Tomas Scheckter announcement today

[Chamoo]

Later today, Tomas Scheckter will be making an announcement that he claims will be big news. One can only assume it will be about a ride at Texas, or perhaps a partial or full schedule with either Dreyer and Reinbold or DCR. Tomas posted this information on Twitter, claiming he can't wait for Texas, and that big news would be coming from this announcement today.

Hopefully he can put something together with Monavie for the rest of the season in the DCR car. He could be a good partner for JDub to run oval setups off of.

[trinksuk]

my money is on a 3rd car at Dreyer and perhaps sitting in for Milka on a few of the road courses too.
He had a good run at both Indy and Milwaukee - a definite turn around from last seasons outings with Luczo Dragon, perhaps he now realizes that you need to get out of the pits with your drive-shafts in tact to finish the races!

[NickFalzone]

From his twitter page, sounds like Tomas may be moving from car racing to Monavie salesperson.

http://www.twitter.com/tomasscheckter

[MDS]

Seriously, I never liked Tomas a great deal, and now that he's partnering with a scam and exploiting race fans for his own gain really leaves a bad taste in my mouth, much like his $50 a bottle fruit juice does.

The whole "Join my distribution team" thing... for those of you who don't know how these things work let me explain. Multi-level-marketing, or "Peer-level-marketing" as its sometimes called, is largely a ponzi scheme. I do know two wmen who have yearly incomes of around $500,000 through Mary Kay, but the way you get rich, and the way Tomas is trying, is by recruiting people rather than selling the product. Why do you get rich off of recruiting other people? Because every time they re-load their inventory, or recruit new people who pay hefty start up costs, you get a cut.

I did some research on Moniava because I had a situation with an employee, and I really don't care for how they do business. They issue you a credit card so that you can get paid for the people down stream from you, but they also use it to automatically reload your inventory. Most people in the Moniava distribution lines end up drinking most of their product themselves, as Tomas is clearly doing in his twitter posting. It really is a legal ponzi scheme.

Mark my words, at some point in the future once this whole thing has hit the fan, 20/20 or Dateline will do an special on "Moniava, the helaing fruit drink," you'll hear, "At the height of their operation they even had the funds to sponsor a race car," and a shot of the car will come by the screen as they talk about how the founders have left the country and people have poured thousands of dollars into the concept only to lose everything they own.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

As with any multi-level marketing setup, the only way you make money is to recruit other people and then to teach them to recruit people. The more people you have in your "downline" the more money you will make. There isn't really anything unethical about this unless you hide the fact that this is THE way to earn an income from the particular company.

Amway and Primerica Financial has worked this way for years with people doing very well for themselves if they can stomach bugging everyone around them to become a distributor. It takes a special obnoxious driven type of person to do well in these setups. As MDS said, most people that go into these businesses end up using the products themselves and thus become customers as well as "downline distributors" that make substantial investments in inventory.

With Monavie, the only dubious nature of the business, from what I have researched, are the health claims of the product and its outrageous pricing. At this point I have not come across any instances of anyone losing more than actual time and effort spent to get a distributorship going. Most get frustrated and end up getting out. Some, in rare instances, do well.

[beachbum]

Such direct marketing schemes have been around almost forever. I once sat through an Amway "presentation" and completely baffled the distributor who was making the presentation when I indicated I wasn't interested in getting rich quick. The "scam" was obvious as the numbers being thrown around made voodoo economics look real. He was claiming a salesperson could be drive a Rolls after a year or so, and made wild claims about how successful he was and how much he made. He was a bit shocked when I knew the cost of a Rolls (and indicated I didn't want one) and asked just how much you would have to sell to earn that much. Then I asked why he was driving an old POS (carefully parked around the block), was wearing a very worn off the shelf suit that didn't fit, and had shoes a street person might walk past. He got very indignant and quickly changed the subject. I walked out laughing but he did suck in a few victims who were cheering and nodding their heads in agreement with every word.

Here is another look at MonaVie

http://www.moneybluebook.com/the-monavie-acai-berry-super-fruit-juice-mona-vie-scam/

[NickFalzone]

I don't hold it against Tomas, he's doing what he has to do to get in a car this season.

[Chamoo]

I don't hold it against Tomas, he's doing what he has to do to get in a car this season.

Agreed, and I've actually taken a liking to Tomas because of this. He is doing everything he can to get into a car which speaks volumes of his determination.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Now if he can find a way to use their money without having to use any of his own, THAT would be a "WAY TO GO!!" moment.

On a side note, I remember an Amway sponsored car(s) running in the 500 back in the day. Not sure for what team and driver though.

Looks like it was Scott Brayton with Dick Simon Racing from 89 to 93 (edit)

[Chamoo]

Now if he can find a way to use their money without having to use any of his own, THAT would be a "WAY TO GO!!" moment.

On a side note, I remember an Amway sponsored car(s) running in the 500 back in the day. Not sure for what team and driver though.

Looks like it was Scott Brayton with Dick Simon Racing from 89 to 93 (edit)

Good find.

[MDS]

I don't hold it against Tomas, he's doing what he has to do to get in a car this season.

We all have our own set of ethics. Some people are okay with selling snake oil, others aren't.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

........ and so does anyone have a link to the announcement ? has it happened yet ?

[Dr. Krogshöj]

We all have our own set of ethics. Some people are okay with selling snake oil, others aren't.

Are you okay with Penske fielding two flying Marlboro packs? I guess MonaVie is more harmful than tobacco?

Both are legal products.

[beachbum]

........ and so does anyone have a link to the announcement ? has it happened yet ?
Tomas is on the revised entry list in the 43 car for DRR

[MDS]

Are you okay with Penske fielding two flying Marlboro packs? I guess MonaVie is more harmful than tobacco?

Both are legal products.

The difference, and I think this is key, cigarettes don't claim to be good for your health. Also, I don't see Helio Castroneves using race fans to form a "Distribution chain," nor do I see Ryan Brisco twittering about how relaxing it is to suck on a Malboro after a race.

Anyway, glad to see another car on the gird, but I won't be pulling for him.

[Alexamateo]

..... nor do I see Ryan Brisco twittering about how relaxing it is to suck on a Malboro after a race.



http://www.vintageadsandstuff.com/viewviceroy21.jpeg

Too bad it's not 1972! :D :eek: ;)

[NickFalzone]

Is it just me, or does Scheckter look like he's wearing Danica's previous Motorola driver's suit? The black and blue colors, design, etc. seem very similar to each other. The 43 car does look different though. Not the prettiest car, but the Monavie is easy to read.

http://monavieonthemove.com/ has a pic of scheckter in uniform (I'm seriously not trying to promote this product, it was the quickest link I found).

[Dr. Krogshöj]

The difference, and I think this is key, cigarettes don't claim to be good for your health. Also, I don't see Helio Castroneves using race fans to form a "Distribution chain," nor do I see Ryan Brisco twittering about how relaxing it is to suck on a Malboro after a race.

Anyway, glad to see another car on the gird, but I won't be pulling for him.

Points taken.

[cobre]

I'm hoping for sponsorship from citibank , AIG , or one of the big 3. that way i know my stolen tax dollars actually did some good.

[FormerFF]

As with any multi-level marketing setup, the only way you make money is to recruit other people and then to teach them to recruit people. The more people you have in your "downline" the more money you will make. There isn't really anything unethical about this unless you hide the fact that this is THE way to earn an income from the particular company.

Amway and Primerica Financial has worked this way for years with people doing very well for themselves if they can stomach bugging everyone around them to become a distributor. It takes a special obnoxious driven type of person to do well in these setups. As MDS said, most people that go into these businesses end up using the products themselves and thus become customers as well as "downline distributors" that make substantial investments in inventory.

With Monavie, the only dubious nature of the business, from what I have researched, are the health claims of the product and its outrageous pricing. At this point I have not come across any instances of anyone losing more than actual time and effort spent to get a distributorship going. Most get frustrated and end up getting out. Some, in rare instances, do well.

There are basically two types of MLMs: product based (Pampered Chef) and recruitment based (Amway) In a product based MLM, the emphasis is, not surprisingly, in moving the product. In a recruitment based MLM, the representatives primarily focus on signing up new members. It sounds like MonaVie has firmly placed itself in the recruitment based model.

I have some experience with Amway in that a family member was sucked into that scam. She worked at it so long, and lost money for so long that the IRS finally started disallowing her losses as deductions. If you look at the failure rate in Amway over a period of time, it's over 99%. In order to make enough money to actually live on, you would need thousands of people in your downline, and only a tiny fraction of one percent ever accomplish that, and then are rarely able to maintain their income.

Amway has another dirty secret: practically no one makes money from the Amway product other than the Amway corporation. Most of the money made by the upper level distributors is not from the product, but rather from what is known in Amway circles as the "tools" business, that is, motivational tapes, books, and seminars that Amway members are strongly recommended to buy and attend. There's a very interesting E-book written by a former Amway distributor that is worth reading: http://www.merchantsofdeception.com/DOWNLOADBOOK.html .

As for Tomas, I know he wants to race, but I'm really sorry he jumped in bed with these guys, and while I wish him no harm, I'd just as soon his car never make it to the grid.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

There are basically two types of MLMs: product based (Pampered Chef) and recruitment based (Amway) In a product based MLM, the emphasis is, not surprisingly, in moving the product. In a recruitment based MLM, the representatives primarily focus on signing up new members. It sounds like MonaVie has firmly placed itself in the recruitment based model.

I have some experience with Amway in that a family member was sucked into that scam. She worked at it so long, and lost money for so long that the IRS finally started disallowing her losses as deductions. If you look at the failure rate in Amway over a period of time, it's over 99%. In order to make enough money to actually live on, you would need thousands of people in your downline, and only a tiny fraction of one percent ever accomplish that, and then are rarely able to maintain their income.

Amway has another dirty secret: practically no one makes money from the Amway product other than the Amway corporation. Most of the money made by the upper level distributors is not from the product, but rather from what is known in Amway circles as the "tools" business, that is, motivational tapes, books, and seminars that Amway members are strongly recommended to buy and attend. There's a very interesting E-book written by a former Amway distributor that is worth reading: http://www.merchantsofdeception.com/DOWNLOADBOOK.html .

As for Tomas, I know he wants to race, but I'm really sorry he jumped in bed with these guys, and while I wish him no harm, I'd just as soon his car never make it to the grid.

Thanks for that insight. I think at some point drivers and teams and the IRL need to really look into the true nature of any sponsor and it is up to them to reject or accept. I remember a few years back in Champ Car there was talk of a car sponsored by Hustler Magazine and Larry Flynt. I think it was Gentilozzi's team... not sure. But that never made it to the grid as far as I know and thank goodness it didn't.

[Chamoo]

Thanks for that insight. I think at some point drivers and teams and the IRL need to really look into the true nature of any sponsor and it is up to them to reject or accept. I remember a few years back in Champ Car there was talk of a car sponsored by Hustler Magazine and Larry Flynt. I think it was Gentilozzi's team... not sure. But that never made it to the grid as far as I know and thank goodness it didn't.

Well, I had no issues with the Hustler car being on the grid. As long as there were no scantily clad women on the car.

Cars used to be sponsored by Hustler and Playboy all the time, hell, the Mazda MX-5 Cup is sponsored by Playboy. I see nothing wrong with that.

It's all in the presentation.