My mom spends $40/mo on that shady "Protandim" vitamin stuff

[Fausto]

You are a moron. If I had to make my own protandim with the same ingredients it would cost me around $15, because I've looked. By the time I shipped each, spent time blending it, it would cost me about $40 anyway in time and resource.

If the protandim company buys in bulk and makes money off it, SO WHAT!

When you buy a drug your doctor gives you, GUESS WHAT MORON, THEY'RE MAKING A KILLING OF YOU.

Or are you the guy who make your own clothing, grows your own food etc. Likely you did not.

When you buy a vitamin from GNC, and you spend $10, I bet it only costs the company who made it $1. But they sold it to GNC, they advertised it, and everybody's getting a piece of the pie, its how the economy works.

You continue to post to your detriment. I am further confused. :|

 

[FrankR]

Okay, "Frank" I gotta go get on with the rest of my day. As soon as my Enzyte kicks in I plan to split some firewood and get the neighbor's cat out of the tree. Then I'll drive home at a cool 100mpg thanks to my patented VORTEX fuel savings device.

Have a good one.

Thanks for playing. You guys are lots of fun.

 

[Fausto]

Thanks for playing. You guys are lots of fun.

ShamWow, brother.

 

[Hoober]

Aw, c'mon. I've got 4 hours of work left.

 

[Cogman]

You are a moron. If I had to make my own protandim with the same ingredients it would cost me around $15, because I've looked. By the time I shipped each, spent time blending it, it would cost me about $40 anyway in time and resource.

If the protandim company buys in bulk and makes money off it, SO WHAT!

When you buy a drug your doctor gives you, GUESS WHAT MORON, THEY'RE MAKING A KILLING OF YOU.

Or are you the guy who make your own clothing, grows your own food etc. Likely you did not.

When you buy a vitamin from GNC, and you spend $10, I bet it only costs the company who made it $1. But they sold it to GNC, they advertised it, and everybody's getting a piece of the pie, its how the economy works.

And if you get ten people to start selling it, and those ten people get ten people, eventually you'll be a millionaire! Oh, wait, too soon to bring up the pyramid scheme Jeff?

BTW, how is a vitamin C supplement not a supplement?

 

[FrankR]

Oh, I found the smoking gun. No surprise.

FrankR was stupid enough to link his vCard in his profile (thanks Fausto), which conveniently includes his email address.

It happens to be: jalundgren@gmail.com

Which just so happens to be the same as Jeff Lundgren, whose profile you can view here:

http://www.mlmsocial.com/profile.php?user=lundgren&v=comments

Jeff's job description: "I am an MLM Distributor"
One of Jeff's many websites: http://www.studynrf2.com/

Which is the website FrankR has been linking to over and over again.

(Vcard for proof: http://forums.anandtech.com/member.php?do=vcard&u=295976)

The Internet is hard place to hide. Well played.

 

[BeauJangles]

So Jeff,

Why are you lying to us?

Just as a warning to you, the way you are marketing your supplement is illegal and is subject to fines and other penalties from the FTC. I would highly recommend you take a careful look at what the FTC considers okay and not okay. You can find the documents through a quick google search. This is one you'll want to pay attention to http://ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf

What you are doing is illegal.

 

[Cogman]

The Internet is hard place to hide. Well played.

Yes... So hard... If only you hadn't linked all your information to your account

 

[zinfamous]

ALL PRODUCTS are 90% marketing.

Show me a supplement on the market with 8 peer reviewed and published research articles... (no matter the source or funding).

You won't find one. So while Protandim is a lot of marketing (via MLM), it carries more science than anything I've seen that was not an FDA drug (and no Protandim doesn't meet that standard)

which tells me that you are nothing but another marketing whore, if you truly believe this. you people are a blight on humanity

 

[zinfamous]

Ouch.

 

[Perknose]

The medical community has not somehow "overlooked" it, in fact, following an ABC Primetime TV show on Protandim in 2005, 25+ universities picked up on it, and have been doing research on Protandim including:

Simply because you have joined just today principally to vigorously defend this one supplement, we here wish to formally know if you are a distributor or seller of this product.

Please respond, quoting this post, here in this thread.

TIA!

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[FrankR]

Simply because you have joined just today principally to vigorously defend this one supplement, we here wish to formally know if you are a distributor or seller of this product.

Please respond, quoting this post, here in this thread.

TIA!

Perknose
Forum Director

Yes, I am a Protandim Distributor. That is I do not work for the company directly as declared, but am an Independent distributor.

 

[Kirby]

Fuck you Jeff.

 

[nick1985]

Oh, I found the smoking gun. No surprise.

FrankR was stupid enough to link his vCard in his profile (thanks Fausto), which conveniently includes his email address.

It happens to be: jalundgren@gmail.com

Which just so happens to be the same as Jeff Lundgren, whose profile you can view here:

http://www.mlmsocial.com/profile.php?user=lundgren&v=comments

Jeff's job description: "I am an MLM Distributor"
One of Jeff's many websites: http://www.studynrf2.com/

Which is the website FrankR has been linking to over and over again.

(Vcard for proof: http://forums.anandtech.com/member.php?do=vcard&u=295976)

lol!!!

 

[nick1985]

Fuck you Jeff.

more lolz

 

[busydude]

OP, just show this thread to your mom. Jeff, you are not helping your business in anyway.. you are shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[Drako]

Posting in epic Lulz thread :thumbsup:

 

[Kirby]

A pome to Jeff...

Jeff thought he was slick, thought he was smart
Believed his lying was down to an art.
Now his scheme is exposed,
His supplement scam hosed,
A hearty "Fuck you" from AT can now be proposed.

 

[Spikesoldier]

wow this thread is gold.

i nominate this thread for ownage of the year 2011.

try harder next time, you were SO obvious from the start.

 

[nick1985]

wow this thread is gold.

i nominate this thread for ownage of the year 2011.

try harder next time, you were SO obvious from the start.

This could be worse than Dave's vinegar thread.

 

[zinfamous]

This could be worse than Dave's vinegar thread.

that is just straight up loony-toons--not terribly different from the type of conversation you might have with some bum on the street.

What Jeff the marketing shill has done in this thread is not exactly loony toons--it's legitimate unethical scammery and consumer fraud, and is actually illegal, if what Beaujangles is saying is true.

This is....amazing.

 

[Born2bwire]

Oh Wow! Did I ever miss this one. It really makes you wonder how people like Jeff here can sleep at night.

 

[BeauJangles]

that is just straight up loony-toons--not terribly different from the type of conversation you might have with some bum on the street.

What Jeff the marketing shill has done in this thread is not exactly loony toons--it's legitimate unethical scammery and consumer fraud, and is actually illegal, if what Beaujangles is saying is true.

This is....amazing.

Just to give you an idea, taken from a blog post about the "new" guidelines (2009):

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today published its updated rules governing the publication of endorsements and testimonials by “consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities” (in other words, everybody). The updated rules governing online testimonials and endorsements arguably now cover bloggers, Internet marketers, affiliates, and others who promote (including through endorsing or testimonial) products or services on the Internet.

And the bottom line is, if you talk about a product or service, and if you put it out on or via the Internet, and if you stand to gain on it, you’d better disclose that relationship.

In addition, the revised rules, referred to as “Guides” or “The Guides” by the FTC, and which were last updated nearly 30 years ago, in 1980, now require that “advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.”

In other words, you must make very clear what the actual, typical results that the average person can expect are likely to be.

Previously you could get away with simply saying that the results were “not typical.”

However, by far, the changes that most directly affect the majority of people who publish anything on the Internet, be it a blog, other type of website, newsletter, or other mailing, are those requiring full disclosure of a material relationship between the publisher and an advertiser. And by “advertiser” we mean anyone who may provide anything to the publisher in exchange for - or with the expectation of - a positive recommendation (and by “recommendation” we mean endorsement, suggestion, hint, implication, or even hoped-for inference).

Straight from the FTC:

“Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization.” (As they explain elsewhere, “an advertiser should disclose its payment of expenses to an outside entity that conducts a study subsequently touted by the advertiser.”

Now, it's not likely you're going to go to jail over this kind of deceptive advertising, but the FTC has fined non-compliant advertisers lots and lots of money ($50,000 per offense is usually the starting point) AND they are more than happy to hold parent companies responsible for the actions of their affiliates / distributors / whatever they want to call themselves.

In case anyone really wants to ruin his day:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

 

[crashtestdummy]

Yes, I am a Protandim Distributor. That is I do not work for the company directly as declared, but am an Independent distributor.

I'm guessing you didn't co-organize this event for free...

 

[Cogman]

Just to give you an idea, taken from a blog post about the "new" guidelines (2009):


Straight from the FTC:

Now, it's not likely you're going to go to jail over this kind of deceptive advertising, but the FTC has fined non-compliant advertisers lots and lots of money ($50,000 per offense is usually the starting point) AND they are more than happy to hold parent companies responsible for the actions of their affiliates / distributors / whatever they want to call themselves.

In case anyone really wants to ruin his day:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Yikes, if I were Jeff, I would start sweating bullets about now.