Sales Video For MPB Today Uses Class Envy To Target Food Stamp Recipients; ‘Refer Your Friends,’ Promo Urges
EDITOR’S NOTE: A YouTube video that encourages Food Stamp recipients to become affiliates of the MPB Today MLM program has been online for more than a month. The video implies MPB Today’s purportedly high shipping costs are a good reason for people who receive government aid to become MPB Today affiliates. MPB Today says it charges up to 50 percent of the cost of an order for shipping. Members who order groceries only and do not join the MLM component potentially would lose $100 in purchasing power on an order of $200, the price of the program. Other MPB Today affiliates have advised prospects that it is best to avoid buying groceries from MPB Today and simply concentrate on recruiting prospects. Still others say MPB Today issues food “vouchers,” enabling registrants to purchase their groceries elsewhere and even convert the purported voucher into cash that can be used to purchase electronics. MPB Today purports to ship “ONLY” dry goods. The Food and Nutrition Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is investigating claims about the MPB Today program. What specific claims the agency is examining is unclear. USDA administers the federal Food Stamp program for low-income Americans.
The screen shots below are from frames of the YouTube video. The file is named “Food Stamps Online.avi.”
Mr. Pretty
That is a misleading statement from you and this lady who promoting this business. First of all, MPB Today DOES NOT accept EBT Cards to buy the grocery voucher and to join the business. You can use EBT Cards through Southeastern Delivery to buy groceries online. Other than that, to promote the MPB Today business, you had to purchased the voucher (and $10 annual fee for the website )with either with a Visa, Mastercard or Discover credit/debit cards.
Let assured to you that MPB Today is not a scam. It’s promoting a need that they can eliminated their grocery bills, especially in tough economic times. Yes they are rouges in MPB Today, and I’m with you in shutting down the scam companies and the scammers; But to tied the MPB Today with these people who like to cut corners to make money is misleading and it’s wrong.
Please respond, I would like to hear from you.
David
David,
It’s not a misleading statement from me.
If that’s true, then MPB Today affiliates are causing it one heck of a PR problem, aren’t they? The trouble with misleading statements by affiliates is that MPB Today ends up with the money generated by those misleading statements. That potentially poses a legal problem.
Voucher? Is that the same thing as a “Prepaid Grocery Receipt?” How many of MPB Today’s roughly 30,000 affiliates are buying their groceries from MPB Today? How many are choosing to convert the “voucher” or “Prepaid Grocery Receipt” to a Walmart gift card, which can be used to purchase electronics and tires and toys and foot powder?
Moreover, why is MPB Today so eager to send Walmart $200 in business, instead of keeping the cash for itself?
And why are some affiliates stating plainly that it’s dumb to buy your groceries from MPB Today — and that it’s smart to enter a matrix that requires them to get two who get two in order to get paid?
What should MPB Today do with the money directed toward it by rogue affiliates? Are you confident you’re being paid with “clean” money if MPB Today has rogues in its midst?
David, I have seen MPB Today promos from affiliates who state plainly that there are liars and thieves and scammers in the organization. At a minimum, the claims by MPB Today’s own affiliates pose a PR problem.
Because MPB Today also is being promoted on known Ponzi forums, it also leads to the unavoidable question about whether MPB Today is coming into receipt of money from criminal enterprises.
This Blog is not MPB Today’s problem; its own affiliates and its own promos are the problem. The 2×2 matrix itself poses a considerable problem.
I appreciate this, David — and the remarks above are my response.
Patrick
David,
Please explain where the money to pay the “winners” in MPB comes from? How do you avoid the pyramid nature of the business? How do you get around the math that shows that the vast majority of the people in MPB are destined to lose money?
Patrick Pretty said:
“It’s not a misleading statement from me.”
Yes it is. re-read some of your posts that you wrote about MPB Today sir, then you’ll understand why.
Patrick Pretty Said:
“If that’s true, then MPB Today affiliates are causing it one heck of a PR problem, aren’t they? The trouble with misleading statements by affiliates is that MPB Today ends up with the money generated by those misleading statements. That potentially poses a legal problem.”
I agreed with you up to the point which you said MPB Today ends up the money money generated by those misleading statements. Not True. As a matter of fact, many who affilates had been terminated for making false claims which includes the company’s relationship with WalMart. The Company was very clear on every call, that MPB Today is a Customer Only. No Affilation, No Partnership.
Patrick Pretty Said:
“Moreover, why is MPB Today so eager to send Walmart $200 in business, instead of keeping the cash for itself?”
The $200 Wal-Mart Gift card is OPTIONAL in lieu of buying non-perishable groceries online after they cycle. If MPB members wanted the gift card, they can do so by request. Part of the reasons why MPB Members wanted the gift card, so they buy perishable as well as non-perishable groceries items.
Patrick Pretty said:
“Voucher? Is that the same thing as a “Prepaid Grocery Receipt?â€
My Bad. CEO Gary Calhoun, stated many times on the call, and You’re right. the $200 they paid for is a Grocery reciept. Not a voucher.
“This Blog is not MPB Today’s problem; its own affiliates and its own promos are the problem. The 2×2 matrix itself poses a considerable problem.”
I am pretty (No Pun Intended! LOL!) aware about the 2X2 matrix controversy. MPB did added the unilevel shared leadership bonuses just recently and they’re going to add the unilevel residual customer side.
MLM expert Troy Dooley had told Mr. Calhoun that they must changed the 2X2 plan to do away with the scammers or they’ll dragged the company down with them.
Troy Dooly has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, he is on the take by favorably representing a phony wireless scheme because he told a ‘friend’ he’d do a favor, then later had to retract his bullshit as it was proven over an over to be a scam. Much like other alleged ‘MLM experts’ they are all self appointed and are worthless.
You failed to address Entertained’s post though that is not surprising in the least. You’re part of a scam and this little 2 bit blog, that all you losers claim means nothing yet have to run here and post to try and put out fires, is hurting your recruiting/money making scam. Too bad.
To Whip:
I was addressing to Patrick, not someone who has an anonymous name (Like Yours). If have tried to be adults to address a good debate about MPB Today, I would considered to response. However, since both of you clowns have a chips on your shoulders, I said TOO BAD FOR YOU, AND TOO BAD FOR ENTERTAINED!!
And that’s how way the ball bounces
Makes you wonder why Gary Calhoun choase to start of his business with a 2 x 2 matrix plan at all and didnt go to “MLM experts” like Troy Dooley or other “industry experts” BEFORE he set it up.
On the other hand, if you are trying to pull a scam and get rich quick on the backs of people who are having a tough time with their grocery bills, it probably isnt a bad plan to pick.
As far as Mr. Dooley is concerned, a better description might be “a well informed MLM cheerleader with a special penchant for MLMs promoted by friends”
I see this as wordplay, David. Whether it’s a “voucher” or a “Prepaid Grocery Receipt,” the danger to MPB Today is the same. I believe that MPB Today is well-aware of this danger, and tried to mitigate it with semantics.
Further, if a “Prepaid Grocery Receipt” is converted to a Walmart card that can be used to buy electonics and other nongrocery items, I think MPB Today might have a hard time persuading regulators that it has a “real” product.
I would not celebrate this, if I were you, David. It looks like the opening volley in a bid to get compliant after the fact. Beyond that, it does not address the Ponzi math.
Moreover, these affiliate abuses are very easy to find online and require no special research skills. I just checked one of the Food Stamp pitches. One of the URLs redirects to an affiliate page provided by MPB Today — and it is STILL active after a couple of weeks.
Saw an affiliate pitch yesterday that claims “most” people make money in MPB Today. It, too, redirects to an affiliate page provided by MPB. It’s one of those card-flashing, check-waving videos. Also have seen a couple of domains that use Walmart’s name in the domain name, along with some .orgs.
MPB Today is in position to get plenty of business based on the misrepresentations of members.
Assuming what you say is true, then Gary Calhoun must not have learned much about MLM in his purported 25 years in the industry.
Or maybe he did learn — and that’s why he came out with a 2×2, which he seems to have spun to Troy Dooly as a good thing. It’s a cash cow for MPB Today and big players, but it is a death trap for regular folks. Eighty-six percent of them will lose to create a winners’ class of 14 percent.
Let me be straight with you, David. I think MPB Today is a pyramid-style Ponzi scheme. I think members are being paid with proceeds from other members in Ponzi-style fashion, and I believe that there are criminals and MLM hucksters in the organization — in no small measure because of the 2×2.
The 2×2 immediately brought out the serial hucksters on the Ponzi boards, and I have grave doubts that any member is being paid from a clean stream.
Beyond that, the pitch that a one-time $200 purchase can turn into free groceries for life is a land mine, in my view. If it weren’t so sad, it would be laughable.
I noticed tonight that “Ken Russo” has announced on the ASA Monitor Ponzi board that a member of his MPB Today “team” now is offering “rebates” to people who join under him.
Oh, boy. “Ken Russo” should not be surprised if these “rebates” get construed as an acknowledgment that MPB Today’s “grocery” product is worthless because of the high shipping charges.
“Depending upon the weight of your order these charges can be anywhere from $25 to $50. Therefore, you are risking $25 to $50 when you join MPBToday,” Ken Russo notes.
It’s odd that he notes that because MPB Today itself says that shipping charges can be as high as 50 percent — as opposed to $50 — of the order. This means, of course, that a $200 purchase from MPB Today can result in lost purchasing power of up to $100.
In other words, a member may have to pay up to $300 to receive $200 in groceries.
With “Ken Russo’s” rebate announcement is a claim that a member of his MPB Today team will “send you a rebate of $50 which will cover your shipping expense if, for any reason, you decide not to pursue the MPBToday business opportunity.”
This might be the craziest thing yet: “Ken Russo” fractures the information MPB Today itself publishes on its own website and then announces a “rebate” program to mitigate the shipping costs. The “rebate” program is limited to four incoming members.
One way to read it is this: “I’m so confident that you’ll find the shipping charges of this ‘grocery’ program so objectionable that I’m willing to pay you $50 to sign up under me to make sure you don’t lose money and are motivated to remain in the program. You’ll still have to pay the $200 and any shipping charges in excess of $50, though. Might not want to get any canned goods.”
To me, it looks like a desperate ploy to overcome the obvious objection to paying shipping charges — while at once accenting the wink-nod of the MPB Today program: We know you won’t want to pay shipping and get your groceries from us, so join the matrix and sell our “program” to other people who won’t want to pay the shipping charges. We’ll send you a Walmart gift card if you cycle, and it — wink-wink — can be used to purchase anything. Acknowledge your understanding with your nod — and then start telling your friends, family and business contacts that you know a way to buy “groceries” and end up with a Big Screen TV.
Patrick
Oh dear,
History tells me we are now entering phase when the usual suspect HYIP ponzi cheerleaders and shills pass the baton to enthusiastic amateur “true believers” to carry on the good work.
Now it gets nasty.
So far today, the MPB Today fans here have called the critics “roaches,” “IDIOTS,” “terrible” people, “misleading” people, people who have led a “sheltered life,” people who have been “chained up in a basement” and “clowns.”
MLM afficionado Troy Dooly has been accorded the title of “expert.”
In fairness, I must say that some of the folks here who oppose scams also can use some testy and contentious language. It’s easier for me to give them the benefit of the doubt because they monitor scams, have seen all the tricks in the book, know the chronic deflections and know the widespread pain caused by online schemes.
Honestly, David, I was hoping that you’d emerge as a voice of reason for your point of view. Instead you’ve emerged as yet-another MLMer who turns to the ad hominem attack and actually creates more problems for MPB Today.
Me? I’m a big fan of Entertained. He has helped many, many people understand the Ponzi math and why schemes are doomed to fail. He is not a “clown”; he is an expert on the math of Ponzi/pyramid schemes.
You are hurting MPB Today, David — just as Susan and Angela did earlier today. You’re also hurting MLM and Internet Marketing in general.
Patrick
Ah, the classic scammer/MLM line. Clements (if that’s even his real name) has taught you well. And just how do you know this is not my real name? What guarantee is there that ‘David Gibson’ is your real name/ You’re involved in a scam so why should anyone believe you? Of course, you really don’t want adult conversation because then you’d have to reveal the scam.
As an interesting aside:
One would imagine that, with the amount of publicity regarding the Walmart/cash card/MPD tie in, the efficacy of the Suspicious Transaction Report legislation is about to be/is being tested as we speak.
David,
You chose not to answer some simple questions concerning MPB. Regardless of what you might think of my posts, the questions get to the very heart of the matter of the legality and mathematical sustainability of MPB. Instead of answering the questions, you decide to go after the questioner. I wonder why…..
btw, I prefer “CLOWN” to roach, thanks…..
There is no argument to support the ponzi math. Ken Russo and his carefully chosen word “rebates” show an act of desperation. Rebate on what? And why does he have to post this information for his so called Team of pyramid builders? Cant they do it on their own? So how do you collect these “rebates”? This whole thing stinks to hi heaven.
Hello flashlight,
Maybe the matrix has stalled and the scammers want to plant the seed that one of the ways to reinvigorate it is for individual members to start offering rebates to prospects.
In any event, it’s a clear bid to overcome the obvious objection to the shipping charges, which is MPB Today’s Achilles. It would be interesting to know just how many of MPB Today’s purported 30,000 or so members actually have ordered groceries from the company — and how many have opted to convert the “voucher” or “Prepaid Grocery Receipt” to a Walmart gift card that can be used to buy tires and TVs.
I think those numbers would be revealing.
As noted previously, MPB Today’s lack of dollar-stretching generic products and dry-goods “ONLY” policy also may pose a problem. Customers purportedly can buy name-brand goods, which means they don’t have the option of selecting a generic equivalent at a lower cost, thus driving up their grocery expense and making MPB Today even less appealing as an option.
I’m also not sure if MPB Today’s published shipping costs of up to 50 percent of an order is reliable. It may cost some customers way more than 50 percent, depending on what they order. I mean, what happens if someone wants to stock up on heavy canned goods for the winter? Can MPB Today ship those for 50 percent of the cost of the order?
It is INTENSELY interesting that affiliates have steered prospects away from actually buying groceries from MPB Today and steered them toward the gift card.
Part of this reminds me of affiliates of Narc That Car/MPB Today nudging prospects to record lots of extra license-plate numbers so they can be given to incoming downline members as an inducement to join the program and getting a payout for doing nothing. I mean, it defeated the entire premise of the purported data-collection program because third-party entries of data provided by a sponsor would lead to database corruption — i.e., if a sponsor in Florida provided plate numbers to an incoming member in Washington state, the Washington state member would have to pretend he or she saw the plate number in Florida or could enter bogus data that the plate actually was spotted in Washington, thus undermining the entire premise of the “program.”
Patrick