Most people want to get in shape. You may have seen the infomercials on TV late at night for one of the various Beachbody exercise programs, whether it was P90X, Slim in 6, Yoga Booty Ballet or Turbo Jam. All of these programs promise massive weight loss in as few as six weeks.
Most of the workouts are some variation of an hour-long exercise routine that must be done most days of the week and are sold in sets of multiple videos that must be purchased as an entire set. The videos usually have very simple production values, with a trainer and a couple of other exercisers, in a spare room. You cannot buy just one video at a time, and the cost for the set of all of the videos usually nears $100.
Many people have gotten excellent results with the Beachbody workouts, especially P90X. The science behind the workouts is great, but doing almost any form of moderate exercise for an hour a day, 5-7 days a week, would result in substantial weight loss.
The problem with the Beachbody videos is the almost cult-like, pyramid-scheme way they are sold. In addition to the infomercials, the videos and other products are sold through salespeople Beachbody calls “coaches.” When people sign up to be Beachbody coaches, they usually apply high-pressure sales tactics to all of their other friends and family. Some even sell to random strangers. People buy the product because they want to see the amazing fitness results, with the expectation that the coach signing them up would actually do some, well, coaching. They expect that the coach will at least give them ongoing motivation and accountability to work out, but they only hear from their coaches with more sales pitches.
Coaches make more money based on how many new people they sign up, especially other new coaches, in a pyramid scheme in which they make more money the more levels they reach. Some people who signed up as coaches even before they did one workout and while they were still significantly overweight. Being a “coach” means nothing other than that you paid to become an authorized distributor.
Some coaches do so well from selling Beachbody products that they have quit well-paying full-time jobs and enjoy frequent travel all over the U.S., including to Hawaii. This leads new coaches to believe they can make as much money too, but many coaches also make as little as $50 a month. Like any other multi-level marketing sales opportunity, coaches are told that there is no limit to the amount of money they can make, but because most coaches sell to their friends and family, it does not take long for local markets to become saturated with Beachbody sales people, thus reducing potential profit.
Once you buy one Beachbody product, that isn’t the end of it. Like any other product sold through multi-level marketing, the salespeople always want you to buy more. One of Beachbody’s recent new products is a diet/vitamin shake called Shakeology. This product aims to be a meal replacement, and it says it has the equivalent of $40 worth of vegetables in every glass. It is available in two flavors and is endorsed by several doctors on the official Shakeology website.
However, Shakeology is only available through “coaches,” and only in one-month supplies. As of August 2010, the price for a one-month supply of Shakeology was $119.95, though coaches or those with paid Beachbody memberships get a discount. It is not possible to buy single servings to try the product.
If you object to a coach about the high cost of the shake mixes, they will probably tell you “each glass has $40 worth of vegetables, so that would be $1200 worth of vegetables a month, so you’re actually saving money!” This explanation doesn’t make much sense, because few people would buy $1200 worth of vegetables in a month. The Shakeology products are fine; it’s basically a vitamin shake with a high fiber content and low sugar. But is that worth $120 a month to you?
Many people who exercise with Beachbody and P90X become marketing machines for the company and talk about it night and day. Their friends and family are all potential customers. Beachbody “coaches” are exactly like any other high-pressure multi-level marketing schemes like Amway, Shaklee and Mary Kay.
The Beachbody products seem to deliver good results, but any other workout practiced for as much time per week would create the same results. The shakes are a reasonable meal supplement, but not anything magical. If Beachbody wants to stand behind its products and appear truly credible, it should not require the high pressure sales or multi-level marketing.
