New pDGA "benefit"

[veganray]

http://www.pdga.com/new-benefit-for-members

Sweet! 15% off from a multi-level marketing peddler of PED-tainted "supplements" (allegedly, of course).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdvoCare

Wonder who is this mysterious distributor #1101992 ("Ricardo Sanchez" from Royse City, TX, according to Advocare) who will be reaping the MLM benefits of the pDGA's largesse?

[Frank Delicious]

AdvoCare's product "KickStart Spark" formula was targeted to youth age 4-11 containing 60 mg of Caffeine and came under scrutiny from pediatricians for the high dosage of this stimulant. AdvoCare no longer offers this product

Just gonna give my 4 year old 60 mg of caffeine because I AM A HORRIBLE PARENT.

[Frank Delicious]

Also Avery is totally making money off this.

[veganray]

The Advocare MLM deal is that its "distributors" can get product from 20-40% off. So the "distributor" reselling it to pDGA sheep at 15% off can pocket 5-25% without doing shit.
http://www.advocare.com/opportunity/waystoearn.aspx

I wonder where this "Ricardo Sanchez" character fits into the puzzle, or if the data that advocare.com associates with that distributor ID is some sort of red herring?

[nohr]

The only saving grace I can see is the idiots that use this stuff already have "dealers".

[veganray]

Also Avery is totally making money off this.

[jubuttib]

I've heard of companies like these selling pills that supposedly help with flexibility and general fitness, but fun and freedom? Those are usually totally different kinds of pills.

[himynameismatt]

Just when I thought my respect for Avery couldn't get lower...All he does on Facebook is link to his eBay auctions...I find out he's an Advocare rep, bummer. Advocare=Amway=Total Schemers.

[JHern]

Musclehead dietary supplements are nothing new. This is a huge market for fitness freaks. There is nothing wrong with that. It is a big deal among professional athletes, every one of them are into something like it. And there is nothing wrong with Advocare or other direct-selling organizations, I think it is probably better than handing your money over to a corporate chain store (where the profits are shipped overseas to tax havens, and dumped into bloated executive salaries), which all of us are forced to do from time to time (even when we specifically try to avoid it).

On the other hand, it doesn't necessarily look good for a PDGA board member to use their position to market products to members, when they are the ones who will profit. I'm very sympathetic to the need for touring pros to make money by whatever means necessary. But when this overlaps with being a board member, there can be conflicts of interest.

Personally, I think PDGA shouldn't help anyone to market their products unless PDGA is getting a piece, a marketing/advertising fee of some sort. Avery might very well have set up an agreement like that for this Advocare promotion, in which case I think we have no room to complain or raise objections.

Anyways, Avery is a genuinely good person, and I don't think anyone should rush to judgment.

...All he does on Facebook is link to his eBay auctions...

Seriously?! Did Avery ask to be your FB friend? If not, then you have nobody to complain to, but yourself.

[Frank Delicious]

It looks really bad marketing a MLM scheme product to people.

[veganray]

At the very best, this whole scheme doesn't pass the sniff test, reeking of the appearance of impropriety. Whether the appearance is real or illusory really hinges on whether Mr. Jenkins is benefitting financially (be it directly or indirectly) from this arrangement that that was cooked up - to quote the press release - "with the help of Avery Jenkins". The key to that critical piece of info is the enigmatic Advocare distributor #1101992, Mr. Sanchez. Who is he & what is his role in this deal? As of about 4:30 today, I had asked the pDGA (per the Memberships Manager online email form), Mr. Jenkins (per a query on his FB page), and Mr. Sanchez himself (per advocare.com's "Contact a Distributor" email form), but had yet to receive a reply from any of the three.

[jubuttib]

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, season 8, episode 5. Titled: Easy Money.

[JHern]

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, season 8, episode 5. Titled: Easy Money.

I just watched it on youtube, while converting starch to sugar for my Belgian Wit...

[veganray]

Raymond,

I want to first apologize for the typo in the article, which has now been
corrected on our website, the ID number should read 11019992. The AdvoCare
representative is Mike Kalous PDGA #17680. He can be reached directly at
970-456-8591, this is his personal cell phone number.

Perhaps I should have written the article differently. I mentioned Avery
Jenkins, because he put me in contact with Mike for this discount and I
wanted to make sure he was thanked for the introduction and that is all.
This is merely a discount I want to offer to our members. I am the new
membership manager for the PDGA and in doing research of other sports
organizations they offer discounts to various companies/stores/restaurants
as a benefit to being a member of their organization.

I am trying to find ways for our members to get as many benefits possible
for their membership fees. This is merely a discount (like offering someone
a coupon for a store). If you have any suggestions for member benefits or
know of any companies/stores/restaurants that might be interested in
offering a discount to our members, please let me know.

I hope I have answered your questions. Please let me know if you need
anything further. I also encourage you to contact Mike directly. Thank you.



Wishing you a bogey free day,

Sara Nicholson
PDGA Memberships Manager
Professional Disc Golf Association

Same issue, different enigmatic bogeyman…

[Kscustom]

Did you guys fill out the Pdga member survey last fall? Are you all current members? If no shut up, if yes you can keep reading. Bbasically it comes down to the blowback from the survey, everyone was ask questions about the membership fees the benifets and sponcership of the pdga. Well this is not a achoul of tabaco company. Which is the questions I wondered about people's answers. So freaking what if it is a prymid scheme amway thing. I have a cousin making six figures off of these. No way I would ever do it, and don't really want listen to her either but the. Fact is they do work. I don't see how any of this effects you unless you want it to, there may be people in the Pdga who would love this opp. So instated of jumping to conclusions and emailing everyone but god maybe try asking god! I think it's awesome that the Pdga is out trying to get us better benifets and more sponcership.


Kent Lockhart. 45750 ace club member