Why I don't trust Lance Armstrong any more
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It all started when I saw Lance Armstrong's comments in an ad.
I use energy drinks, but I keep looking for one that goes a bit lighter on the caffeine and sugar than what I've found so far. So when I came across an ad on the web where Lance Armstrong was claiming that a product was a more natural form of energy drink I was ready to click right through for the promised free trial.
The product is FRS. I wound up on their free trial web site. If you want to check it out, click here.
I read about the product and it sounded good. A free trial would let me try it without investing a lot. I clicked on the button labeled, "Try it Free." On the free trial page, next to a testimonial from Armstrong, I found the following.
"Here is how it works:
1. Fill out the shipping information.
2. Pay only for shipping
3. Try FRS® Healthy Energy™ FREE* for 14 days. At the end of the 14 day trial, you will be enrolled in our monthly auto-ship program unless you cancel. Even if you cancel, the free trial is yours to keep and you have no further obligation."
Wait a minute. "Monthly auto-ship program?" What's involved with that?
There was no link from that magic phrase to explain things and no explanation on the page. I hunted around.
Way down at the bottom of the page, in very tiny type, next to "privacy policy" there is "terms and conditions." That's were I found out that I was being asked to authorize FRS to charge my credit card $65 per month every month unless I called a specified toll-free number to get them to stop.
But wait, there's more. You would think that the 30 day supply you get for $65 would be at least double the 14 day trial supply. Nope. It's a lot smaller than that.
Now I don't know how you'd feel about being treated that way. I feel angry. I feel like someone was trying to trick me into a monthly billing that would turn out to be almost impossible to cancel. I feel like a public figure I trusted lured me into an experience that was more like buying a used car from a known huckster than getting a free trial of an energy drink.
Since I left the site a couple of days ago, I've gotten emails from FRS. One tells me that free shipping only lasts three more days. I didn't see any free shipping in the trial offer. There you had to pay for shipping. Another email just asks me to return to the site. I'm wondering how they captured my email address.
Lance Armstrong's word was something I thought I could count on, not just for what he said, but for the people he associated with and the way they did business. But this is just shell-game trickery marketing.
Maybe Lance thinks that's OK. A bit of research reveals that he's a board member and shareholder in this company, which is intended to go public someday. The company also gives ten cents per case of FRS cans to Lance's foundation.
When you deal honestly, you don't need to hide your prices and terms. You don't need web forms to order, but only phone numbers buried in fine print to call off the billing. You may have a good product, but if your marketing is sleazy, I won't be buying any. And I won't ever trust you again.
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I don't agree, Wally.
I think it is much more involved than that. It seems that you are emoting a too-simplistic point of view here.
Given the opportunity to remedy the misunderstanding, my bet is that Lance (of course, in reality it would be a qualified representative, someone who works for FRS) would make it "all good" and apologize to you for the offense, for the inconvenience.
Think for a moment and ask yourself, "Because he is a member of the FRS board, is Lance Armstrong really responsible for their marketing campaign?" Of course you do not think that he is; no reasonable person would.
Are you going to hold Lance Armstrong at-fault for every customer service snafu or mis-picked order? That would be just silly! Don't you think?
Perhaps a timely and well-placed call into the corporate offices of FRS would shake it up a bit. But to publicly shame Lance Armstrong's name? That's going too far. And you know it.
You as a former Marine should know not to question a man's integrity, or at least be very careful in doing so...in the end Wally, it is all we have.
Of course I know that this post will be moderated and will not see the light of day on your blogsite, but at least I know that YOU will get this message.
Before you start publicly blaspheming a guy with the track record of Lance Armstrong, and doing it from the comfort of dark anonymity maybe you ought to consider...what am I really saying? Can I really question any man's integrity like that where he cannot defend himself? Is this responsible journalism...or blogorism? Is it courageous?" I think you would answer yourself, "of course I cannot and surely it is not." It is sensationalism and is as bad as the FRS seemingly disingenuous FREE offer.
Boom Daniel
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Sorry, Boom, we'll need to differ on this one. You mention "inconvenience" and "customer service snafu." That's not what this is. This is a systematic effort to sell people a product without telling they what they're committing to.
And can I hold him accountable? Yes. He's more than a member of the board here. He's an investor in this start-up and he's the endorser of the product. Not only that the company donates to his foundation. If he endorsed a product that did not deliver on a promise, I would hold him accountable for that. The buying experience is part of what he's endorsing.
Let's note three things. First, Armstrong is not just a spokesperson here. He's a member of the board and an investor who directly benefits from every sale on that site. Second, I can respect other things he's done and not trust him as a spokesperson again. Third, what you've done in the past doesn't give you a pass on your behavior today.
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Can you hold his company or this business interest accountable? Sure. Can you hold HIM personally accountable without due process? How do you know he knows? Naw, I am not buying it Wally. Guess we will disagree...but I guess differences and diversity are what make the world go 'round.
Boom out.
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I agree with Wally on this one. Lance Armstrong is endorsing this product and is using his celebritydom for marketing purposes. If one truly honors one's own integrity, then one would make sure that the product and company you endorsed is worthy of your representation. To say that "how do you know he knows?" is like saying ignorance of the law is a justifiable alibi. "I'm sorry your honor, I didn't know that killing my neighbor was against the law. Case dismissed."
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Thanks for stopping by and adding your agreement. I think that any celebrity endorser has a responsibility to make sure that both product and marketing methods match their own honor code. In this case, I think it goes double, because Armstrong is also a member of the board and a key investor.
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Hey Wally thanks for this blog. Reading your experience with the Try It Free offer saved me time. YES, seeing Lance Armstrong endorse an energy drink on my search engine's Home Page made it easy for me to click the same button, which I did. I almost never pay attention to any adds on my home page. But then I couldn't get myself to give out my information without searching out more about FRS' parent company first. The truth is my server was slow and I couldn't hear Lance's video which later turned out to be convincing as well. Plus I wanted to see if there as an MLM company behind the scenes so I began following the "money trail." I found your blog on one search and appreciate what you had to say about the whole matter.
I too see Mr. Armstrong differently now because people of caliber don't enter lightly into an exclusive agreement to represent just 1 beverage worldwide! That's huge! So "how do you know he knows?":
"After carefully reviewing the science behind the product and meeting our management team, Lance has joined our Board of Directors and chosen FRS to be the exclusive beverage he represents worldwide. FRS aligns with his lifestyle choices and what he believes in."
I found this FRS statement on the link that allows you to Become an Affiliate. Did you know as an affiliate you can get paid $18 bucks to get someone to sign up for the Try It Free offer on your website? They can do that when the stuffs expensive enough, and it is. I'm sure after meeting with their management team, Mr. Armsrtong was pretty psyched about all the cash he'd make as he blows all the other similar drink companies out of the water with his endorsement; you don't get much bigger than a Lance Armstrong. When in doubt just follow the money trail.
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Thanks for stopping back by and adding your experience to the mix. I was unaware of the affiliate program and payout.
There's a real irony in this for me. The product is great. I found it at a local GNC store. I also found that it costs less there than it does if I buy it from the FRS web site.
I don't understand why you'd take a great product and then use sleazy marketing to maximize short term profit.
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That's a little crass, to be sure. It seems like a celebrity endorsement, and especially from someone who is so keen on maintaining his integrity, like Armstron usually does, it seems REALLY crass. Especially that kind of company that automatically tries to get you on the hook for far more of their product that you were looking to get - although that company seems to want to sell in bulk to people to resell. I believe it's called direct retail (buzzwords for covering up the fact that you are hawking stuff like when school kids sell magazine subscriptions) and it isn't the worst idea, especially since energy drinks are so in vogue. (Personally, I don't often indulge in them - I stick to Nature's Original Energy Drink: good old fashioned black coffee.)
I've actually tried FRS, because a friend of mine actually fell for it and thinks it's going to pan out for him. (It won't and he's going to pay for his hubris) and I thought it tasted AWFUL, but if they are selling it at GNC, it ought to be at least ballpark legitimate. I've also found this other energy drink, that has an affiliate program just like FRS called Efusjon, and they don't taste AS bad - and they use the acai berry (because the anti-oxidant craze is selling really well)and it isn't AS horrible to the palate. Although if there is any truth to the antioxidant business, which you never know if there is - take eggs for instance and how much back and forth about whether they were good for you or not - there's more antioxidants in a good red wine than most of these miracle fruits that people come up with. (Red wine is also more fun!) But at any rate, if anyone's interested they can check out the website for the drink at https://www.efusjon.com/.
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Thanks for adding your voice to the discussion.
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Something sure doesn't seem legit with how they handle the free trials. I think it is better these days just to charge for the product and forget the free trial thing.
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Thanks for the observation. For me the overall deception of the marketing was the issue.
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The consumer is getting smarter and these free trial marketers have a lifespan. The approach is definitely losing its power.
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