This one is a gray area. It’s not like they’re selling holographic patches, placebos, snake oil, or dried stoats. They actually are selling something with bona fide medicinal value. Vitamins ARE good for you, and if your problems are caused by a vitamin deficiency, they WILL make you feel better.
The challenge comes in two forms:
First, they are claiming that OURS ARE BETTER. To be fair, this is standard marketing hyperbole. No product is going to claim they’re in third place. This isn’t to say they don’t work. They DO provide a potential, valid health benefit. The problem here is that they are making some fairly broad claims about what their products do, without providing back-up info. They are not cure-alls, they are not going to make your life better, they do not ‘dissolve faster/better’ than other brands. They. Are. Vitamins. Throw in the Placebo effect, and it’s no wonder people are willing to dance about shouting ‘They work!’.
Second, there is the aspect that it is a Multi Level Marketing setup. MLMs often sell fairly good products - Cutco’s knives are pretty decent, and Amway’s cleaning products do the job well. This is primarily so there is a source of income for the top-tier folks without resorting to JUST the entry fees from those below, which would make them even more of a Pyramid Scheme than they are now. Basically a thin veneer of legitimacy to give the impression that they aren’t just trying to sucker in newcomers. This is what makes MLM different from flat-out Pyramid Schemes.
So with those two factors in mind, is it any wonder we have a healthy amount of doubt when it comes to products like this? I wonder just what ‘level’ or ‘tier’, or whatever the folks who tout these pills have bought into, and are now trying to recoup their losses…
Show us that they really are better, with properly-conducted, unbiased, third-party clinical trials. Show us that you aren’t just tryng to sell these in order to make money through your MLM scheme. Until then, I’m sticking with my store brand one-a-days.
