IBOAI Blog

Rumor About Greg Duncan and All In Energy Drink

A recent article on the Internet connected Greg Duncan, a successful IBO powered by Quixtar, with All In Energy Drink. It resulted in a rumor that Mr. Duncan was in violation of Rule 6.5 of the Quixtar Rules of Conduct. While it’s true Mr. Duncan is a principal of XS Energy Drink, and is associated with All In Energy Drink, the rumor is false.

The fact is, XS Energy Drinks are marketed to Quixtar for sale exclusively by IBOs and All In Energy Drink is marketed to an entirely different market not in competition with Quixtar or IBOs. The manufacture and sale of All In Energy Drink does not violate either the letter or the spirit of the Rules of Conduct.

Says Mr. Duncan, “The most important question is how this activity affects Quixtar IBOs and their marketing of XS Energy Drinks. The principals of XS Energy Drinks do not want to ever be accused of playing semantics or being misleading. They want to be clear and forthright about their priorities, their focus, and their involvement in the beverage world.

“The principals of XS Energy Drinks are more committed to the immediate and long-term opportunities for XS and IBOs than ever before. They are investing more of their resources to that end than at any other time in the six-year partnership of XS and Quixtar.

“As many IBOs know, the principals of Alticor manufacture for and invest in brands and other entrepreneurial ventures beyond their direct roles with Quixtar/Amway products. Like the principals of Alticor the principals of XS Energy Drinks pursue similar ventures for the purposes of reducing costs and enhancing the effectiveness of products for IBOs and to empower opportunities for IBOs. The positive proof of the effectiveness of such an approach has clearly shown through with not a single penny of increase in XS pricing in nearly six years. Additionally, the XS team has been unparalleled in their generosity to IBOs and IBO events with support staff, product sampling, literature, gear and gifts at absolutely no cost to the IBOs. Such commitment to the product and IBOs will continue to be our utmost priority.”

Rumors Re Amway Australia

[Thanks to Utah for initially calling these rumors to our attention -- rumors that are quickly being spread by those with ill intent towards our business.  We obtained our answers from a very senior Amway official in Australia.]

RUMOR:  That there are new loyalty agreements for Australian Diamonds that neither they or their children can be in an other MLM.

ANSWER: The rumor has no substance. Australian IBOs can be in Amway and as many other MLM businesses as they like. What they can't do is use their Amway business as a list for building any of the other businesses. IBOs who are in other businesses also will receive all bonuses and benefits under the Amway Sales and Marketing Plan but they won't be invited to invitational events where Amway shares its strategic plans with its leaders. We obviously would not share our plans with the representative of a competitor company.

RUMOR: That any diamond or platinum in Australia who is not part of an newly approved BSM system, or independently approved, will not get Q-12, etc. bonuses

ANSWER: There is no such proposal for Australia.

RUMOR: That the new Business Centers that are being installed in Australia will be installed soon in the US.

ANSWER FOR AUSTRALIA:  New Business Centers which have opened in Auckland and Sydney and which will soon open in Brisbane and Perth incorporate IBO training and meeting facilities, coffee shops and a product showcase.  The centers have been a highly successful sponsoring tool for IBOs and have proven an outstanding venue for IBO meetings.  The centers are also a focus in many Asian affiliates.

ANSWER FOR THE U.S.:  IBOAI has requested a response and will amend this post as soon as it is received.

Rumor About Olympic Advertising Program Stopping

There is a rumor that the advertising for all our Olympic athletes – Team Nutrilite – is stopping because the athletes don't want to be associated with the name Amway. Not true. Actually, because of Olympic guidelines, there will be a temporary “blackout” of advertising and marketing materials for all athletes competing in the Olympic Games who represent companies or products not officially sponsoring the Olympics. It isn’t just Team Nutrilite and it has nothing to do with the Amway name. The Team Nutrilite advertising and promotion program will resume as soon as the 2008 Olympic Games finish.

Quixtar/ Amway Global provides this explanation:

Advertising Blackout for Olympic Athlete Endorsers
In support of our global Nutrilite business, endorsement agreements have been arranged with several athletes who will be participating in the Olympic Games in Beijing. Due to guidelines established by the governing body of the Olympic Games, advertising and marketing materials featuring these athletes cannot be distributed or broadcast while the games are in progress August 8-24. Doing so could potentially result in the disqualification of these Team Nutrilite athletes from competition.

We do not wish to hinder the success of Team Nutrilite, so we will honor this Olympic blackout period and seek the cooperation of our Independent Business Owners to do the same. In fact, to ensure we are honoring this requirement, our blackout period will begin July 28 and continue through the end of the Olympic Games.  This requirement is the only reason for the short-term discontinuation of any programs featuring these athletes.

Also see our article on the IBOAI website, "Team Nutrilite Advertising and Marketing Materials to Temporarily Undergo Olympic Blackout."

April Fool's Joke About Jim Dornan

There's an April Fool's Joke -- that isn't, at first, obviously a joke -- at another website saying that IBOAI Board member Jim Dornan is now selling Mona Vie.  Since we know some folks won't read far enough on that website to find out it's a joke, we wanted to be absolutely clear that the statement isn't true.

Rumors About the Morrison vs. Amway Corp. Decision

Rumors about the February 6, 2007 decision on the Morrison case have been addressed under Legal Matters.

Rumor Re Confidential Competitive Analysis

There's a rumor out there that in April of 2000, the IBOAI conducted a “Confidential Competitive Analysis” of Quixtar products.   FALSE.

There is no record of any such analysis in minutes of Board and Committee meetings.  There were, at a couple of different points in time, INFORMAL comparisons of Quixtar products with other commercial products made by a handful of IBO leaders and members of their downline.  One such comparison helped Board representatives, on behalf of all IBOS, negotiate favorable pricing for energy bars with Quixtar.

Rumor re IBOCS

Utah asked, "Since the IBOCS parent company went chapter 11, is Q/A is going to dump them just like Amvox? I like IBOCS. What is going on?"

Moderator: Thanks for your question. We're glad to hear that you like IBOCS. You are correct that the parent company, InPhonic, is in the midst of a restructuring. But, those developments are unrelated to their work with IBOCS. Quixtar and InPhonic have enjoyed a great business relationship over the years and we expect that to continue. Similarly, Quixtar has had discussions with the executive team at InPhonic and they've assured Quixtar that IBOCS is an important part of their product plans going forward.

Overall, Quixtar expects that InPhonic will emerge from its reorganization a stronger company. From Quixtar's perspective, it's business-as-usual with respect to InPhonic and IBOCS.

We have asked Quixtar to monitor the situation and keep us informed.

False Rumor About Larry Winters

Online rumors that Double Diamond Larry Winters is discontinuing his Quixtar business are completely false.  It's the kind of outlandish thing bloggers write when they have nothing substantive to say.

Rumor Control

There are some pretty strange urban legends about various aspects of our business -- we call them "IBO Fairy Tales" -- that originate from misunderstanding or even (gasp) deliberately disseminated misinformation.

We all can do a lot of harm by being part of that daisy chain, but if you hear something that causes you concern, who ya gonna call?  Well, the mythbusters here at IBOAI, of course.  Don't pass that seemingly credible piece of information on to others first -- post it here and let us confirm or debunk it for you, using verifiable sources.

Because we're going to be scrupulous in our fact-checking about rumors, posting your query with our response may take a bit longer than usual -- please bear with us.

Finally, if there's a rumor you prefer to check out without posting it on this blog, write to pr@iboai.com, attn: Rumor Control.  We'll get back to you privately.