The official drink of Jesus: Christians and MLM schemes
MLM = Multi-level marketing
The official drink of Jesus = MonaVie
Every few years, it seems that born again Christians latch onto the latest MLM scheme and use church to establish their downline for recurring sales. Awhile back, it was Arbonne, the skin care company and apparently, now it’s MonaVie, you know, the superfruit, voodoo juice made from the seemly overexposed Acai berry.
Most recruits to MLM ventures are taught to leverage their ‘œwarm market’ of friends and family members in order to grow their business which is why church makes perfect sense when looking for a greenfield opportunity.
In a recent Gallup poll, 13% of churchgoers attend church because it serves explicit social functions such as making business contacts and socializing with other members of the community.
Everyone who has tried to get me to buy MonaVie has been a born again Christian. And I don’t even attend church. Chalk one up for evangelism!
Brian Dunning at Skeptoid explores MonaVie’s business model:
Have a seat and pour yourself a glass of the newest anti-aging megafad, superfruit juice. What is it? What does it claim to do for your body? How does it work? Is it really worth up to $50 per one-week supply?
There are many of these superfruit juices for sale, and lots of them (like MonaVie) are sold through Amway-style multilevel marketing schemes. You’ve probably heard the question asked if you can make a better hamburger than McDonald’s. Yes, of course you can. But: Can you build a better business than McDonald’s? No. It’s not about the hamburgers. McDonald’s is not in the food business; they are in the real estate business. This same concept, at least at face value, appears to apply to MonaVie and its ilk. They are not in the fruit juice business; they are in the multilevel marketing business. Their product, like the Big Mac, is secondary to their business model. But let us not make a leap of logic and conclude that superfruit juices are the Chicken McNugget of fruit juice. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, and listen to their specific claims. [Continue reading here.]
Or skip to his conclusion:
Be skeptical. Superfruit juices are a business model first; a salable product second; and a well-evidenced health product a distant third.
Two other posts that you might find interesting from the personal finance blogosphere:
- Bargaineering: MonaVie Scam? The Magical Acai Berry Juice Product
- Lazy Man and Money: Is MonaVie a Scam?
Finally, there’s nothing wrong with trying to be healthy and if you want to drink MonaVie that’s your business. I swallow two tablespoons daily of a liquid vitamin and mineral supplement (whole food based) and yes, recently even added two tablespoons of Acai100 juice from Genesis Today for a fraction of what I’d spend drinking Jesus juice. I purchased both concoctions from my local health food store after reading the chapter on organic supplements in Love Yourself and Live on Purpose by Dr. Lana Marconi. And by the way, she makes no mention of MonaVie!
So all this begs a few questions’¦ have you ever been approached by anyone selling MonaVie? How do you handle friends and family members trying to get you to buy products through MLM schemes? Do you agree with my non-scientific conclusion that Christians are the best disciples of network marketing? [Although Brian at Skeptoid heard about MonaVie through one his Facebook friends.] I look forward to reading your comments and personal experiences below. No berry salvation required.
Photo credit: Loving Life 2008 on Flickr.
Yes, I’ve been approached. And, yes, they were born-again Christians. Interesting…
Thanks for linking to my post. I have some 2900+ comments on it now. There are quite a few researchers that are digging up amazing dirt on the company. I’ve rewritten about 1% of the dirt at Juice Scam.
I don’t typically try to market my own posts here, but some of the questions you ask are things that I’ve written about like: My Friend is Brainwashed by Get Rich Quick Schemes, Help!
I don’t think it’s just the Jesus juice, Nina. In my experience EVERY MLM scheme uses church folk. Amway was SUPER popular amongst Mormons back in the 80’s. I know this because my parents totally drank the kool-aid and my bedroom was full of Amway inventory instead of toys.
I used to be a personal assistant for some right wing nut job who used to sell vitamins from Ideal Health. Total scam. They were big time born again Christians who donated heavily to both of Bush’s campaigns.
Then there’s Pampered Chef, which I have to admit I love. They have awesome products, and I even considered becoming a rep for a while. But then I realized I would have to endure weekly inspirational e-mails from my Jesus freaky upline and decided it wasn’t worth the discount.
I consult for the company that formulates most of these juices (and I live in the heart of MLM land) and even they have told me – it’s just crap. Take a vitamin, drink a V-8, you won’t get much, if anything, less than the miracle juices offer. They are a widget to pass to market, and that is all.
Interesting article. The only two Monavie peddlers I know are not religious at all- but they are home-making moms trying to make some spending cash. Same goes for the avon and melaleuca peddlers I know. Just having kids in school and knowing other families seems to be a big enough market.
I think it makes a lot of sense that evangelicals would be attracted to MLM. To get into MLM, you have to have many of the same personality traits — a willingness to believe and espouse the hype and hyperbole with a lot of naive enthusiasm; an ability to ignore the discomfort and feelings of your friends in order to convert them into a sale; a tendency to swallow wholesale a lot of questionable “facts”; an ability to have faith in your product despite lack of evidence or contrary evidence. And so on.
Thanks for adding your observations to my study.
Moorea, you make a good point: “Just having kids in school and knowing other families seems to be a big enough market.” I see how having kids in grade school can work the same way as being part of a church – especially when it comes to a “warm market” of juice prospects.
Lazy Man and Money: Thanks for the additional link!
CAL: Excellent point about having similar personality traits… it is all sort of based on wish-thinking or boils down to the evangelical hook called “faith.”
This does not seem to be a problem for me. Oh yeah that’s right, I am not friends with any born again christians! That kind of person is SO not going to hang out with me, lol. But I do think they make great networks for MLM schemes. I also lack children of any age so I can avoid that perpetual sinkhole for my money.
Let me guess, another God-Hater slamming Christians?
Hmmm Ray, not really sure to whom you are referring. I personally said they won’t hang out with me, not the other way around. . .
LOL! I’ve never heard of the Mona Vie. But like Serena, I love Pampered Chef products. I sell Pure Romance, but I don’t bother with my church folk. I like to keep business and praise separate. LOL.
An interesting viewpoint, I would add my thought, that to some people Money is a religion unto itself, and the MLM scammers are like the acolytes of the Church of the Rip Off Scheme.
Well written article, thanks.
It is so puzzling to my why people of differing life styles seem to fall into a collective group think about a particular issue or other group. This issue is no different. Why do most of you broad-brush Christians as people who use their relationships for profit and to benefit themselves. I know many, many people in the mona vie business and I know many many born again Christians and it is just not the case that most mona vie people are born agains. And even if they were, why is that portrayed as a bad thing?
Just because born again Christians object to the gay and lesbian lifestyle does not mean that they harbor any hostile feeling toward those who choose that life style.
The truth is, people should promote a character of love and decency for all walks of life regardless of whether they agree or disagree with one choice. To be hostile and broad-brush either group’s point of view as something derogatory demonstrates ignorance and intolerance which leads to communication breakdown which never helps.
So be open and learn the facts before you use anecdotal experiences to broad-brush born again Christians
Nina, your criticisms do not make sense to me. Seems like most people who criticize Mona vie make statements about other companies and the people selling monavie, but not about the actual makeup of the juice itself. I will be straight forward. I am a Mona vie distributor#2622088, but I did not join the business for the money(I haven’t made any yet) I joined for the discount rate. Most MLM products or super juices are backed by obscure scientist with unheard of publications and with most companies you would be right. However, Mona vie has been backed by well published scientists such as Dr.Schauss, a PHD of thirty years who has published many books on nutrition and the use of botanicals and is in good standing with the scientific community. I have also experienced positive health benefits with me and my family as result of consuming it.Here is a link to one of Schauss’s videos, investigate him and Mona vie yourself so you may have an informed opinion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XKHH6
I found this web page because there is a question I am trying to answer – what is the religious make-up of people selling MonaVie? What percentage are church-going Christians? It looks like I am not the first one to wonder.
In my experience, the person who tried to sign me up for the juice is Christian and attended a Christian college.
My assumption is that anyone that believes in a product so intensely (wearing the clothing, treating it as a miracle) would have already been convinced that a book like the Bible is absolute truth.
I would like to be able to survey MonaVie distributors, but the only ones that will be able to do that is MonaVie.
I shall continue my search for truth.
I have one simple comment….i have been taking the juice for one month…i have seen undeniable health benefits from the product.If it were just regular juice i would not have seen the healing from my surgery that can only be explained by something that increases the body’s ability to heal at a incredible rate.I do not intend on selling the juice …but i will continue consuming it….because it does work
Yes good points Andrew. I as well am a distributor and often find that no one does do the research either before making negative comments. My father, husband and friends all have noticed great differences in health…most of us already in great health…even feeling better! I could go on & on about success stories…maybe the “non believers” should try it before they knock it.
Try it, you may like it. Thanks MonaVie!
There are some other nice web sights that are telling people the truth about this giant scam.
amthrax.wordpress.com
teamscam.com