3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Very good advice, Greekgirl. Quackwatch is a particularly good source for information on products like these, and they even have a MLM Watch.

Products like Advocare bother me because there is nothing special about the products, but they put all their emphasis on MLM sales, the way Herbalife, etc, do.

I found a website called SupplementWatch. I don't know anything about their site, but found it while doing a search for Advocare. They had several entries for Advocare and none were good. Here's what they had to say:

Quote:

Reviewer Paul E.

My Review I have encountered a large amount of evasion whenever I press Advocare reps for the ingredients of their products. I have found the ingredient lists for their formulas online. IMO some of their formulas are ok, but none are cutting edge, and many use ingredients that are there for window dressing. There's nothing there that is necessarily bad, but how the company operates concerns me. The company purposely avoids dissemination of information to prevent direct comparison of their product either against other products in the industry and/or prevent scrutiny. One Advocare rep here in Austin, TX at a mall actually, upon talking to him quite a bit and finally pressing him on the subject, said he was instructed (no idea whether it was officially or unofficially) as part of the sales process to avoid direct comparison by playing up the uniqueness of the products as well as staying vague about actual ingredients. Unbelieveable. This helps ensure the "eliteness" of the product but additionally keeps it on an apples and oranges level in terms of how the consumer can intelligently evaluate the products' merits. (and thus help drive sales) Besides keeping pre-sale information vague and non-informative, the company has a clever marketing scheme - give free endorsements to influencers and notables in sports and elsewhere, especially to athletes who are in sports often not well-sponsored and thus snap at the opportunity to get sponsorship and product for free.... Wrestling, fitness/bodybuilding, and gymnastics are 3 such beleaguered sports... but Advocare also sponsors well-to-do athletes as well, to be fair. Nevertheless the scientific mind should remember that athletes are still not nutritionists. Additionally, they are attempting to market to doctors to sell through their practices/offices, to the point where some doctors "prescribe" AdvoCare products. I don't think utilizing people's doctors as a sales channel is very ethical, given the amount of influence doctors have over people. This is getting long, and there's a lot more, but basically it is average product, absolutely nothing revolutionary versus other similar formulas on the market, but it is still ok product. I still have serious questions about a company that focuses on a MLM-like marketing process, attempts to bolster sales by taking advantage of doctor-patient trust, restricts disclosure of information about its products whenever possible to avoid scrutiny and comparison, and publicly claims to have some of the most effective and proven products on the market - without doing anything to actually back the statement with demonstrable research or fact. My Summary: Another supplement company, selling ok product, but with a better, smarter, slicker package and a, dare I say, diabolically clever marketing strategy that includes a MLM business tacked on. There are worse companies in the supplement business. Just remember - always use your head, do your research. Paul

Date Time 3/4/2002 2:11:24 PM

Quote:

Reviewer TJ

My Review I've taken some of their products and am not impressed. For a company that claims to have the best products on the market, they have no research or data to back it up. All they have are user testimonials. Warning: This is a Multi-Level Marketing organization. It's not as much about the products as it is selling the products and getting people "in." Once you're "in" you are encouraged to take more products and more products. You are encouraged to live, breathe, eat, sleep, and drink Advocare. It becomes a lifestyle, not a supplement. As I said earlier, I've tried some of their products and was not impressed with them. They are great if you want to make some people atop of a MLM chain very rich. But ask for the scientific proof of their claims, and you'll find no one can give it to you.

Date Time 3/5/2002 11:58:18 AM

Quote:

Reviewer SW Tech Staff

My Review We have been asked a number of questions about AdvoCare products - and we have tried repeatedly to contact the company for more detailed information about their products. Unfortunately, the company, and every AdvoCare distributor that we have spoken with has been extremely evasive about their product line - NOT a good sign. On each of our attempts to collect detailed information about AdvoCare products, we have been told that AdvoCare products are the "best" and "most scientific" products available - but none of our requests for marketing literature or ingredient profiles have been satisfied. As such, we are not very enthusiastic about Advocare products - but we cannot provide a definite recommendation until we can get the products in our hands - stay tuned...

Date Time 7/20/2001 6:06:51 PM

If you are interested in taking supplements, don't choose anything that "promotes" weight loss. The only thing that does that is a proper diet and exercise program. If you need supplements for certain health issues, you can find good quality vitamins, minerals, etc at places like http://www.vitacost.com and http://www.vitaminshoppe.com for a fraction of what MLM pushers sell them for, and the quality is just as good.