The images of business tycoon Donald Trump and entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey appear for 10 continuous minutes in a sales pitch for Data Network Affiliates (DNA) on YouTube.
DNA pitchmen have described the company as a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that recruits affiliates to record license-plate numbers in the parking lots of retail stores, churches, doctors’ offices and “anywhere” cars are parked in a group. Some critics have raised propriety, safety, legal and privacy concerns.
It was unclear whether either celebrity approved the use of the images in the ad. A security guard answered the phone tonight at the Trump Organization in New York. He said the media office was closed for the day.
An operator answered the phone at Harpo Productions, Winfrey’s Chicago-based production company. She said no one would be available for comment until tomorrow.
The promo for DNA incorporates an audio recording from a company conference call. An image of Trump appears on the left side of the video screen, with Winfrey’s image on the right. The video appears to be an affiliate promo.
Referring to DNA Chief Executive Officer Dean Blechman, the narrator in the DNA conference call dubbed into the You Tube video says, “This is the guy. He rolls with the Donald Trumps; he rolls with the big boys. I mean, you know, he has [inaudible] certain people on speed dial that’s incredible.”
DNA’s web domain lists an address in the Cayman Islands. A “Contact Us” link on the DNA website resolves to message that says, “Information is coming soon!”
The domain advertised in the promo — DataNetworkAffiliates.org — is registered behind a proxy. A DNA affiliate URL on the .org website begins with the word “students,” and includes this message:
“We are sharing all of our marketing tools with our team so they can capitalize on this wonderful opportuniy (sic).” Get stared (sic) today at the link above.”
It was unclear if one of the tools was the video featuring the images of Trump and Winfrey.