Melaleuca: Miracle or Marketing Ploy?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

After reading the majority of these posts, I’ve come to the conclusion that many of you were completely misinformed about Melaleuca. It’s threads like this that ruin it for the rest of us. I for one have been a customer for several years now. The products are fantastic and very inexpensive compared to store brands! Not to mention they have no chlorine bleach, ammonia, formaldahyde (YES, EMBALMING FLUID is found in your cleaning products, detergent, skin care, make-up, etc.), and other caustic chemicals. I can clean my tub without having all the windows open or going into a coughing fit. Unfortunately, some people are enrolled by others that don’t fully explain everything to them or they sign up WITHOUT seeing a presentation.

Regarding JuliaSqueezer’s comment:
“In addition to filling the orders you submit, they send you a monthly box of assorted products “just for you to try, so you’re familiar with everything we sell”. The box costs money (I forget the exact amount) plus shipping and arrives, whether you want it or not, with an invoice that must be paid immediately. I wasn’t interested in most of the contents of the boxes - some stuff was really quite obscure - and gave most of it away. Goodbye profits!”

Someone explained this to you wrong. I, in my years @ Mela, have NEVER received a back-up order. As long as you shop during the month, that back-up order won’t come. However, IF YOU DON"T CANCEL/SUSPEND YOUR MEMBERSHIP IT WILL COME @ THE END OF THE MONTH. Please message me if you would like more info.

Melaleuca has helped me over the years earn extra income, make my home safer, and bring me closer to my friends and family. Please watch what you say before you bash a company without fully understanding it. Melaleuca has fantastic ethics and values and even won the prestigious Better Business Bureau Blue Torch award (which is only awarded to a company with extremely high ETHICS). Melaleuca has been around since 1985 and they have been “green” long before it was “cool to be green.” They have been growing each year and have reached over $1 BILLION in sales.

Also, for those of you who don’t know what they’re talking about…Melaleuca is NOT AN MLM. Stop telling people that! For those of you who want to do the business side of it, we have an amazing compensation plan! Not to mention great team members who WANT TO SEE YOU SUCCEED.

Please DO NOT compare Melaleuca to Amway. We are not like them. We are not like Shacklee…Quixstar…or any of those other high cost, high volume MLMs.

Thank you and I will step off my soap box now. (If any of you are interested in seeing a webcast and learning what Melaleuca really is and what they stand for, please message me!)

And they’re vitamins are frickin’ amazing.

22

their*

I was typing too quickly. :wink:
And people do need vitamins…who wants to talk about mineral soil depletion? Anyone? Buehller?

23

Was it a secret award? I can’t find anything about a “Blue Torch Award”, but in the year Melaleuca claims to have won this award*(2008), the BBB doesn’t seem to have them listed as being awarded anything at all, let alone a “Blue Torch Award”.

24

Could you please tell us which Melaleuca company you are associated with?

25

Dear ryt_choyce13 are you aware that formaldahyde (YES, EMBALMING FLUID is found in your body - in fact your body makes it naturally. Also watch out for fruits and vegetables). The real formaldahyde danger comes from the air

or

(sorry pdf) http://www.epa.gov/teach/chem_summ/Formaldehyde_summary.pdf

26

If this is accurate, then according to wikipedia:

It also seems to be either an anti-androgen or estrogen mimetic.

27

I don’t recall Melaleuca referring to the monthly box 'o crap as a “back-up order” but hey…It was many years ago. I do know I received the boxes containing random products, and getting them to stop was a major hassle, requiring threats of legal action and reporting to the Utah Consumer Affairs Division.

They must have changed drastically, if you are stating that Melaleuca is not a multi-level marketing scheme. My experience was identical to that of friends and family entangled with Amway, Mary Kay, Arbonne, Nerium, Tastefully Simple, Party-Lite Candles, ad nauseum.

The big push was to get others signed up as your downline, and you made money on the products they sold. And for friend and family involved with the MLMs I listed, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM were coached to follow a script that says “we’re different. We’re not like those other MLMs because of (fill in the blank).”

So if it works for you, and it obviously has, I say congratulations.

Melaleuca obviously overhauled its business model completely from when I was involved with them. That would be a very good thing, indeed.

28

As to Melaleuca’s “extremely high ETHICS”, others would beg to differ.

“…back in 2004, Forbes, echoing complaints to government agencies, described the company as “a pyramid selling organization, built along the lines of Herbalife and Amway.” VanderSloot (its billionaire CEO) has long used his wealth to advance numerous right-wing political causes…Melaleuca’s get-rich pitches have in the past caused Michigan regulators to take action, resulting in the company’s entering into a voluntary agreement to “not engage in the marketing and promotion of an illegal pyramid”‘; it entered into a separate voluntary agreement with the Idaho attorney general’s office, which found that “certain independent marketing executives of Melaleuca” had violated Idaho law; and the Food and Drug Administration previously accused Melaleuca of deceiving consumers about some of its supplements.”

As for EMBALMING FLUID OMG, here’s a brief lesson in human biochemistry.

"What many people may not know is that our own bodies produce and use formaldehyde as a part of our normal metabolism…When we are exposed to methanol (e.g., via inhalation or ingestion of foods like citric fruits and juices, vegetables or fermented beverages), our bodies break it down into formaldehyde and other byproducts. Our bodies produce formaldehyde as a result of DNA demethylation (an important process for controlling gene expression, e.g., in developing embryos) and other biological processes. It is such a regular part of human metabolism, that our normal, naturally produced blood concentrations are generally about 2-3μg of formaldehyde per gram of blood (or about 2.12-3.18μg/mL). And it is actually a pretty important chemical; our bodies use formaldehyde to form DNA and amino acids."*

“Ruin it” in the sense of cutting into your side income, or ruining the placebo effect which leads you to think it’s a wonder product?

29

Yeah, simply promoting something as a ‘miracle’ is a warning sign right there. It’s an explicit call to stop thinking critically and accept the claims emotionally. Once you’re locked in emotionally, it becomes that much more difficult to back off and view things dispassionately. Which is a problem if things change for the worse.

30

This is an interesting thread so I looked up the company and see that they have a pretty good record with the BBB here http://www.bbb.org/boise/business-reviews/business-opportunity-companies/melaleuca-inc-in-idaho-falls-id-1000001768/customer-reviews/.

If your friend is trying to convince you to buy vitamins why not ask her to give you a free trial? If a legitimate company makes crazy claims then I would think there would be a money back guarantee or a trial run of some sort why not ask about that? Of course there is also the question as to whether or not you even feel you need vitamins. If the free trial actually makes a difference in how you feel then maybe it is worth the money.

I do tend to disagree with some other posters that in modern days we get all the vitamins & minerals we need. I suppose you could if you were to eat healthy every day, but how often does that happen? With our busy schedules we tend to eat way too much fast food or restaurants which are specifically made to tickle your taste buds not keep you healthy so I wouldn’t bet my life on that. If you eat 3 good solid healthy meals a day every day then certainly don’t supplement anything but if not maybe vitamins aren’t a bad idea IF they are actually absorbed as Melaleuca claims they are? Check into their science behind it and if there are patents of any sort, if its legit they would more than likely have a patent.

31

You don’t have to prove something works to patent it. And often formulas are not patented to avoid revealing ingredients, proportions and/or manufacturing methods.

The fact is a cheap, generic multivitamin/mineral supplement works just fine.

32

I happen to like the scent of tea tree oil and have used products containing it quite happily. My only experience with Melaleuca was back in the 90s when it most definitely was an MLM. As to your rant ryt choice13, why would I spend that much money on all natural cleaners when I can use vinegar and baking soda that are inexpensive and work just as well, if not better, than most commercial household cleaners?
As to vitamins, they are completely unneccessary if you eat a well balanced diet. For people who medically require them as listed above, or if you don’t eat as well as you should, that is a cat of a different colour.

So short answer ( I know, too late); Melaleuca is a complete marketing ploy.

33

Well, the BBB also gives Amway an A+, so I’m not sure that’s a big badge of honor.

Actually, Qadgop said (13 years ago) that “Eat wrong in the US of A, and you still generally get about all you need, given that our food is fortified with lots of stuff”. He’s a doctor, not a snake oil salesman, so there’s that…

34

At the risk of replying to a semi-zombie thread I want to correct a few misconceptions here.

Actually, any new supplement must prove it is not harmful. There are no other FDA tests for approval.

From the FDA

Recently there were 3 articles posted in the Annals of Internal Medicine showing no significant benefit from vitamins in otherwise healthy people. There was a tiny benefit of long-term multiple vitamin use (> 10 years) in preventing cancer in men but no effect on preventing cardiovascular disease or cognitive problems or any effect in women.
Summary here.

Studies of vitamin use on specific diseases have generally not shown a benefit. Vitamin A and carotenoids were studied to see if they prevented lung cancer and were found to have either no effect or a slight increase in cancer. Vitamin E was thought to prevent cardiac disease but was shown to be not only not helpful but slightly increased the risk for heart failure.

Certainly, in rare cases people can be deficient in one or more vitamins but with the amount of supplementation found in the usual diet, this is unlikely. It generally does not hurt to take a multiple vitamin/mineral supplement daily.

However, as noted above, fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) can build up in the body to toxic levels. Vitamin A, in particular can cause liver failure. The water soluble vitamins are excreted in the urine and are fairly harmless as long as your kidneys function well. As long as you are not taking mega doses of fat-soluble vitamins you are probably OK, and are basically just paying for expensive urine.

Finally, with regards to the claim that some vitamins do not dissolve in the body, I am happy to tell you that this is one test that manufacturers can have verified. I have noticed that many supplements have touted their USP verification. THe USP basically makes sure that supplements contain the ingredients they say that they do and adhere to basic quality control measures. This does not mean that there is any testing to show that they have any beneficial function.

From the USP:

So, if you are worried about your vitamins dissolving in stomach acid, just look for the USP mark.

tl:dr Vitamins may be mildly beneficial at standard doses but could also increase the risk of disease, paricularly large doses of fat-soluble vitamins. If you want to take a supplement, look for the USP mark to assure that it dissolves adequately and contains the ingredients it says but be aware that regulation of vitamins is basically on a manufacturer-submitted and/or voluntary basis and no agency tests for effectiveness.

35

I REALLY have to start looking at posting dates.<sigh>