Over the course of 3 weeks, I went to Usana meetings here in Northern California. For those of you that don't know what Usana is, it is a Health Sciences compnay founded by Dr Myron Wents which markets it's product through Network Marketing or MLM (Multi-level Marketing)
What I found during these 3 weeks was a very disturbing cult-like pyramid scheme. At the meetings, members are systematically worked up into a frenzy of energy. If I were to bring up any doubts at a meeting, I would be told that I don't understand, or asked whether I were "serious," or told not to be so analytical. There were a lot of phrases that were repeated by several members over and over. The audience cheered in a reverent manner whenever higher members of the organization were brought up, and especially when the names of people in the Usana company itself, including it's founder.
From the beginning, I had a strange feeling about this. I didn't really know what it was. But now I have had enough time to thouroughly understand how Usana works. It is deceptive marketing at its worst combined with a lack of corporate responsibility and cultish undertones that I've already mentioned. I will post more of my findings in the future. Please discuss in the comments.
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A blog about my experience with Usana, such as going to their meetings and researching them online and even taking their supplements. These are my opinions and conclusions.
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7 comments:
Their response to your questions and concerns is actually a fairly common thing done when someone is trying to control an audience. By responding to your questions with "Are you serious?", "You don't understand." and "You're being too analytical." they're trying to shame you into silence. Responses like this allow them to bypass your question while also making it seem as though you're too stupid to get the "amazing things" they're telling you. Classic pyramid scheme behavior - Deflect and demoralize.
Yes, there seems to be a lot of advanced psychology stuff going on at these meetings. They train their members this psychology to manipulate others, while that person may not even understand what they are doing. Just repeat, repeat, duplication. I hope more people will realize not to let these people make you feel dumb.
I commend you on your research regarding USANA.
Just a few days ago, I attended one of their meetings just to see what's up.-that is after doing a bit of research on MLM and USANA in general
The gold director, who was hosting the meeting in some hotel conference room rolled up in his Lamborghini Murcielago(I kid you not).
The audience, me included, were predominantly in their late teens and early twenties.
All of the directors and/or(w/e they're called) senior associates were majestically friendly, I could've swore they were inhaling N2O.
To begin the presentation, a silver director(drives a Lotus Elise) starts relating to us, talking about the economy, baby boomers, blah blah, gives us some personal anecdotes on being a poor college student. After a few minutes, he turns on a video dealing with the research, support and people behind the product; which I must say wasn't more convincing than my chemistry lab safety video. By the way, all the while the video was playing, the associates/shills were all cheering the video on like complete morons, e.g. "THAT'S RIGHT", "YOU KNOW IT", "YEAH!". I honestly wanted to get up and leave(darn manners!).
THEN, the Lambo owner himself comes up and basically paraphrases everything the silver director said and adds an extremely fast-paced explanation of how the uplines and downlines work. After that, he talked about how much he loved the USANA products and how they make his skin so soft.
Nearing the end, a polite amateur associate(in training perhaps) sat down near myself and the group of friends who brought me there. *I forgot to mention how they classified the guests(me);Those who A)sign up and agree to pay a certain fee. B)aren't sure and have questions. C)[Didn't get to it]*. Then he asked me which category I was in. I lied and told him "B". Afterwards he asked me if I had any questions, concerns, doubts; I just told him how skeptical I was of MLM and it's ethics.
To bring this to an end, I'm deeply saddened by how many people fall into this marketing hype(bs) and are willing to sell their souls for a money-scheme. Sure, there are those who are sincerely trying to help themselves and their friends/family, but there are those who are aware of their greed and are shamelessly willing to 'scam' people out of their hard earned money.
I believe that the truth about MLM and USANA needs to hit the mainstream...as opposed to Paris Hilton's new Chihuaha.
Cheers for doing your part!
I wish I had the time to contribute more.
Thanks for the comment, Dmitriy! You're experience is extremely similar to mine. It seems they haven't changed up the game at all in the last few months, with the exception of the lambo. Would you happen to also be from NorCal?
hello i really love ur blog cuz today my fren took me to a meeting but it was weird cause the meeting was at a house n wen i ask question they didnt give me the anser that i was looking 4 to me it was so fishy my little brother was also there he went to the meeting but as 4 me i just left there was alot of youngerster especially teenager idk if my brother sign any papaer are not n if he did how can he get out of it? thankx now i understang the fake scam of usana
Not quiet.
I'm in the SoCal area.
But I guess their "directors" recruit state-wide.
I'm so glad I found your blog! I went to a USANA presentation yesterday (23 Jan 2014) and definitely felt like something was really off! Whenever I had questions, the person who brought me along acted like I was crazy for not wanting to leap into the whole idea. There was way too little scientific explanation for a company who claims they are primarily in the cell research business! I got out of that room as soon as I could!
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