RECOMMENDED READING: The Age Of Evolving MLM Radicalism: BehindMLM Reports On Lawsuit Threats And Security Taunts Directed At Blogger Who Took Issue With How American MLM Brand ‘Xocai’ Chocolate Was Being Marketed In Norway

From the Stepfordian cheerleading for the Zeek Rewards MLM “program” (and its purported nonguaranteed, nonreturn return of between 1 percent and 2 percent a day) to the mind-bending and long-running circus surrounding AdSurfDaily (1 percent a day with an operator who was a recidivist securities huckster and now has pleaded guilty in the ASD MLM Ponzi case) and JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid (2 percent a day while fretting about “cruise missile” attacks on its server by purported criminal governments bent on destroying free enterprise), a certain sphere of the MLM universe has been serving up a symphony of the bizarre.

But what reportedly occurred in Norway recently in the MLM sphere not only is bizarre, but also makes some MLMers look like a gang of out-of-control, conspiring thugs and extortionists.

BehindMLM.com is reporting today on lawsuit threats and other hair-raising taunts directed at a Norwegian critic who raised questions about how the Xocai MLM “opportunity” was being presented in Norway.

Xocai is a brand of chocolate marketed by Nevada-based MXI Corp. MXI stands for Marketing Xocolate International Corp., according to the company.

No legitimate MLM company or MLM affiliate should tolerate or model this fantastically ill-advised behavior, which can have severe repercussions and is creating negative headlines for both Xocai and MLM.

It is the worst possible sort of “public relations” in “defense” of a company. Not only does it smack of a bid to force mob rule in the Internet Age and speak to issues of extortion, emotional blackmail and the disingenuous whitewashing of ill intent, it raises very real concerns about how a mob can undermine free speech and jeopardize the security of individual MLM critics and their family members, friends and associates.

It is worth noting that supporters of AdSurfDaily also threatened to sue critics. At the same time, it’s worth noting that a threat to sue an ASD critic for $40 million in July 2008 became part of a government series of exhibits in the ASD Ponzi case.

But the story about the negative PR Xocai suddenly is experiencing goes far beyond simple lawsuit threat reportedly made in its name. Indeed, the story of the lawsuit threat is gathering attention because of companion threats, even as company says it is trying to build a powerful brand.

Xocai says it recently obtained a trademark on the phrase “Healthy Chocolate” and seeks to become a business icon. These things are commendable, and the company has made its accomplishments and goals part of its PR stable.

“Approval of the ‘Healthy Chocolate’ trademark represents a significant milestone for MXI,” said Andrew Brooks, founder and chief operating officer of MXI Corp., in a May 21 news release on the company’s website.

“We’ve increasingly become known as the ‘Healthy Chocolate’ company, utilizing proprietary formulations of premium ingredients, along with cold-processing techniques, to retain the nutritional potency of cacao and açai berries,” said Brooks. “With this milestone, we now have another important tool to establish ourselves as the icon for Healthy Chocolate, both inside and outside our industry.”

We’re wondering today whether the company, which plainly states it seeks to become a business icon and clearly values its brand and its new trademark, finds the BehindMLM story disturbing enough to repudiate the behavior that is the subject of the story.

The PP Blog will provide space to Xocai should it choose to speak to the events in Norway. It could score a lot of PR points by denouncing those events and putting it on the record that it will not tolerate MLM thuggery in its name.

Every word of the BehindMLM story is worth reading. (Link below.)

The upshot is this: An apparent Xocai “defender” unhappy about a series of Blog reports planted the seed that the company would be filing a “a seven digit lawsuit” against the Blogger. The lawsuit, according to the “defender,” was backed by the majority of a trade association consisting of 9,000 Norwegian Xocai members.

But the menacing reportedly didn’t stop there.

In fact, according to the BehindMLM story, it devolved into a situation in which the “defender” planted the seed that other Xocai “defenders” would make trouble for the Blogger with his private employer. To maximize the chill, the “defender” made sure the critic knew that an intelligence-gathering operation was occurring behind the scenes and that Xocai supporters might just appear at his gate and at the gates of his loved ones.

Of course, the Xocai “defender,” a purported “association,” washed its hands of any suggestion its intent was anything less than noble. The seeds planted that the life of the Blogger, his personal security and the security of his loved ones could be ruined in an instant if he didn’t behave in a certain way — well, those things apparently were not to be viewed as threatening. It was just business, or so the disingenuous, vomitous talking points of the “defender” go.

Our view is that is just the latest example of something we’re inclined to describe as an  evolving MLM radicalism. It is particularly dangerous because certain parts of the MLM universe are known to reflexively model anything that “works” with complete disregard for the consequences.

It reminded us of what happened to this police chief in Georgia earlier this year. The chief allegedly was targeted in an intimidation campaign by a “sovereign citizen.”

The bid to “defend” Xocai by trying to make a Blogger believe everything he valued in life could be gone in an instant is deplorable. It is ugly past comparison. Unfortunately it is hardly unique in the recent annals of MLM’s Thug Wing.

Read the story on BehindMLM.com.