps (sic) account.”

    In the past, private attorneys who have sued autosurfs have described so-called 80/20 or “rollover” programs as an effort to mask the true nature of the programs by minimizing the outflow of cash — in effect, trapping money in the system to achieve the mirage of sustainability.

    When the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf announced a suspension of payouts in June 2009, it said that an 80/20 program would become mandatory if it ever dug itself out of the trench it created. Purported ASD “trainers” routinely promoted an 80/20 program.

    See earlier stories on APD here and here. See earlier story on DNA here.

  • EDITORIAL: Grab Your Umbrella And Air Freshener: Data Network Affiliates’ Vomit Spigot Wide Open And Raining Down On World Of MLM

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Readers with queasy tummies are duly cautioned that this post is on the subject of MLM vomit. No, the troops aren’t packaging and selling regurgitated stomach juice and chunky bits that pay commissions 10 levels deep — at least not yet. This post discusses MLM advertising vomit as practiced by Data Network Affiliates, which has declared that a mysterious practitioner known as “Mr P” is promoting the “D.N.A. 1000 Team.” Mr. P is said to be a “19 Time Million Dollar Earner” who “Holds Every MLM World Recruiting Record.”

    Here, now, our take on the vomitous pitch . . .

    Incoming! If you are a member of Data Network Affiliates (DNA), you have a duty to grab your umbrellas, air freshener and garden hose and warn your downline to do the same. It has become clear that the company has turned its vomit spigot wide open.

    Yesterday’s vomit attack followed on the heels of a vomitous flurry late last month that prompted members to imagine themselves racking up 10,000 miles while recording license-plate data for the company.

    “Imagine driving 10,000 miles for your DNA Business = up to a $5,000 Tax Deduction,” DNA prompted members in May.

    If you are a member of DNA — and if you are a multilevel-marketing (MLM) aficionado or one of the industry’s so-called servant-leaders — you have a duty to warn all potential prospects to be prepared for sustained email vomit attacks. Advise them that, if they intend to open the emails, to make sure the laptop on their home-office network works outdoors.

    Under no circumstances should DNA emails be opened indoors. The vomit they project can damage your carpeting, furniture, curtains and fixtures, all while stinking up the inside of your home, perhaps forever. Remember: A stink-removal crew is expensive, and there’s no guarantee the stench will fully dissipate. You could awaken in the middle of the night six years from now, take a sniff and again reach the horrifying conclusion that, yep, its still there.

    Important: Open DNA’s emails only outdoors. The initial burst of pressure from the vomit will be sufficient to pump it on an arc away from your laptop, and your laptop’s built-in vomit seal will protect it from damage. The seal will close instantly when it senses a temperature drop in the the hot-air belch that accompanies the vomit, thus protecting your computer from drips and embarrassing streaks from run-off.

    Open the emails quickly and step back. Be prepared: It may take up to three minutes for the vomit to stop gushing. Have the umbrella at the ready in case you were unable to step back quickly enough and got caught in the vomit storm.

    After the storm subsides, use the garden hose to clear the umbrella of both liquid and chunky vomit. Apply the air freshener liberally to the umbrella. Let it dry. Repeat the process as necessary or buy dollar-store, disposable umbrellas in bulk. Hint: A dollar store also is a great place to buy air freshener in bulk.

  • EDITORIAL: An American Named ‘Daisy’: What Data Network Affiliates And Narc That Car Can Learn From Andy Bowdoin And AdSurfDaily — And The High Potential For Backlash

    AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin's threats to sue critics backfired, exposing the company to even more scrutiny.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Repping for Data Network Affiliates or Narc That Car, two companies in the business of recording license-plate data? Here are some things you might want to consider . . .

    UPDATED 2:21 P.M. ET (March 5, U.S.A.) Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and Narc That Car (NTC) both say they are soliciting members to record the license-plate numbers of cars for entry in a database. Both are multilevel-marketing (MLM) companies. Both have become the subject of scrutiny by web critics who have raised issues of propriety, safety, legality and privacy.

    Both companies should thank their lucky stars that the criticism, so far, largely has been contained to the web.

    Last week, Dean Blechman, the chief executive officer of DNA, came out firing against the critics. Painting with a brush that was almost unimaginably wide, Blechman suggested the company is monitoring “everyone that’s a distraction out there and anyone that’s printing stuff on the Internet or anywhere” and perhaps preparing to sue. (Emphasis added.)

    Yes, a company whose members say is in the business of establishing a database so customers can monitor cars as they move from Walmart to a “doctor’s office” to other locations (including churches) now says it is monitoring “everyone” and “anyone” who poses a “distraction.”

    “I’ll tell you one thing,” Blechman warned in an audio recording posted on DNA’s website, which lists an address in the Cayman Islands. “They better be very, very careful of what they write . . . [b]ecause I have every intention of policing and pursuing every legal ramification . . . against anybody that’s reporting any information inaccurate to try to tear down what I’m trying to build here.” (Emphasis added.)

    So, a company with a domain that uses a Cayman Islands address and does not say where its corporate offices are located — and a company that does not have a working Contact Form on its website and, according to members, is in the business of recording license-plate numbers in the United States in the parking lots of retailers such as Walmart and Target, supermarkets, churches and doctors’ offices — is sending a clear message to critics.

    Blechman’s remarks also might have the effect of chilling DNA affiliates. Some are apt to interpret his comments as a warning that they’d best raise no questions about the company if they’re writing about it in Blog posts or in emails sent to prospects. Customers of DNA and Narc That Car are ill-served by sponsors who might be inclined to write reviews that are anything less than flattering because such reviews might upset management of the companies.

    DNA’s own pitchmen have identified Walmart, Target, supermarket parking lots, parking lots at churches and doctors’ offices and “anywhere” cars are parked in a group as the sources of license-plate numbers.

    One of the pitchmen who introduced Blechman in the recording in which Blechman warned critics was the same pitchman who told listeners in a previous call that the company envisioned an America in which DNA members would record the plate number of a hypothetical “red corvette” parked at Walmart, and then record the plate number again an hour later at a “doctor’s office” — and then record it again three hours later when it was parked elsewhere.

    Blechman said nothing about the pitchman’s comments in the recording in which he threatened critics. Nor did he address a DNA video promotion by the company’s top affiliate that suggested DNA members should behave “inconspicuously” while snapping photographs of “cars” and plate numbers at Walmart on their iPhones, Blackberrys and notepad computers.

    Whether affiliates need the permission of retailers, patrons, clergy, worshipers, physicians, patients or any party is left to the imagination. How the company can prevent abuses also is left to the imagination.

    Instead of addressing the criticism, Dean Blechman turned his focus on the critics, thus creating the appearance that the company has no problem with its members taking photos of cars and license plates at Walmart, at places of worship and at doctors’ offices.

    Until Blechman speaks on these issues publicly in a news conference or addresses them in an official news release available to the media and DNA members, it is not unreasonable for Americans to believe that, if they are seeking the private counsel of clergy, their license-plate number may be recorded while they’re inside their place of worship pouring out their souls — and the number will be entered in a database used to track the movement of vehicles.

    And it’s not unreasonable for Americans to believe their plate number will be recorded while they’re inside the office of their physician, surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, attorney or other professional.

    What’s more, it’s not unreasonable for Americans to believe their plate number will be recorded wherever they do their shopping or reading, including retail outlets large and small, libraries and shops that sell adult videos and magazines.

    Blechman needs to speak to these issues before the MLM program launches March 1. And he needs to make it plain whether he approves of the practice of writing down plate numbers (or recording them on video) where Americans shop, worship, receive medical and legal advice and spend their casual time.

    How does DNA plan to guard against invasions of privacy? How can it prevent database customers from abusing data it provides?

    DNA’s own pitchman offered up the possibility that the company wanted to create records of the movement of automobiles and offer that information for sale to database customers. If this is so — and if you don’t want anyone to know you’re seeking the counsel of clergy, a medical professional or a legal professional — you should know that DNA appears to be building a database that will record various sightings of your license plate.

    If you owe money to a finance company and are having money problems, the repo man very well might learn you are seeking the counsel of your clergyman or even your therapist. The repo man will get the addresses. He will know if your car was parked at the office of a psychologist or a heart surgeon, a rabbi or a priest, the public library or the adult bookstore, the City Hall building or the casino, the curb in front of your house or the curb in front of friend’s house.

    If your name is Daisy, if you’ve recently had heart-bypass surgery and fell into clinical depression and are having trouble paying your bills because you aren’t healthy enough to return to work or you’ve been laid off, the repo man might be able to tell his client:

    “Hey, Daisy’s car was parked in a surgeon’s parking lot. Then it was spotted in her shrink’s parking lot. Then it moved to a credit counselor’s parking lot. Then she visited her daughter. Then she visited the Catholic parish down the street from her house.

    “You won’t believe where the next sighting was. The Salvation Army soup kitchen! Daisy is broke — and she’s a nutcase to boot!”

    And what if the availability of the info is not limited to the repo man or finance companies? The United States could become a country of paid snoopers who recruit other paid snoopers.

    Blechman’s response was to threaten to sue critics. One of the pitchmen who introduced Blechman said the company had recruited 37,000 members in just a few weeks. The database product is not yet available, but the manpower to populate it is — and members by the thousands are being urged to write down plate numbers.

    Some members already have a supply on hand: NTC launched before DNA, which Blechman described as his “unbelievable vision.” From appearances, it looks as though NTC had the vision first — and DNA now is in position to benefit from plate numbers submitted by NTC members.

    Leading with an elbow normally is frowned upon in business and often leads to even more intense scrutiny. Ask AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, who announced that the company had amassed a giant money pot to punish critics.

    Here, according to federal court filings, is what Bowdoin told ASD members at a company rally in Miami on July 12, 2008:

    “These people that are making these slanderous remarks, they are going to continue these slanderous remarks in a court of law defending about a 30 to 40 million dollar slander lawsuit. Now, we’re ready to do battle with anybody. We have a legal fund set up. Right now we have about $750,000 in that legal fund. So we’re ready to get everything started and get the ball rolling.” (Emphasis added.)

    Yes, Andy Bowdoin publicly threatened to sue critics. He, too, painted with a wide brush, saying his warning applied to “anybody.”

    Less than a month later, the U.S. Secret Service raided ASD. Prosecutors said the company was operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme and engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering.

    Bowdoin’s lack of PR skills later contributed to other nightmares for members. Bowdoin, for example, described the Secret Service seizure of his assets as an attack by “Satan.” And he compared the government’s actions to the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

    He later said his fight against the government was inspired by a former Miss America.

    The concerns about the propriety, privacy, safety and legality of both DNA and NTC are real. The BBB of Dallas and the district attorney of Henderson County, Texas, have opened inquiries into NTC.

    Because DNA is competing in the same arena as NTC, it is not unreasonable to ask the same sort of questions.

    Dean Blechman is a longtime businessman. He could learn a few things from the PR mistakes of Andy Bowdoin, one of which was to attack the critics before addressing the issues and making the company’s operations crystal clear and transparent to thousands of affiliates and members of the public.

    Video cameras? Cell phone cameras? Notepad computers? Pens and pads?

    Professional complexes? Walmart? Target? Adult bookstores? Libraries? Church parking lots? Doctors’ offices?

    For the repo man and who else?

  • Narc That Car Video From Downline Group Known As Team Trinity International May Use Content Lifted From Public Service Announcement Put Out By Actor Leonardo DiCaprio

    UPDDATED 2:26 P.M. ET (March 5, U.S.A.) A YouTube video promotion for the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing (MLM) program appears to use celebrity footage produced by Appian Way Productions, a production company owned by actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

    The PP Blog attempted to contact DiCaprio for comment through the Screen Actors Guild Friday night. The office was closed for the weekend.

    The Narc That Car You Tube promotion references a downline group known as Team Trinity International, and appears to splice in content from a Public Service Announcement (PSA) produced by Appian Way in 2008 that urges Americans to vote.

    It was not immediately clear if DiCaprio, his production company or the other celebrities in the PSA approved of the use of the footage in what effectively was a commercial for Narc That Car. Several celebrities appear in the Narc That Car promo.

    At the moment, the Team Trinity promo is at this URL:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgLFHH6TaaA&feature=related

    The PSA can be seen in this 2008 story from Reuters:

    http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/10/02/leonardo-dicaprio-other-celebs-pump-up-youth-vote/

    The PSA has nothing to do with MLM. The footage potentially at issue in the Team Trinity video begins at about the 3:40 mark in the PSA and the 0:11 mark in the Narc That Car promo. The PSA’s theme is passing along to friends the worthwhile message of going to the polls, but the Team Trinity video applies the theme to passing along info about Narc That Car.

    “I need you to take this and send it to five people,” Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry says in the PSA, referring to sharing the message of going to the polls.  Berry says the same thing in the Team Trinity Narc That Car video, but in the context of sharing the Narc That Car message.

    Other celebrities who appeared in the PSA are spliced into the Team Trinity MLM message for Narc That Car. The Team Trinity video fades to the Team Trinity logo after comedian-actress Sarah Silverman appears.

    In an earlier video, Team Trinity used the logos of 30 famous retail companies, positioning their parking lots as good places to capture license-plate data.

    Team Trinity also has referenced the AMBER Alert program administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department denied that Narc That Car had any affiliation with the famous child-protection system.

    Narc That Car, which says it is building a database for companies that repossess automobiles, is the subject of inquiries by the Dallas BBB and the district attorney of Henderson County, Texas.

  • EDITORIAL: Private Big Brothers Meet The Stepford Children; Armed With Paper, Pen And Video Cameras, MLM Army Coming To A Neighborhood Near You

    The probability of a public-relations backlash with Narc That Car and Data Network Affiliates (DNA) is high. Promotions for the companies have been both bizarre and reckless. The cheerleading has been downright creepy. Some local media outlets are beginning to pay attention. It quickly could become fodder for Larry King, Bill O’Reilly, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Oprah.

    A Story With Worldwide Interest Born For TV And Tabloids

    Few things make better TV fodder than a real-life “Big Brother” story, perhaps especially if Big Brother’s Army isn’t led by the government and consists of thousands and thousands of civilian commanders and Stepford children.

    This particular MLM story also is born for newspapers, including the tabloids. If the story makes its way into Europe, the headlines will suggest Americans would sell their grandmothers into hucksterism if it meant trading in the reliable old Ford for a flashy BMW.

    People in the news business know that news is man bites dog, not the other way around. The story of Narc That Car and DNA is man bites dog — and perhaps man bites himself. The man is interesting simply because he’s American. Man bites himself is one of the great themes of literature and tabloid journalism. Tabloid editors love it when the man biting himself is an American.

    MLM, which already has a bad reputation, has hit a new low. Internet marketing, which already has a bad reputation, has hit a new low. Ladies and Gentlemen, the private Big Brothers of America have met the Stepford Children. Together they’re coming to a neighborhood near you.

    Here, in italics (below), is the promoters’ cheerleading strategy — in condensed form. Whether or not it’s condoned at the corporate level is virtually meaningless. Why? Because the Stepford army already is in motion, and it is doing what the Stepford army does: Recruiting other Stepfords — money Stepfords — Stepfords who behave reflexively on cue, have no sense of PR or propriety and will do anything if money is involved. The Stepfords are biting themselves at this very moment.

    Narc That Car and DNA are coming to a neighborhood near you. Drop whatever you’re doing. Start writing down the license-plate numbers of your neighbors. Go to the supermarket parking lot or the Walmart parking lot and start writing down the plate numbers of store patrons (your neighbors).

    Don’t seek the express consent of the retailers to use their parking lots and the plate numbers of their patrons as your information goldmine and secret pathway to personal riches. No one has to know what you’re doing. Enter the information in a web-accessible database the companies provide for a fee or put it in the mail and let the companies enter the information.

    “You write them (license-plate numbers) down,” said a Narc That Car promoter on You Tube. “You take pictures of them, which is what I just did on my iPhone. I just walked down the aisle at Walmart and snapped like 100 cars, literally, on my way into Walmart.

    “And I parked in the very back, and I just walked and snapped a bunch of pictures as I was walking. I was already going in anyway, so it didn’t take me any more time and effort, and I got a little bit more exercise than I [would] have,” the promoter said. “So, it’s a win-win. So, hey, you got a weight-loss opportunity here, too. [Laughing.] You’ll walk and you’ll lose weight, and you’ll have lots of money.”

    Now, back to the cheerleading strategy . . .

    Recruit people (your family, friends, neighbors and online contacts) to do the same. Suggest they are helping AMBER Alert or law enforcement by joining these MLM companies. Tell them how bad the economy is and how bad the bad guys are. Tell them you have the solution for the bad economy and a tool that gives the bad guys a one-way ticket to jail. Imply that joining Narc That Car or DNA is like performing a public service. Perhaps put an ad on craigslist that suggests you’re part of a community “watchdog” program.

    “Get Paid to be a watchdog in your community . . .” a craigslist ad for Narc That Car prompted last week.

    One Narc That Car promoter claimed the purpose of the program was “To help The US Dep’t of Homeland Security find terrorists.” Another claimed, “We are backed by the better business bureau, the F.B.I., and the Amber Alert system . . . ” Yet another claimed, “A company out of Dallas needs to grow a data base of license plates to use for Amber Alerts and other reasons.”

    The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees AMBER Alert, said Narc That Car was in “no way affiliated” with the AMBER Alert system. So did the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children, which administers AMBER Alert’s secondary distribution program. The Better Business Bureau has opened an inquiry into the company’s business practices and compensation plan. The FBI, an arm of the Justice Department, has not endorsed Narc That Car.

    Now, back to the cheerleading strategy . . .

    Make sure you emphasize that there are no “barriers” to entering the “business.” Startup costs are low or nonexistent. This will help you get poor people or people in the shackles of poverty in your downline. Suggest the programs are the cure for the high unemployment rate and that you’re doing your part for America by helping put people to work. Appeal to the patriotism of your prospects. Tell them they’re helping the Department of Homeland Security find terrorists.

    Drop a few names of prominent people — living or dead — in your promos or conference calls. Names such as Tim Russert, Donald Trump and Oprah work well, even if they are not involved in the programs. By namedropping, you can leech off the brands of famous people and companies and create credibility by osmosis.

    In recent DNA conference calls, the names of Russert, Trump and Oprah all were dropped. So was AMBER Alert’s name. So was the name of “law enforcement.” One promoter suggested AMBER Alert was wasting taxpayers’ dollars.

    “I’m pretty sure you heard of AMBER Alert,” he said. “It saved over 497 people. But guess what? AMBER Alert, I think, costs about over $100 million a year or some kind of astronomical number. Don’t quote me on the figures here, but it saved some lives. But the system we have in place. I want you to imagine if your daughter . . .”

    The DNA promoter then asked listeners to imagine loved ones being “kidnapped” and “molested” and “raped” — with Data Network Affiliates providing the tool to track down the kidnappers and molesters and rapists.

    In a separate DNA call, the promoter suggested that church parking lots were good places for DNA members to record license-plate numbers. Walmart, too.

    Major retailers put the address of their stores “right on the receipt,” making it easy for DNA members who are shopping in the stores to enter the information in DNA’s database after they write down plate numbers in the parking lot,” the promoter said.

    “You walk into the parking lot,” he said. “Guess what? You have vehicles all over the place. You can easily jot down 20 or 30 of them, literally in five or 10 minutes.”

    He did not say if DNA members were required to obtain the permission of church pastors to record the plate numbers of congregants or retailers such as Walmart to record the plate numbers of patrons.

    The promoter, however, did say that 100 million license plates entered into the DNA database could become “the equivalent of just about $1 billion” in potential revenue for DNA.

    Meanwhile, on DNA’s website, the company was saying this:

    “ONLY 492 children Since (sic) 1997, has the AMBER Alert program been credited for safe recovery. DNA could help in such safe recoveries at a fraction of cost (sic) of Amber Alert… If DNA help (sic) save ONE MORE CHILD it’s worth it? (sic).”

    The same sales message said, “Our mission is to turn data into dollars.”

    Now, back to the cheerleading strategy . . .

    Create an “exciting” atmosphere. Talk about how “excited” you are. Suggest people can get rich, then backpedal, explaining that you wouldn’t want people to get the wrong impression. Throw your line in the water, but reel it back quickly. You don’t want people to see themselves as the fish; you want them to see themselves as the fishermen.

    Create (perhaps) some boilerplate language that explains all Narc That Car and DNA members are independent contractors required to follow the law. Don’t let your downline give the practical realities a moment of thought — things such as whether permission to record plate numbers needs to be obtained, what to do if a store manager or patron calls the police, whether promoters need solicitors’ licenses from local jurisdictions, whether a promoter working as an independent consultant should increase his or her insurance protection or secure a bond against potential claims, what to do if promoters are confronted by retail managers, patrons or police, whether the paper on which they’re recording license numbers needs to be preserved, whether the video on which they’re recording plate numbers needs to be preserved and how they’re supposed to behave if challenged.

    Keep them focused on the money and how excited you are. Tell them you barely can sleep. Don’t mention Big Brother. Don’t even suggest other people would be apt to view acquisition of plate numbers on private property as an untenable invasion of privacy. Keep them focused on the money and on AMBER Alert.

    And, by all means, don’t even suggest there is anything Stepfordian about doing what you’re told without asking any questions: Just do it. Explain that the people who ask questions and raise issues of propriety, safety and legality are naysayers and malcontents and “haters.”

    Never imagine that a TV reporter or a newspaper reporter or a tabloid reporter is going to stick a microphone in your face and ask why you’re writing down license-plate numbers in a supermarket parking lot and trading off AMBER Alert’s name to build a database for the repo man or another customer who could monitor the whereabouts of your car and your neighbor’s car even if you aren’t suspected of murder, kidnapping, molestation or rape. Don’t concern yourself with mundane issues such as who has access to the database and whether any of your fellow plate-number recorders are criminals themselves.

    Whatever you do, don’t imagine your neighbors expressing shock and outrage and having bitter expressions on their faces. If confronted, tell them you’re writing down license-plate numbers to make America a better, safer place.

    And tell them they’re free to join, and might even want to consider registering a .org domain with a pitch that begins, “Help us.”

  • First Narc That Car, Now ‘PlatesRUs’: Promoter Says He Recorded 10 License Plate Numbers In Walmart Parking Lot And Earned A ‘Check’

    Part of the 'PlatesRUs' pitch for Narc That Car.

    Using a domain name similar to the famous ToysRUs brand name, a domain that has branded itself PlatesRUs.biz is promoting the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing program by telling prospects that earning $50 is a simple as going down to the local Walmart parking lot and writing down 10 license-plate numbers of WalMart shoppers.

    The PlatesRUs video pitch is similar to a pitch apparently put out by a separate Narc That Car downline group known as Team Trinity International. The Team Trinity promo included the logos of 30 famous companies, identifying their parking lots as places NarcThatCar members should visit to harvest plate numbers and record them in a database through a website NarcThatCar provides for a $100 start-up fee and a monthly fee of $24.95.

    A narrator in the PlatesRUs video for Narc That Car tells a simple story:

    “I went to Walmart,” he said. “It took me every bit of five minutes to write down 10 tag numbers randomly, go in my back office and log it into the national database through the company, and actually earn a check.”

    By paying Narc That Car the $100 fee, promoters become a “registered information consultant,” the PlatesRUs promoter explained in the video, noting he was “very excited” to have become one. The pitchman added that the program was “tremendously exciting” and “growing like wildfire.”

    No mention was made in the video of any privacy or legal concerns. Like the Team Trinity video, the PlatesRUs video did not instruct members on matters such as whether Narc That Car participants would need permission to enter retailers’ private property for the purposes of harvesting license-plate data from the retailers’ patrons.

    Viewers were given no instruction on what to do if a Walmart shopper — or a shopper at any other prominent business — observed his or her plate number being recorded and objected, perhaps demanding the paper on which the number was recorded so it could be shown to the store manager or even the police. The implication in both videos was that recording license-plate numbers raised no privacy issues at all and was a perfectly acceptable practice — even on private property.

    Like the Team Trinity video and a video put out by Narc That Car, the PlatesRUs video referenced the AMBER Alert program. The U.S. Department of Justice said this week that Narc That Car was not affiliated with AMBER Alert, despite promoters’ repeated claims that Narc That Car was tied to the AMBER Alert system.

    Some Narc That Car promoters have said the FBI and companies such as the Ford Motor Co. endorsed the Narc That Car program.

    The PatrickPretty.com Blog contacted Ford and provided a reference to the claim, which purports that Ford and two other prominent car companies “have already given their commitment to NARC. They have signed on as clients and will be there to use the database when it is ready. These companies believe in this idea.”

    Ford did not immediately respond to the inquiry.

    Among the claims online about Narc That Car are that it is helping “The US Dep’t of Homeland Security find terrorists” and that “NARC has integrated with Amber Alert to support and assist them in locating missing and/or abducted children.”

  • Video Ad For Narc That Car Claims Program Was Started For Amber Alert System; Prospects Told To Gawk At License Plates At Best Buy, Food Lion, McDonald’s, Others

    A promotional video for a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that pays members to write down license-plate numbers says the program was started “to provide historical location data for lien holders, law enforcement and other entities such as the Amber Alert System.”

    The video, which appears to be a sales tool for an MLM downline organization known as Team Trinity International, reproduces the logos of 30 famous companies, offering their parking lots as places members of Narc That Car can go to find cars and license plates in plentiful supply to be recorded.

    Segmented by disciplines such as “Retail,” “Grocery Stores” and “Restaurants,” the famous names shown prospects include Best Buy, Kmart, Walgreens, PetSmart, Rite Aid, Bed Bath & Beyond, Food Lion, Kroger, Ralphs, Vons, Piggly Wiggly, Wegmans, Domino’s Pizza, Friday’s, Wendy’s, Red Lobster, Applebee’s, McDonald’s and more.

    It was not clear if the Team Trinity promoter had contacted each of the individual companies to determine if they would approve of Narc That Car members recording the license-plate numbers of their patrons.

    Such actions could lead to both privacy and safety concerns, putting the companies in the awkward position of shooing gawkers and explaining why people carrying pads and pens were continually appearing on private property and writing down plate numbers.

    The video also listed shopping centers, neighborhood businesses, convenience stores, residences and apartment complexes as prime spots to harvest data.

    A promotional video for Narc That Car says license plates can ge found aplenty at these stores.

    In a separate video, Narc That Car said it had recruited “thousands” of “independent consultants”  to write down license-plate numbers and enter the information in a database. Database entries are available to banks, financial companies and firms that specialize in repossessing automobiles, according to the company.

    Web records show that several Narc That Car affiliates are making the claim that law-enforcement agencies and the Amber Alert program have endorsed the company. No testimonials from law enforcement agencies or the Amber Alert program appear on the Narc That Car website, despite promoters’ claims.

    The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately return a call seeking comment on claims made by Narc That Car promoters. The Justice Department’s Office of Justice is the national Amber Alert coordinator.

    “The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children,” the Justice Department said in an FAQ document on the program.

    “AMBER stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created
    as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle
    in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered,” the Justice Department said.

    The Narc That Car business is simple, the company says.

    “Narc a Few Cars,” the company instructs in a video. “Teach Others How to Narc Cars.”

    NarcThatCar does not list the names of any clients on its website. Nor does the company disclose information on how many database clients it has and how many of them are paying fees to receive a report on a target vehicle.

    License-plate consultants are required to act in a “lawful, ethical and moral manner” and perform “with honesty and integrity,” NarcThatCar says, noting it provides instruction on federal and state privacy laws and “fundamental training on the the proper way to gather information.”

    The Dallas branch of the Better Business Bureau says that it contacted Narc That Car Jan. 18 “to request that it substantiate some claims made in its advertising.”

    Narc That Car responded to the inquiry, and the matter was “still pending” as of Feb. 2, the BBB said on its website.

    The Team Trinity International promo is hosted on Blinkweb, a company that provides free hosting space and web-page creation tools.

  • NarcThatCar: Site Operates As MLM, Says Members Earn By Writing Down License-Plate Numbers; Links Itself To Amber Alert Program

    NarcThatCar wants you to pay it $100 up front. For that fee, you become a “consultant” qualified to write down the license-plate numbers of 10 cars per month, input the information into a database and earn multilevel commissions by recruiting. After you pay the $100, you’re then charged $24.95 a month for a website, according to Narc That Car.

    Some members of AdSurfDaily and Golden Panda Ad Builder now are promoting the NarcThatCar program, which says clients such as major automobile manufacturers, companies that have private liens against cars, banks, car dealerships that do their own in-house financing and commercial vehicle companies are interested in purchasing information from the database.

    If the repo man, for example, is looking for a car and the owner is hiding it, NarcThatCar — relying on the input of its team of license-plate gawkers — will sell him a database entry on reported sightings of the car for $99 — and even provide a map of the reported sightings.

    The repo man also has the option of offering a “finders fee for information which leads to the location of your collateral,” Narc That Car says. “This option sometimes helps the process along.”

    NarcThatCar labels its license-plate gawkers “independent consultants.” It appears as though any independent consultant hit by a car or otherwise injured while while gawking at license plates and recording their numbers would need to rely on his or her own insurance.

    The NarcThatCar website does not explain how consultants should proceed if, say, a local merchant calls the police to complain that a strange person appears to be walking around the parking lot and writing down license-plate numbers.

    Who else can use the Narc That Car database?

    “Law-enforcement agencies, government agencies, missing persons and the Amber Alert program,” Narc That Car says in a video to recruit prospects.

    Information on Amber Alerts, which are issued when a child goes missing, scrolls across the bottom of the NarcThatCar website.

    The U.S. Department of Justice, which celebrated the 14th anniversary of the Amber Alert program Jan. 13 and maintains an official website on the program, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the NarcThatCar program.

    NarcThatCar does not list the names of any clients on its website. Nor does the company disclose information on how many database clients it has and how many of them are paying fees to receive a report on a target vehicle. Also unclear is whether Narc That Car imposes a fee if the government or the Amber Alert program wanted to use its database.

    Narc That Car, however, does disclose that it has rounded up “thousands” of consultants to write down license plate numbers, enter the information in a database and potentially earn MLM commissions at least five levels deep.

    The business is simple, Narc That Car explains.

    “Narc a Few Cars,” the company says. “Teach Others How to Narc Cars.”

    The company says members are required to act in a “lawful, ethical and moral manner” and perform “with honesty and integrity.” NarcThatCar adds that it provides instruction on federal and state privacy laws and “fundamental training on the the proper way to gather information.”

    On “the online success zone,” a forum once known as “The Golden Panda Ad Zone,” a Narc That Car sponsor is promoting the program in a thread titled, “ANYONE CAN DO THIS…write down 10 license plates a month get paid.”

    The Amber Alert program is referenced in the first sentence (18th word) of the Narc That Car pitch.

    “A company out of Dallas needs to grow a data base of license plates to use for Amber Alerts and other reasons,” the pitch begins.

  • Will Donald Trump Regret Linkage Of Name To MLM?

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was prompted by a post we saw on Scam.com. The “lede” is deliberately buried in this article in favor of some background information.

    During the 1990s, I was sitting at home one evening just minding my own business. Back in those days I routinely had staggered newspaper deadlines beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting perhaps through 9 p.m. I often covered an event for more than one publication. I was tasked with the duty to write unique stories for each publisher from the same fact set.

    If I’d spent the day covering a murder trial, for example, I could not submit duplicate stories to the publishers. They wanted individual stories tailored to their readership — stories that required me to present the information in the in-house styles of the publications. One of my key responsibilities was to write different “ledes” for the stories, an opening sentence or paragraph unique to the audiences and designed to grab readers’ attention and not let go.

    Getting it right the first time — which is to say, “grabbing” readers, including all the key facts and adopting the “voice” of the newspapers throughout the story — was my responsbility. Not doing it meant I’d spend the evening fielding calls from editors to fill in details, instead of enjoying the time with my girlfriend. She didn’t like it when editors called and perhaps disrupted the movie we were watching.

    I didn’t like it, either. So, I worked hard to ensure I’d lighten the work load on my editors, while lightening the load on myself and freeing up time to kick back.

    Editors, though, were not the only ones who called — and this brings us back to something that happened one night when I was just kicking back at home after finishing my work day.

    People occasionally would call me with news tips from the mundane to the incendiary and all places in between. On this particular evening I got a call on what I’d initially thought might be one of those “in between” things, but it was worth checking out immediately because the unemployed woman who called me was really worked up.

    I agreed to meet her in a hotel lobby to listen to her story. I soon discovered she wasn’t the only person worked up in the lobby of this hotel, which was situated in a county experiencing high joblessness and economic decay because manufacturing had gone into the tank locally.

    “What’s going on?” I asked.

    Some of the most forlorn-looking people you’d ever want to see quickly told me they’d been duped into attending a job “interview” by a prospective employer that had placed an ad and created the expectation it would hire workers for jobs that paid $30 an hour.

    Naturally the employer had no trouble filling the room in a town experiencing hardship.

    Before long, though, the event turned into a grimace-fest. Attendees thought the advertiser was recruiting them to work at a hospital after they received training in an emerging science that had something to do with making sure healthcare ecosystems were maintained.

    In reality, it was a pitch for an MLM of some sort that apparently specialized in sucking dust from the atmosphere of homes across America to keep the owners safe from microscopic allergens and pathogens that silently were killing them.

    Yes, the promoter had come to the struggling town to try to recruit a team of vacuum-cleaner salespeople. The sky was the limit.

    Except it wasn’t.

    The attendees told the promoter it wasn’t — in no uncertain terms. Later I covered a similar incident involving hearing aids at the same hotel. The key, from the promoters’ perspective, was to draw a crowd by using words to trigger emotions and plant a false idea, and then try to sell the desperate few who remained on the dream of MLM riches.

    Need and greed. Marry the two  — and return in your fancy car to your fashionable home in time to set sail in your fancy boat. When you need to replenish cash, take out another ad to sell a vacuum cleaner by calling it an ecology system. Replace the money you spent on cocktails and martinis and restocking the bar on your boat, and then head back to your fashionable home in your fancy car to set sail again on your fancy boat.

    And this brings us to Donald Trump, whom MLMers say has lent his name to a business opportunity.

    Someone posted about it on Scam.com, pointing out that MLM purveyors were pushing it on craigslist by referring to Trump as a “Billionaire, Real Estate Developer from NYC” who is “Opening a New Metabolic Testing Company” near Atlanta.

    Let’s hope the “Metabolic Testing Company” being pitched on craigslist in Atlanta by referencing Trump without mentioning his name is not the equivalent of the ecologically pleasing vacuum cleaner pitched to people who thought they were going to get an exciting, new career in the healthcare field in America’s Rust Belt.

    I’m not hopeful: The craigslist ad suggests compensation of “$30 to $50 per hour.”

    The post at scam.com appears not to link to a working craigslist URL.  Here is the the link I believe to be correct.

    Sorry about burying the “lede.”