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Mannatch’s Ambrotose — or, what Wired last year identified as, ya know, “sugar pills“
This morning brought a chipper press release from Mannatech, the Coppell-based nutritional supplement company besieged by bad press. At its annual convention last weekend in Dallas, higher-ups unveiled a new line: an “all natural product that supports recovery after physical activity or over-exertion.” The new stuff is called BounceBack.
Sounds like just what the company needs after two years of negative publicity and lawsuits, one of which was recently settled for $11 million. But, see BounceBack seems kinda … premature. Because that suit was hardly the last of Mannatech’s problems.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is suing the company for making exaggerated claims about its natural supplements — you know, that they can clear up little issues like liver cancer, cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome. You can read all about it here — including the state’s original petition, filed in Travis County District Court in July 2007.
This all highlights the challenges multi-level marketing companies face in controlling their associates, who are independent contractors who often work from home (the company has more than 5,000 salespeople). Take this recent story, about a Washington state Mannatech associate who had a wee problem with the Internal Revenue Servicex.
BounceBack? Sure, yeah. We’re sold. –Megan Feldman
