DNA President’s ‘Oscar’ Night Comments Sandwiched Between 28 Minutes Of Hype; No Substantive Issues Addressed Directly

Billed as the “Oscar” night presentation because it coincided with the Academy Awards, a conference call hosted by Data Network Affiliates (DNA) lasted for a total of roughly 32:10.

Almost all of the call — about 28 minutes — consisted of  hype.  (Looking it as a percentage, about 87.5 percent of the call was hype.) Roughly the first three minutes were consumed by people announcing their presence on the line, with the encouragement of a pitchman. The balance of the call largely consisted of hype from two DNA pitchmen, with discussion of issues such as privacy concerns spoken about only indirectly through a reference to Google.

One of the pitchmen made the broad point that Google collects data. DNA says it collects the license-plate numbers of cars for entry in a database. The parallel between what Google does and what DNA does was not made clear in the call, and the pitchman appeared to be trying to make the point that data collection was just a part of life.

The same pitchman — in a previous call — described the parking lots of giant retail stores, churches and doctors’ offices as sources of license-plate data. Those comments, coupled with claims by other DNA promoters that have ignored privacy and other concerns or pooh-poohed them — are among the things fueling critical commentary about the firm.

When Kurek came on the “Oscar” call at roughly the 21:30 mark after more than 18 minutes of hype by the pitchmen, he spoke for about four minutes, covering his business experience that previously had been covered by both pitchmen.

The balance of the call was more hype. No issues raised by critics on matters such as the propriety, safety and legality of DNA were addressed directly. Kurek did say he had experience with companies that maintained private data and that his business experience had taught him about “accountability” and “organization.”

Kurek did not participate in the hype. He thanked members for listening in — and the thanked the pitchmen and DNA’s 63,000 affiliates.

“My true talent is also finding the right people to get the job done,” Kurek said. “I truly believe we’ve assembled the best MLM minds in the world.”

His vision, he said, was to provide services and benefits never before thought of. Kurek spoke with an even voice throughout his time on the line. He did not address comments made last week by Dean Blechman, DNA’s former CEO, that the company had a “back door guy” within its operation and that some communications put out by the company were “bizarre” and misleading.

Because the lines were muted, no caller asked a question. Neither the pitchmen nor Kurek solicited listeners to ask questions during the call. After the call ended, several issues were left dangling, including whether Phil Piccolo somehow had become involved in DNA.

Piccolo is a lightning rod for MLM critics.

Blechman did not rule out last week that Piccolo was involved. When pressed for a definitive answer, Blechman suggested that one could be forthcoming.

Piccolo is the subject of considerable scorn online. Whether he is part of the company remains unclear, and rumors of his involvement continue to swirl.

In other DNA news, some affiliates of the company appear to be pulling their ads from craigslist. Other craigslist ads by DNA affiliates have been labeled “flagged for removal.” Still others have expired.

Some craigslist ads remain. One of them — dated Feb. 26, two days after Blechman’s departure as CEO — is posted in Los Angeles. The ad claims that its contents came from a DNA “press release” dated Feb. 25.

“A very high powered CEO with Public Company Experience is stepping up to the plate with exciting plans being put into place to make D.N.A. one of the most powerful Viral Affiliate Marketing Companies in the U.S.A. and around The World,” the ad reads.

“The D.N.A. company is signing a MEGA MILLION DOLLAR DEAL with a publicly known industry giant. Between this agreement being sign and the D.N.A. Top Secret Product being announced on March 27th, 2010. D.N.A. is positioning itself to be Global Giant.”

Blechman noted last week that the company did not announce his Feb. 24 departure until March 2. He questioned why the company had waited so long.

At roughly the 3:26 mark of the call, one of the pitchmen said, “I mean, I gotta tell ya, if they were giving out some Oscar awards in multilevel marketing, or, you know, something special, I believe DNA would definitely get something tonight.”

The Oscar awards, of course, are for proficiency in acting.