AdvoCare International, L.P. is a multi-level American marketing company that sells dietary supplements. The company, headquartered in Plano, Texas, was founded in 1993 by Charles Ragus and employs about 250 people by 2013. AdvoCare distributes its products in the United States through a network of approximately 60,000 independent distributors.
Video AdvoCare
History
Charles Ragus founded AdvoCare in 1993 as a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that distributes dietary supplement products. The name AdvoCare stands for "Advocates Who Care". Prior to founding AdvoCare, Ragus worked as regional vice president for Fidelity Union Insurance, and as a multi-level marketing (MLM) distributor for Herbalife. He initially founded the MLM Omnitrition International company in 1989. Ragus briefly played a defensive role for the Kansas City National Football League's Chief in the 1960s. He died in 2001 at the age of 58 years.
In May 2007, Richard H. Wright became president and CEO of AdvoCare. Wright previously served as Chief of Staff for US Representative Jim McCrery.
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Products
AdvoCare sells several lines of dietary supplements under the Trim, Active, Well, Performance Elite, Fit, and 24 Day Challenge brands.
Business
AdvoCare is a multilevel marketing company. In addition to revenue from the sale of personal products, AdvoCare distributors could potentially earn additional commissions from sales by the distributors 'downline' they recruit. According to the disclosure of Advocare 2015 revenues, the company has 623,003 distributors who have purchased the product or received a check that year. Among them, 28% (177,443) received checks from the company in 2015, thus being classified as "active distributors"; Active distributors receive a total of 1,294,716 checks with an average annual compensation of $ 1,586, excluding fees. For 2016, the company reported that 570,289 distributors had purchased the product or received the check; 157,905 active and their average annual compensation decreased to $ 1,429. The average annual compensation for active distributors in 2012 is $ 1,781.
In the 2010 court case, Advocare said they have about 60,000 active distributors, and have sold around 350,000 distributors since 2003.
AdvoCare is a member of the US Direct Selling Association (DSA), and participates in the DSA 2010 Ethics Communication Ethics Initiative. AdvoCare President Richard Wright served on the DSA Board of Directors in 2011.
Sponsors and support
Among the celebrity endorsers of the AdvoCare contract were NFL quarterbacks Andy Dalton, Philip Rivers and Alex Smith; Major League Baseball Launcher, Doug Fister; CrossFit champion Rich Froning; and, earlier, Carli Lloyd, Sam Bradford, and Wes Welker. However, their most important spokesman is the quarterback of New Orleans Saints Drew Brees. Celebrity endorsers are said to be at the center of the Bulletproof Shield, a major selling and recruitment technique used by companies: distributors place themselves in the middle of a graph depicting the support of companies and members of the scientific and medical advisory boards, and diverting questions about the company by answering , "Well, I do not know about (X), but all I know is" that certain athletes or doctors have supported AdvoCare.
From 2009 to 2013, AdvoCare is a major sponsor of the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. The 2013 game is known as AdvoCare V100 Bowl. In 2012, AdvoCare partnered with Major League Soccer FC Dallas team and sponsored his jersey.
In 2014, AdvoCare guarantees the naming rights of a professional sports training facility located at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. The facility is called the AdvoCare Sports Performance Center and hosts the 2014 training camp for the New Orleans Saints. AdvoCare also sponsors the title of Texas Bowl 2014. In 2016, AdvoCare will sponsor the Texas Kickoff and Cowboys Classic games.
Since 2011, AdvoCare has sponsored several NASCAR racing teams, as well as races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway. The company has sponsored Trevor Bayne and Roush Fenway Racing drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series since 2014.
Controversy
In July 2008, Olympic swimmer Jessica Hardy tested positive for using a prohibitive breathing apparatus, clenbuterol. Hardy says he has never heard of the substance, linking positive results with contaminated supplements or sabotages. At that time, Hardy had taken the Arginine Extreme supplement, which he had received free of charge from AdvoCare in exchange for making product testimonials, and he claimed in the next lawsuit that the company's product was contaminated. AdvoCare sued Hardy for making false claims. The arbitral tribunal reduced the suspension of Hardy after a scientific expert testified that the AdvoCare product was polluted. AdvoCare denied the panel's findings, saying that two independent laboratories found no evidence of Clenbuterol in the supplement.
In 2009, the Dallas County jury awarded $ 1.9 million to AdvoCare after discovering that the company had tricked its trading practices and unfairly canceled its two distributors. According to the lawsuit, Bruce and Teresa Badgett's prosecutors from Arlington, Texas, have been marketers of AdvoCare products that were active and profitable for over a dozen years before their distribution was canceled by the company in 2006 "based on false and false allegations." The jury found AdvoCare engaging in false, misleading or deceptive practices that harm Badgetts and that the termination of the distributor contract with AdvoCare is inappropriate, according to court documents. AdvoCare disputed the ruling and on April 30, 2010, appealed the ruling on the grounds that the claimant was not a customer and therefore did not comply with the definition of law that would need to be covered by the Texas Deceptive Trade Practice Act. The appeal was dismissed on March 13, 2012 and the company was ordered to reimburse Badgett charges for the courts in relation to their defense in case of appeal.
AdvoCare stopped offering KickStart Spark , targeted for younger ages 4-11, after pediatricians expressed concern about products containing 60 mg of caffeine. AdvoCare is also the subject of criticism for its marketing in youth athletic events. In 2005, the company paid $ 5,000 to sponsor a high school wrestling tournament in Sacramento but after negative publicity, AdvoCare officials said they would not sponsor any more school events.
Wendy Miller of the Beaumont Heavy Control Center says that AdvoCare's Cleanse Herb may be safe for many users, but he suggests that the same results can be achieved without the product.
In March 2016, Advocare was the subject of an important exposure in ESPN The Magazine. Exposures suggest that firms and a small number of distributors at the top of the distribution network make the most of their money from signing up new distributors rather than selling products, while exaggerating the likelihood of distributors' financial success when only a few produce large sums of money; that the company creates an atmosphere of a cult not to question the company's claims or the likelihood of financial success in a new distributor, to the point where the distributor will avoid friends and family members who do so; and that the company is internally enlivened by divisions over the powerful use of religious affiliation as part of its business model, with more members of a devout organization using it to gain and hold power within the organization and more of its members.
See also
- List of food companies
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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