#More Herbalife

[badjohnspeakeasy]

Let's talk about Volten for a moment.

I want to really quickly open up a can of verbal whoop-ass on this fucking guy.

This is Volten.

He has electric powers strong enough to knock out a grown man with a physical strike.

He ate a Monster Cell to surpass Suiryu because he's petty.

And his electric powers became far stronger. Good for you, imbecile.

In spite of his innate and enhanced electrical powers...

Being strapped to a gurney and shocked still hurts him.

Congrats, stupid. Your electric powers are useless.

Electric powers and still weak against electricity. What a joke.

That's all. I just wanted to player-hate on Volten. Have a good day, and don't eat a Monster Cell, folks! It's a scam!

[thisisthinprivilege]

Since I keep seeing "$61 billion weight loss industry"....

This is a super old figure, folks.

In 2022, the US market cap of the weight loss industry was $75 billion [1, 3]. In 2021, the global market cap of the weight loss industry was estimated at $224.27 billion [2].

In 2020, the market shrunk by about 25%, but rebounded and then some since then [1, 3] (Tell me thin privilege is socially constructed without telling me that thin privilege is socially constructed).

Also disturbing, "Multi-level marketing companies constitute a major force in the [US] weight loss market, with the top 8 firms accounting for $3.4 billion in 2020 sales. Included in this group are Medifast, Herbalife, Shaklee, BeachBody, AMWAY, USANA, Isagenix and more." [3]

By 2030, the global weight loss industry is expected to reach be valued at $405.4 billion [2].

-ATL

References

LaRosa, J. March 10, 2022. "U.S. Weight Loss Market Shrinks by 25% in 2020 with Pandemic, but Rebounds in 2021." Market Research Blog. Available here.

Staff. February 09, 2023. "[Latest] Global Weight Loss and Weight Management Market Size/Share Worth." Facts and Factors Research. Available here.

LaRosa, J. March 27, 2023. "U.S. Weight Loss Market Partially Recovers from the Pandemic." Market Research Blog. Available here.

[spicyraeman]

i always default to jaeheira as the older wise warrior type, but i also just rescued minthara for the first time and she’s kinda giving mlm mom right now. like, the absolute left her with a garage full of fast fashion leggings she can’t unload and she’s trying to sell me on her new thing, the herbalife thing.

i think I remember you posting some lae’zel/jaheira art right around the time I started following. or am i mixing you up with someone else?

Yeah, feel like wise was the wrong word choice here, think I was going more for experienced but couldn't think of it at the time. But Jaheira still definitely fits the bill for that, just a way different vibe from Minthara who's got that mean dominant older woman thing going that I tend to see projected onto Lae'zel more often. And mlm mom is such a funny interpretation of her character lmao

Also yea, I did post a couple jaheira/lae'zel things a while back

[treason-and-plot]

“Do you like your dinner, Dad?” asks Henrietta. “I helped Apollo cook it. I’m very, very good at cooking, you know!”

“I’m sure you are, Princess,” says Roy while Henrietta’s sisters make scoffing noises and roll their eyes. Why anyone would prefer to eat slices of pale, insipid veal over a juicy piece of rib-eye steak is beyond Roy’s comprehension. He supposes the dish that’s in front of him could have been a lot worse, though- it could have been served with a mushroom sauce. One should always be grateful for small mercies.

“Hey, guess what?” he says, looking around the table. “Something really exciting happened today!”

Violet smiles at him.

“I got Harrison Steiner a six-figure sponsorship deal with Herbalife!” Roy says. Violet’s smile stiffens.

“Who’s Harrison Steiner?” says Joanna.

“He plays soccer with the Bridgeport Eels,” says Angus.

“That’s right, Son,” says Roy. “He’s only just turned eighteen, and already the world's his oyster. All thanks to my business acumen, expert negotiating tactics and extensive networking skills!”

“He’s also super-fast, has incredible mastery of the ball and is a machine when it comes to kicking goals,” says Angus.

“Well, okay, that too,” shrugs Roy.

“Actually, that’s not our only exciting news,” says Violet, putting down her knife and fork. “Would you like to tell everyone what else happened today, Roy?”

“Why don’t you tell them?" says Roy, stabbing at his veal. “Seeing as you were the one lucky enough to receive the phone call.”

“Okay,” says Violet. “This afternoon the people who are looking after your mother rang me, and they said we’re all allowed to go and visit her tomorrow! Isn’t that fantastic?”

The girls exchange glances.

“What’s wrong?” says Roy.

“We don’t want to go to a mental hospital,” says Alexandra. “It sounds scary.”

“It’s not a hospital, it’s a treatment facility,” says Violet. “It’s a lovely old country house surrounded by beautiful lawns and oak trees. Your father’s been there to visit people lots of times, haven’t you Roy?”

“Yeah, that’s right. In fact, your own Grandma's been a patient there!” says Roy. “As well as Freddie and at least a dozen more of my clients. You know, they should name a wing after me after all the business I’ve sent their way. Or at least offer me some type of discount. But instead they can't even offer me the courtesy of a phone call. Anyway, to answer your question, Alex, it’s not a scary place at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.” He hate-chews his last sliver of veal and pushes his chair back. “I don’t mean to break up the party, but I’ve got to go and see Anya soon, so can you all cut the chit-chat and eat a bit quicker so we can fit in a game of kicky bag or something before I have to race off?”

[plumbogs]

I think I listed all of them (specifically living ones who have children at the start of the game). feel free to explain in the tags. If you think more than one would be involved pick which one is in the most

[psi-spectacular]

We need to make more hcs ab the office workers theyre so funny. Terryl sells herbalife.

[theolsentimes]

GQ Magazine, 2002

CW: It's kind of disgusting. It's a window to the way female starlets were viewed and treated prior to the era of online presence, even at fifteen.

"They're normal girls who lead normal lives," said Robert Thorne about the Olsen twins he helped create. "They have friends who are fat, short, dumpy. The only difference between them and the other girls is next year they're buying a jet." Thorne is the force - a sort of manager/agent/marketer - behind the $500 million industry that is the Olsen Twins. [...] They are a living, breathing brand. And they have Robert Thorne to thank. Actually, he does a fairly good job of thanking himself: "The thing I want to say, it's very important, they brought nothing to table except popularity and charisma, and I brought marketing and really phenomenal deal-marketing." At 47, Thorne only has a thin hash of hair in an unusual place - on the middle of his forehead. It stitches its way across his brow like an old scar. He used to be the Olsen family lawyer. Now he works almost exclusively on all things Mary-Kate and Ashley. He spends a lot of time pacing his 12th floor office in Century City - you can see the green Herbalife sign flickering down on him - brainstorming and jangling his coins. As soon as he gets an idea, no matter how small, he flings the door open and shouts it out into the hallway, "A coke!" Or if he sees something that besmirches Mary-Kate and Ashley's honor, he's on the phone. "Hello? Hi, Brian. I just saw a movie, a teen-snowboarder movie, yesterday, Out Cold, and at the end this guy has a certain part of his anatomy hurt- there's two of 'em. Ok, his 'thing' gets caught in a jacuzzi- and he walks into a bar that night kind of dragging, and says,'Gee, my Mary-Kate and Ashley are really hurting'... Now, is that ok?" Jill Zimmerman walked in, the twins' 32 year old ex-nanny, a blond in a slit denim skirt chewing on a salad. Zimmerman has gone from au pair to executive of the company. She controls the girls' shopping (they live to shop!) and school schedule. What's unusual is that the two directly deal with the girls, not through their parents, who have divorced and share custody of the children. The twins live in San Fernando Valley, but in a larger sense their home is in Century City. The company has become their family and little Mary-Kate and Ashley are growing up in it. What the twins have evolved into- or what their particular talent is, is another question. Their talent is almost beside the point now - a confection of teen identity, something poached from their puberty and increasingly indistinguishable from it. I asked Thorne and Zimmerman if they agreed that the girls are now selling early teen sexuality. "They're attractive," said Thorne, "and more and more boys are buying their movies because they're hot looking, but there's nothing sexual about their content. It's scintilling because of beauty, because of sexy dress, but they don't overdo it." "They won't," said Zimmerman. But it's obvious: They're the object of horndog jokes in Maxim and on Howerd Stern. "What are you going to do?" said Zimmerman.

[rainyfestivalsweets]

2/4/24

The MLM hack list

Alright. So there are a bunch of MLM diet companies that make a shitload of money of of us and yet our obesity rates in developed countries are thru the freaking roof.

How many times have you gotten the messages on Facebook, Instagram or whatever and it's like: Hey girl, haven't seen you since high school, let's get coffee... OR... they just post the precopied message & ask about your goals, & proceed to add a flurry of hyperpositive social media messages, like my friend recently did to me.

Did anyone in high school like you? Not me! Do that screams danger from the start. I was horrendously bullied in elementary school. I was gone to a parochial school for a couple years so the only reason that I avoided constant bullying in high school was because... they forgot who I was.

Here are some ideas I stole from various companies, cheaper:

Herbalife: this company's stuff works, for 2 reasons- you replace 2 out of 3 meals with shakes. However, alot of people are not successful if they make their shakes at home and if they add in all the snack bars. People do, however, lose weight if they get their shakes from a "nutrition" shop. Why? Because they blend those shakes super thick with a metric shitton of ice & I think alot of them add sf pudding, which enhances the thickness. Also, you get an iced tea, normally with added fiber. So the answer is- you have 2 drinks that take a long time to finish AND give you added caffeine & fiber. So? Just do it at home: keep your shake calories low, make it extra large & thicker than a snicker, & follow with a caffeinated tea & add fiber to it. I like the herbalife brand but I order it off Amazon so I don't have to get the whole shpeel. Now brand has "prebiotic fiber" that is cheaper. There is also benefiber from Walmart. It is cheap, so why not?

Beachbody: you don't need to spend a billion dollars on protein shakes or meal replacement shakes. I do, however, love some of their workout systems.

Tai Slim: this company's great idea was the chocolate gluccomannon chews, I just didn't know ot at the time. I have tried to order it but have been unable to so maybe they don't make it any more. So my hack would be- the chocolate calcium chews, some gluccomannon tablets, & a large glass of water.

Modere: this company was all over tik tok & reels for awhile, while the reps were trying to schlep people into this scheme. The Golden Child was the liquid CLA chocolate, probably because it tastes like a chocolatey treat while it is actually a CLA supplement. CLA can be purchased at almost any health food store, way cheaper.

Plexus: the pink drink. More research needed on this, but I think it is just a fiber drink. Hack: gluccomannon powder & a Starburst all pink flavor packet.

Most of these companies often sell an associated "fat burner:" often something with caffeine, ecgc from green tea, etc. You can get something similar at a health food store for a fraction of the price. If you want something fancy, there is Ember from the Ambrosia Collective. Use the Google. MFINGCOO is a discount code that I think still works, but it isn't mine.

Buy In for then"tribe:" Weight watchers (not an MLM, just a diet culture sales supergiant but they still somehow acquire affiliates, idk if that qualifies as a True MLM), beachbody, herbalife are pretty cultish in nature-- they rope you into a bunch of meetings, calls, and online groups. If someone calls you to ask why you weren'tat Power Hour, you may have bought into a cult! It works by reprogramming certain thought & behavior patterns..... Basically a bunch of people are sharing ideas regularly and getting involved in their cultish antics.& promoting it on social media. (Example: OMG have you tried the new WW/herbalife/beachbody PROTEIN BAR?? Only $15 for 4!! What a deal! LINK IN MY BIO) You can do this on your own by finding your own people. You can get your own seminars by watching a lot of youtube. Anything that focuses on reprogramming you to cook at home and eat primarily whole foods will probably work. Join free groups. Disregard anything outside of what works for you ( I have to ignore a lot of dessert recipes because they cause bingeing for me).

Lipozene: pretty sure this is just gluccomannon. You can find gluccomannon tablets way cheaper at a health food store. Walmart also was carrying a generic version.

Hydroxycut: pretty sure the active ingredient here is HCA? I don't have a bottle currently to look. But isn't HCA just garcinia? So much cheaper at a health food store. I personally cannot take hydroxycut, it makes me RAGE. I like, get upset and freak out at work, so I don't even think I am willing to try it again.

It works: I think the skinny coffee would be comparable to the "slim coffee," which was cheaper but seemed to be chromium. You can just pick up a chromium supplement... & seriously, you can just drink coffee. Don't add calories to it.

Apple cider vinegar gummies: Just take shots of apple cider vinegar. You can buy a gallon at walmart, it will last a long time. Play with shot recipes, you can do good girl moonshine (ala Trim Healthy Mamma), & use it liberally for dressing recipes.

L-Glutamine: don't remember the company, but this is available at more health food stores, not for $100 a container.

Maybe I have bought so much shit so you don't have it. Is there an MLM company I missed? 🤔 let me know and I will check it out for future posts.

Remember- whatever you do, stay safe. Research your shit. Focus on your daily habits and remember that what you are eating outweighs almost any supplement you could buy. Eat whole food, walk, have an exercise routine & stop expecting a 30 day result for a body that took you 40 years (or whatever) to create.

I definitely don't think the ozempic trend is worth the cost, but if there is no other way for you & you have the money, it is worth a shot. Just don't expect your insurance to pay for it. Many insurance companies are currently not covering it, and I don't really know if they should consider it.

Surgery? If there is no other way and you want to, go for it.

The way that these things work though, is by changing what you are eating. Period. These are all systems to change what you ingest and you can change what you eat for free.

I am still on Nomorbidity & Alkemi from the Ambrosia Collective. I have not found suitable replacements for them but I am also not looking hard, they have a reasonable price point to me.

Edited: To reword, as WW is a diet culture vulture, not quite an MLM. Just a big money making company.

[saleintothe90s]

497. The Pat Sajak Show, 1989-1990

Back in 2007, a friend had sent me all her old childhood tapes after she had digitized her copies to DVD. I then digitized the commercials to DVD. She had all the CBS prime time cartoons on tape from the late 80s, and I saw this promo for...The Pat Sajak Show?! I remember kinda giggling trying to picture a celebrity hanging out with Pat, because he was known for talking to the every man every day, his contestants on Wheel you know?

In January of 1989, the show premiered, unfortunately around the same time of another television legend:

(article)

Arsenio said in this article:

''My personality is a little easier than Dave's,'' Mr. Hall says. ''I'm just a nice guy. I don't know how to be any different. Let's just say that I'm a warmer version, a warmer brown-bread version of David Letterman. Call me the pumpernickel of late-night.'' 1

If Arsenio was Pumpernickel, then Pat was Wonder Bread compared to Arsenio:

Musical guests will include the likes of Debby Boone, Michael Feinstein, Alabama, the Commodores and the ubiquitous K. T. Oslin - far closer to the easy-listening center than Mr. Hall's. 1

Arsenio's first guests were Brooke Shields, Leslie Nielsen and Luther Vandross. Pat's? Chevy Chase, Joan Van Ark, The Judds, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and Michael Gross. I know you're reading that list like "dang, that's a lot of guests." And it was -- the show was a mind numbing 90 minutes long. Who, even in 1989 had the attention span late at night for that. It took me a second to realize why the show scheduled Joan Van Ark the first night, then I remembered she was on Knots Landing which was a big show for CBS back then. I have no clue why the Baseball Commissioner (Peter Ueberroth) was there. What an odd pick for the first night of your big deal nation wide major network late night talk show.

Unfortunately I can't find all of the first night! Just this 40 minute clip of assorted clips from the show.

/edit/

I found the whole episode with commercials!

Luv that plaid jacket. He pulled a Herbalife joke as his first joke! "now that I have you all here, I'd like to talk to you about something called ... Herbalife". Oh us anti-MLM girlies love that joke.

The majority of the clip is very painful. Pat's set is sad and beige, Pat's bandleader is awkward, I didn't even realize that his sidekick was his sidekick at first, I thought he was introducing his producer at first. Pat has too many pencils on his desk and Chevy Chase make fun of him for it.

To me, Michael Gross was the highlight of this clip. He also highlights how redic. a 90 minute show is, look at all the hands he has to shake! It looks more like a parody of a talk show.

Mr. Sajak asked Michael Gross of ''Family Ties'' what was going to happen to the Keatons in this, their last scheduled season. Mr. Gross: ''I hope they die in a plane crash.'' He later explained that he would not like to see them being brought back for phony reunions.  2

I found another full episode from April of 1989, and the audience just isn't with Pat through the monologue. He even told a suction cup car window Garfield joke and it bombed. Poor Pat.

Finally, Finally, in October of 1989, the show was reduced to an hour.

By March of 1990, Pat had a hipper, darker set. He didn't stand up for the monologue by then either. He was making Nest door bell jokes 25 years before Nest doorbell cameras were a thing! This is probably the latest episode of the show with Pat hosting that is on YouTube. Yes, "with Pat hosting". By 1990, Pat wasn't hosting the show on Fridays, he handed the show to a guest.

Pat wasn't even there for his last episode, Paul Rodriguez hosted. :

I don't want to get sentimental or nothing but let me just take the second to tell you that uh Pat Sajak uh is one of the nicest people I've ever had the opportunity to know and to meet I'm sure on behalf of his whole staff he'd like me to say how wonderful it was to be here and work with all of you in 15 months that you guys were on and it's terrific, and there is a tomorrow for him.

Facebook | Etsy | Retail History Blog | Twitter | YouTube Playlist | Random Post | Ko-fi donation | instagram / threads @thelastvcr​ | tik tok @ saleintothe90s

Oh hey, there's a sale going on at my Etsy right now til June 15th.

Meisler, Andy. “TELEVISION; Two TV Veterans March Into the Late-Night Fray.” The New York Times, January 1, 1989, sec. Arts. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/01/arts/television-two-tv-veterans-march-into-the-late-night-fray.html. https://archive.is/4CxFw

O’Connor, John J. “Review/Television; Late-Night Chitchat Additions: Pat Sajak and Arsenio Hall.” The New York Times, January 11, 1989, sec. Arts. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/11/arts/review-television-late-night-chitchat-additions-pat-sajak-and-arsenio-hall.html. https://archive.is/Z0vun

[softgaycontent]

Please share everything you know about MLMs I love learning things

Thank you for asking! I’ll start with a TL:DR for everyone: Never join an MLM. Over 99% of participants LOSE money (and time! And friends!). 

A Multi-Level Marketing Company (MLM), also sometimes called Direct Selling, is essentially a barely-legal pyramid scheme. Sales reps can either make money by selling a product or by recruitment of new sales reps.

MLMs make money off of people joining the MLM, even if those sales reps never sell anything, because the sales reps have to buy the product from the company before they can re-sell it. Therefore, they focus a LOT on recruitment (pyramid scheme). 

Some famous MLMs you may have heard of:  Amway, Mary Kay, Herbalife, Avon

We can prove the 99% Lose Money number pretty easily. If you are to only learn one fact to teach others, then look up Amway (the biggest MLM)’s Income Disclosure statement, which they publish themselves, on their own website. Screencap below:

This is PRE-business expenses that sales reps pay out of pocket, and still the average annual GROSS income made by the TOP 10% of the company is LESS than minimum wage. After expenses, you can see yourself how almost everybody loses money. (The money people lose goes to the ppl at the VERY top of the company; it’s not like when a normal small business fails.)

Below the cut is a lot more info, although not close to all I have collected.

Screencap summary of Amway's Income Disclosure:

Half of the TOP 1% made less than 55K pre-expense; studies show even they generally LOST money, or made very very little after expense (the top 0.5% actually makes any money, and the 0.05% make a LOT of money)

The TOP 10% earns, on average, LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE ($15K), with less than half of the TOP 10% making over $4.6K PRE-EXPENSES

Less than half of the TOP 50% makes more than $631 A YEAR. PRE-EXPENSE.

(Also, they cut the bottom 1/3 out entirely, so the 50% referenced is 50% OF the top 2/3. I’m actually OK with this, as long as it’s acknowledged, for better reporting. The bottom 1/3 were “inactive” and possibly not trying to participate in sales. The top 2/3 still sucks.)

I made a very sloppy visual to restate the data, in case it helps anyone:

-

Another example is the Mary Kay public income disclosure [for Canada] (another very popular MLM). 

Again, pre-expense, though also pre-retail sales (more in paragraph below)

The top 0.05%(!) makes average commissions of $124K

The level below that, Independent Sales Director, only 1.7% of the company, makes less than Canadian Minimum wage in commissions

98% of the company, very clearly, makes anywhere from $0 per year, to at most an average of $206 DOLLARS A YEAR (pre-expense, pre-sale)

Mary Kay works a little differently than Amway, where once you purchase a product, MK truly does not know or care what happens to it at all. If all of these people actually sold all the products they bought, it’s possible they made supplemental income, but data shows that most LOSE money on actual sales.

Let’s focus on Mary Kay for a moment, because their structure means the ONLY money the company ever receives was given to them BY their sales reps. So they’re easy to follow.

-

Why do sales reps lose money on sales?

The market is oversaturated. They have 3.5 MILLION reps trying to sell the same product* - meaning they either can’t sell, or they have to greatly discount the product

Many MLM products are more expensive than the same product elsewhere

They constantly refresh their line of products, so the inventory reps already have is now worth less and harder to sell

Sales reps must buy a minimum amount of new product each month to keep certain perks, even if they haven’t yet sold their old product (min $225, with much higher amounts sometimes necessary to keep status)

*What makes MLMs legal (thanks to lobbying, mostly) is that they HAVE a product, which sales reps buy from the company. I’m careful not to call these people employees, as they are technically independent consultants, and thus don’t receive employee benefits... like a guaranteed income, or healthcare, or anything. If you google “Mary Kay employees”, you will find data on their ACTUAL employees, who do actually make money. This is clearly not the case for their sales reps (table above). Mary Kay has about 5K ACTUAL employees, and 3.5 MILLION sales reps. 

-

So how do sales reps make ANY commissions?

If you convince people to join Mary Kay, MK will give you a cut (commission) of what they spend at the company on product

Since this is the main way to make money, reps are incentivized to recruit as much as possible

They are also incentivized to LIE about how much money they’re making, so people will stay with the company. I’ve read stories of reps renting a fancy car from time to time to convince the people below them that they’re making money

Clearly, thanks to the income disclosure, we can see that they aren't making much money on commissions, either

-

How are sales reps buying more product if they lose money being in an MLM?

Reps are encouraged to dip into their savings, with the promise of a greater payout later. If they don’t have any, they can open Mary Kay CHASE VISA card, and charge all the products they will never re-sell to it

Many people end up in heavy debt

Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t track what they’re spending vs earning until it’s far too late

-

What else do reps lose?

Time: Selling is actually a very small part of the business. A lot of time is spent FINDING people to sell to, organizing classes, restocking inventory, recruiting new members, traveling, going to conferences, and more. 

Mary Kay’s motto is, “God First, Family Second, Job Third”, to imply that this is something you can pick up part-time, but that’s simply not true

Relationships: Most people try to sell to and/or recruit their friends and family first, which can put a strain on relationships. Additionally, due to debt and/or need to borrow money to buy more products, many have damaged relationships with those close to them, including their spouses, who share the debt.

-

How else does Mary Kay make money?Don’t worry, it’s not all from sales reps buying their products! (Sarcasm. Please worry.)

Website + ability to process credit cards: This is essentially an annual membership fee - to access the MK website to buy their products (to re-sell), or to take credit cards as payment, you pay an annual amount to Mary Kay

Business Cards: More petty costs

Conferences: Sales reps are greatly encouraged to pay to attend sales conferences to learn more about how to be a great salesperson. (BONUS: you will encounter many cult-like tactics here, to keep you IN the MLM)

Jackets: Congrats! You’ve been promoted and you are now permitted to wear the Red Jacket! It costs $100. If you get promoted to NSD(?), you get to wear a fancy suit that changes every year and costs $1,000 each year!

-

How else does Amway make money? Bonus because they are egregious

Sales Reps replacing everything they own: Amway sells a LOT of different things. How can you sell anything if you haven’t tried it? If you really want to succeed at Amway, get rid of EVERYTHING you own that Amway also sells. Make sure everything you own is sold by Amway (people do actually follow these instructions! Cult-like tactics are used)

Training Materials: They make a lot of money off of selling training materials to their sales reps. Aren’t making money? It’s because you don’t WANT to succeed, clearly, if you aren’t buying all the training materials you can get your hands on

Haha maybe more than you've bargained for. I wrote this all at once late at night, but I'll look it over later to check for any potential errors and link more sources.

[donut-entendre]

11 and 13 for the ask game, whatever fandom you want >:3

11: I have three rvb tags blocked and I blocked them all a while after zero came out. You may be able to guess why from my previous statements! the rest is just x reader tags lol. WAIT i have a fourth one but that's from people misreading me really really badly and I just went and started tagging it so I never had to see that bullshit again and anyone else who didn't want to didn't have to

13: okay. okay. I hate the fandom treatment of caboose a lot but it's less blorboification and more just ableism there. Donut. predictably. is my answer. Everyone makes him a little uwu soft nice boy when he would run over a grandma for fun. I kinda make him more violent than he actually is to compensate for what I see to generate Balance but like. he is literally textually a gay dude who's in a fucking GLASS closet and he runs over 'pedestrians' and decides that's who he wants to be forever in the same hour. thats so much more funny than him just being the gay soft one. come on. he would get heavy metal poisoning from herbalife bullshit and think that means it's working. hes so much better than that man!!!

[anti-mlm-rambles]

Book Review: Ponzinomics

I highly recommend Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing by Robert L Fitzpatrick if you are at all interested in the history of MLM companies. This book goes into great detail about the history of the industry and the companies that started it all. Perhaps an excessive amount of detail in places. There was a chapter in which Fitzpatrick talks about all the previous business ventures of one of the founders of Nutralite, the first MLM company, and there were moments where I thought it was more information than was strictly needed. Still, you can't deny he was thorough.

Fitzpatrick talks about the founding of Nutralite and Amway, and the early lawsuits that shut down companies like Holiday Magic but left Amway untouched. He describes the earlier concepts that were built on to form the business model of MLMs, including ways direct sales were compensated in other companies the key players were involved in, and some fascinating stories about chain letters that I knew nothing about prior to reading this book.

Fitzpatrick also covers the short sale of Herbalife stock by Bill Ackman and the investigations into Herbalife and legal cases against them. He talks about the incident and its aftermath. There was also a lot of information about the ties between the MLM industry and the US government. I was aware of some of the connections, but I had no idea it was so pervasive.

Early on in the book, there is a great explanation of the pyramid structure, including mathematical proof that, no matter how big the pyramid grows, the majority of people will always lose money - because the way the pyramid grows means that the majority will always be on the bottom. It's laid out in a clear, easy to understand manner. He also points out something I hadn't considered but which makes sense, around the loss rates. Those that talk about MLMs often bring up the studies into how the majority of people lose money, but Fitzpatrick postulates that the loss rates are actually even worse than the terrible stats would suggest, because the income disclosure numbers are generally measured year-by-year. The people at the top who are making money tend to be stable, staying in the company because they've found success, but the people at the bottom are in a state of constant churn, with new ones being recruited and old ones leaving because they kept losing money. This means if you look at it over a longer period, the number of people who lose money may be actually greater than the numbers the annual income statements give. Which is horrifying.

The book does touch on the MLM industry today, but it's first and foremost a history of the industry. There is a lot of plainly laid out information covered in a fairly academic manner, but in a way that can be easily consumed by a reader. I

In a lot of ways, the book feels impersonal. It talks about the people involved in the history of the industry, but doesn't really talk about the people who get hurt. It's not a book of anecdotes or sob stories from the victims of MLM companies, but it sheds light on where these companies came from. Some of the information, I was already somewhat familiar with, but other parts were new to me and it was very interesting to see how the pyramid recruiting structure evolved from earlier concepts and to find out more about the people who invented it.

Fitzpatrick is definitely thorough. The book isn't the most fun I've read on the subject of MLMs but it's packed full of interesting information, and I would definitely recommend it if you want a thorough grounding in the history of the industry. Four stars.

[treason-and-plot]

“Who is it?” shouts a male voice. Crystal doesn’t answer. She can hear a few muffled snatches of conversation and laughter, and after a few moments the door is swung open to reveal a group of high-spirited young men. The room behind them smells of alcohol and sweat and over-zealous applications of cologne.

“Heeeeeey, sexy lady,” one of them slurs, stretching his hand towards her. She takes a step backwards and puts a hand on her hip.

“Is Harry here?” she says.

“I’m Harry,” says the tall dark haired youth in the centre of the group, looking her up and down with an expression of mock humility, his hands clasped in front of him. “And you’re fucking gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” says Crystal, while his friends snicker behind him. “But I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to come in unless your friends leave. The rules are very strict. No group bookings. One-on-one only.”

“They’ll leave soon,” says Harry. “They just want to enjoy the pleasure of your company for a while. You know. Socialise for a bit. Relax. It’s chill.”

“Sorry, Babycakes,” says Crystal. “Either they go, or I go. Your call.”

She is pretty sure that they are all harmless, but the rules are in place for a reason. After a few more protests Harry’s friends are sent muttering and grumbling downstairs to the hotel bar. Crystal steps inside and shrugs off her jacket. She gazes around the room, taking careful note of everything. Harry sits down on the bed, looking very young and vulnerable without his entourage. She opens the door of the bathroom and checks that there aren’t more of his friends hiding inside. Then she calls Hans.

“Everything cool?” he says, a yawn enveloping his voice.

“Well, there were four of them in the room when I got here, but three of them have now been evicted to the bar downstairs,” says Crystal. “I’ll call you if need you.”

“Who was that?” says Harry.

“My security,” she says. “Now, let’s get to know each other a little bit better, baby. How about you tell me a little bit about yourself while I give you one of my special massages?”

“Do you want to do some blow first?” he says. Crystal politely declines. Harry snorts a couple of lines then bounces over to the can of beer he's left on the bedside table.

”Are you celebrating something tonight, babydoll?” Crystal asks him while he gulps.

“Fuck yeah,” he says, burping and wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “I’m a professional soccer player and today I just signed this huge endorsement deal with Herbalife. They’re going to pay me nearly a million every year just to pop their vitamins and shoot a couple of ad campaigns! It’s fucking nuts!”

“Really?” says Crystal. “Congratulations, sweetcheeks. You must be very, very good at what you do.”

“It’s all thanks to my agent,” says Harry. “He’s been the sports agent of the year for three or four years in a row and I totally get why. He’s a fucking legend.”

“Sports agent of the year?" says Crystal.

“Yeah,” says Harry. “He's pretty well-known. Roy Goddard.”

[ladyboarder9669]

The Connection Between Sleep & Nutrition: Making the Right Food Choices for a Better Night's Rest

by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND Sr. Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education, and Training, Herbalife   Americans have a long history of being concerned about their weight, prompting a tremendous and continuous interest in healthy eating. But how many Americans understand the relationship between diet and sleep? While eating healthier and exercising more continue to top the…

[femgirlfriend-moved]

i like big arms much more than abs i feel like abs don't need to be that prominent i want her to eat well.....imagine having a hot gf but she drinks herbalife shakes like.......not happening on my watch..........

[khunyi-beastmode]

🔥🔥DAY 2!!!🔥🔥

05:30am - Morning Workout (yes I know it's a Thursday, but I started the morning workouts today😂)

- Minus lunges

- Plus 15 Russian Twists, side leg raises (10 each side) and 20 more Jumping Jacks

10:00am - Breakfast (I had it a bit late today, got caught up at work)

- Herbex Green tea 330ml

- Herbalife lemon herbal tea 400ml

- Herbalife vanilla diet protein 400ml

- 1 large mango