My brother Carl joined Monavie and became a distributor about 3 years ago. I have always been the kind of person to assume that most if not all MLM companies are scams, so when he joined the company I Googled "Monavie Scam", and politely asked him what he thought. He assured me that all MLM companies are always judged harshly because of the blunders of a few bad ones, and that someone is always accusing them of something....fair enough.

At least monthly he would find some way to plug it into a conversation about how I would benefit from becoming a distributor, and how fantastic the product tastes, and how wonderful it is for your body. I happen to be fairly fit for my age, and I take multi-vitamins, exercise regularly, and eat only organic foods....but I was willing to make an exception out of respect to my brother.

I want to make my point clearly that I know little about Monavie's business practices and am not inclined to say whether or not there is any validity to a Monavie Scam. I am focused primarily on the product itself, which by the way; contains ingredients that in all my years of organic research and being a true "foody"; I've never heard of. I'm beginning to notice that many of its competitors include the same bizarre fruits and ingredients that can only be harvested after fighting off savage mushroom gremlins deep inside a Brazilian cave that you have never heard of and will never see.

This past New Years, my darling brother came to my home with samples of Monavie "pulse" to back up his latest plug for what may very well be a good company, but provides a product I certainly can't embrace. Throughout the party, I had not had any alcohol, nor swayed from my normal everyday diet with the exception of a few mixed nuts and a single martini, which is standard on a Friday evening. Carl broke out a glass of "pulse" and began naming off the many ingredients within it, and how me of all people should appreciate the dose of anti-oxidants and other assorted miracle fruits.

I gave in, and had a small glass of what tasted like grape/prune juice, and maybe a date-like overtone, a bit sweet for my taste, but I can't say it was terribly unpleasant. I told him it was ok, a bit sweeter than I would be into, but that I certainly have had worse drinks. Within an hour, my stomach began doing things in absolute protest, as if I had literally ingested a Trojan horse full of invaders.

Needless to say, and without giving too much unpleasant detail, I spent the latter part of my New Year's celebration in the bathroom wondering why I willingly drank something I was fairly suspicious about. If there ever was a Monavie scam, I would say its that they are fooling everyone by selling them super laxatives instead of a health drink. My brother was fairly apologetic, perhaps a bit embarrassed and I didn't make a big deal about, but he later told me that I was not the only person he had given a sample to that reacted that way. To be fair to Monavie, it may just be that not everyone is compatible with what is in the drink, so I am not inclined to bash it, but I can tell you I won't be contributing to it in any way.

At a company launch in Laguna a few years ago, there was a disgruntled Monavie rep there from Palm Springs looking for a new business. He said his mother had signed up and made a little money, but only because he had signed up after her and convinced a couple of friends to do the same. According to his estimates, he and his each had over $5000 in Monavie in the garage. He said, "The Monavie Scam is all about front loading". I hadn't heard that term in quite a while, but it made sense.

Many of the nutritional beverage companies have discovered a great new meme "Drink one, share one" to make buying more product than you will ever use a bit more palateable ( pun intended, as many of these products taste like crap ).

Monavie has been outrageously successful though. They are one of the most recognized names in MLM. Years ago, someone might pitch you on a product and say "Yeah, it's an MLM like Amway", now every pitch I hear is "Yeah, it's a network marketing company, you know, like Monavie".

But in general, Monavie seems to be on a decline as the market gets more and more saturated for MLM style beverages with exotic fruits http://www.mlmrankings.com/monavie/trend.htm

Not sure if it's actually a scam, I guess that depends on your definition of the word 'scam'. Anyone can search the internet for "Monavie Scam" these days and find all the info they need to support or refute claims that it's not a viable business.

Hi Doc, thank you for responding and sharing your knowledge of Monavie and whether or not there is a Monavie Scam. I know my brother well enough to know he was subjecting his poor sister to his liquid laxative scheme :P

I must admit he is doing rather well with it in regard to sales and building a client base. I haven't been to his house in a month or so and it never occurred to me whether or not he had a huge inventory. I certainly hope he is selling this stuff legitimately and not just throwing it at people with no consideration to how the drink affects them or if they can handle it financially.

My husband was almost sold on the idea, and he had actually heard of Monavie without knowing anything about MLM companies but my brother couldn't really sway him far enough to make the investment, plus he really doesn't have the time to invest. I might have considered it if it hadn't had such a drastic affect on my body.

The more I think about a Monavie Scam, the more I am trying to be fair when I ask myself whether or not its my own personal bias against MLM companies, or if it was my experience. Mostly, I consider Carl, and while I would never describe my brother as a willing participant in bettering himself by taking from others, I would say he can be a bit of an aggressive business man when it comes to money making opportunities, and he is willing to share the "risk" with those around him.....

You mentioned Amway, and even for those of us who know little about these companies, we have all heard of them, and I haven't heard too many good things with the exception of their success financially. I personally don't feel there is a Monavie scam, at least in an illegal sense, but I do feel that in general, its a bit of a swindling environment, and that its for certain types of sales-savvy people.

Thank you for a great discussion Doc!

Hello to both of you!

I have tried MonaVie juice and would like to relate to you Avalon, I am one to deeply enjoy spicy foods, and strong fruit juices but I too, noticed a very offensive process begin inside of my tummy after having only a small cup of Monavie pulse and almost immediately a great wind had stirred inside of me and I had to go outdoors and spend some time alone as not to offend my family.

I found the taste to be too sweet for my pleasure but I am often finding many popular beverages to be too sweet for me. I was not very satisfied with the aftertaste also, as it left a strange residue in the back of my throat and I had to cough to try to clear it. I am not certain if this juice is good for the body, but my body rejected this product, and so I will honor my body, and those around me by not consuming it.

Namaste.

lalwz man, lawlz.

That's one of the greatest things you've ever posted JG.

If I understood correctly you're saying Monavie gives you mad gas right? Maybe it actually does have prunes or something like prunes as an ingredient. Actually now that you mention it, I'm going to see if I can find a full list of ingredients because I'm curious now.

Monavie has been getting more and more popular it seems and I'm really beginning to wonder if its not worth looking at from a business perspective. I also wonder where and how its bottled, anyone happen to know? Nevermind I'll research it now and include it in my post.

Monavie active blend contains this: Acai (freeze-dried powder and acai puree); fruit juice from concentrate (white grape, nashi pear, acerola, aronia, purple grape, cranberry, passion fruit, apricot, prune, kiwi, blueberry, wolfberry (Goji), pomegranate, lychee, camu camu); fruit purees (pear, banana, bilberry); d-gulcosamine hydrochloride, esterified fatty acids, natural flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate.

So lets go ahead and assume this will probably definitely give you gas, I mean that's some serious fruit potency right there. That seems like it would taste sweet and give you some gas Jeroqui. I won't lie to ya though, if I thought the ingredients were all organic, I think it would taste slammin!