United Sciences of America, Inc. (also known as USAI) was an American company that was accused of fraud and shut down in the 1980s. USAI manufactured nutritional supplements such as “Master Formula,” “Calorie Control Formula,” “Fiber Energy Bar,” and “Formula Plus,” distributing them via
Background
The company was based in
Receiving endorsements from several celebrities, including
USAI had a 16-member executive advisory board including notable scientists such as
Fraud
In October 1986, USAI was the subject of an expose produced by the
The FDA subsequently investigated USAI for pyramid-scheming, the use of false and misleading promotional materials, and for making prohibited disease treatment claims. On January 28, 1987
ee also
* Dr.
References
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United Sciences of America – Wikipedia
United Sciences of America “USAI” redirects here. For one of the former names of IAC/InterActiveCorp, see IAC (company) § 2000s. United Sciences of America, Inc.Defunct1987FateBankruptcyHeadquartersCarrollton, Texas, United States United Sciences of America, Inc. (also known as USA) was an American company that was accused of fraud and shut down in the late 1980s. USA manufactured nutritional supplements such as “Master Formula”, “Calorie Control Formula”, “Fiber Energy Bar”, and “Formula Plus”, distributing them via multi-level marketing (a.k.a. pyramid marketing). The company experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, was heavily endorsed and marketed by various celebrities, and was marketed via over 140,000 distributors. However, an exposé by NBC revealed fraudulent practices, and this was followed by multiple lawsuits from attorneys general in three different states. Several of the company’s advisors resigned, and USA declared bankruptcy in 1987. Background[edit] The company was based in Carrollton, Texas, and chaired by Robert “Bobby” Adler (not the same person as, and not related to Robert Adler), with president Jerris Leonard, who had been a former U.S. assistant attorney general under Richard Nixon. Products were marketed with claims such as that they helped prevent cancer, AIDS, arthritis, alcoholism and heart disease.[1] Receiving endorsements from several celebrities, including William Shatner, Chris Evert, and Gary Carter, the company experienced rapid growth in January 1986. It had a team of 140,000 distributors, with new distributors signing on at a rate of over 10,000 per month. The company was earning US$8 million, and company executives were projecting sales over $100 million in 1986 along with the astounding prediction of US$1 billion by 1989. Prospective distributors were issued a videotape narrated by Star Trek star William Shatner, with an elaborate sales pitch that both promoted the product, and implied that the modern world with its modern technology had “a deadly price tag” such as toxic chemicals and nuclear waste. The tape promoted USA chairman Robert Adler as a visionary out to change the world. Another tape was targeted towards athletes, and was narrated by Chris Evert, with other athletes such as Bill Rodgers and Gary Carter stating that USA could help distributors to achieve financial security. USA had a 16-member executive advisory board including notable scientists such as Michael DeBakey and Dr. Alexander Leaf, but these members were paid consulting fees ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, and/or received research grants from the company which could be worth $50,000 to $100,000.[1] Fraud[edit] In October 1986, USA was the subject of an exposé produced by the NBC network, which revealed the company’s use of fraudulent scientific claims and deceptive advertising.[2] In November, the company failed to mail some of its commissions, and by December, the company’s checks to distributors were bouncing.[1] The FDA subsequently investigated USA for pyramid-scheming, the use of false and misleading promotional materials, and for making prohibited disease treatment claims. On January 28, 1987 attorneys general in California, New York and Texas simultaneously filed lawsuits ordering USA to change its marketing plan and sales claims. Several of the board’s advisory members immediately resigned, including Leaf and DeBakey. A few others said that they were “misquoted or improperly used in USA’s sales materials.” Leaf told Money magazine, “They used my name with false statements to advertise the products.” In February 1987, company executives told the FDA that they were going to make labeling changes and bring everything into compliance, but in April USA filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy…
The Rise and Fall of United Sciences of America – Quackwatch
The Rise and Fall of United Sciences of America | Quackwatch United Sciences of America (USA) was a multilevel company based in Dallas, Texas. When it began marketing, its founder predicted gross sales of $150 million for 1986 and $1 billion by 1989—which would have made it the fastest growing company in U.S. history. Anyone could become a distributor by completing an application and paying $24.50 for a Success System Kit and Manual. By August 1986, USA claimed to have over 100,000 distributors and gross sales in line with its predictions. The company also set up a research foundation to generate research through grants and office-based studies. Its story is interesting because USA was the first MLM company to use high-tech videotapes and a prominent scientific advisory board as sales tools and was also the hardest hit by government regulators. This article summarizes the information I collected during a year-long investigation of the company. Company Management USA was founded by Robert M. Adler II, a Dallas businessman who had become wealthy by developing a computer that dials phone numbers and engages in interactive messages. USA’s corporate brochure listed nine co-founders, including: Jerri Leonard, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General, was USA’s president. Jeffrey A. Fisher, M.D., a pathologist with a master’s degree in immunology, was USA’s medical director and senior vice president and was president of the USA Research Foundation. USA publications described him as a marathon runner and “a nationally recognized expert on preventive medicine.” He hosted “The Life Extension Program,” a talk show on radio station WOR, New York City. Lawrence J. Muno, USA’s vice president for sports communications, was counselor and agent for many prominent athletes and had been president of the Association of Representatives of Professional Athletes. Mark Albion, Ph.D., an assistant professor of marketing at Harvard Business School, was an executive consultant to Mr. Adler. Haydon Cameron, USA’s vice president for marketing, was a former newspaper reporter who was a top sales leader for Cambridge International, marketers of the Cambridge Diet. Robert A. Good, M.D., Ph.D., was chairman of USA’s Scientific Advisory Board. Former president of Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, he is now chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Scientific Advisory Board The corporate brochure also listed 14 scientific advisors in addition to Dr. Good: Julius Axelrod, Ph.D., Chief, Section on Pharmacology, Laboratory of Clinical Sciences, National Institute of Mental Health, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1970 Eugene Braunwald, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Physician-in-Chief, Brigham and Beth Israel Hospitals Peter Cerutti, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Carcinogenesis Research, Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research Michael DeBakey, M.D., Chairman, Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine Philip J. DiSaia, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Irvine Medical Center Maureen Henderson, M.D., Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine Rashida Karmali, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Nutrition, Rutgers University, and Associate Professor, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research Alexander Leaf, M.D., Chairman, Department of Preventive Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School Robert J. Morin, M.D., Professor of Pathology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Lester Packer, Ph.D.,…
United Sciences of America, Inc.
United Sciences of America, Inc.United Sciences of America, Inc. (also known as USAI) was an American company that was accused of fraud and shut down in the 1980s. USAI manufactured nutritional supplements such as “Master Formula,” “Calorie Control Formula,” “Fiber Energy Bar,” and “Formula Plus,” distributing them via multi-level marketing (aka pyramid marketing). The company experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, was heavily endorsed and marketed by various celebrities, and was marketed via over 140,000 distributors. However, an expose by NBC revealed fraudulent practices, and this was followed by multiple lawsuits from Attorneys General in three different states. Several of the company’s advisors resigned, and USAI declared bankruptcy in 1987.BackgroundThe company was based in Carrollton, Texas, and chaired by Robert Adler, with president Jerris Leonard, who had been a former U.S. assistant Attorney General under Richard Nixon. Products were marketed with claims such as that they helped prevent cancer, AIDS, arthritis, alcoholism and heart disease.Receiving endorsements from several celebrities, including William Shatner, Chris Evert, and Gary Carter, the company experienced rapid growth in January 1986. It had a team of 140,000 distributors, with new distributors signing on at a rate of over 10,000 per month. The company was earning $US 8 million, and company executives were projecting sales over $100 million in 1986 along with the astounding prediction of $US 1 billion by 1989. Prospective distributors were issued a videotape narrated by “Star Trek” star William Shatner, with an elaborate sales pitch that both promoted the product, and implied that the modern world with its modern technology had “a deadly price tag” such as toxic chemicals and nuclear waste. The tape promoted USAI chairman Robert Adler as a visionary out to change the world. Another tape was targeted towards athletes, and was narrated by Chris Evert, with other athletes such as Bill Rodgers and Gary Carter stating that USAI could help distributors to achieve financial security.USAI had a 16-member executive advisory board including notable scientists such as Michael DeBakey and Dr. Alexander Leaf, but these members were paid consulting fees ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, and/or received research grants from the company which could be worth $50,000 to $100,000.FraudIn October 1986, USAI was the subject of an expose produced by the NBC network, which revealed the company’s use of fraudulent scientific claims and deceptive advertising.cite journal | author = Farley, Dixie | year = 1987| title = The eyes of Texas were upon them – and FDA – United Sciences of America Inc | journal = FDA Consumer | volume = | issue = October | pages = | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1370/is_v21/ai_5273121/pg_1 | format = ] In November, the company failed to mail some of its commissions, and by December, the company’s checks to distributors were bouncing.The FDA subsequently investigated USAI for pyramid-scheming, the use of false and misleading promotional materials, and for making prohibited disease treatment claims. On January 28, 1987 Attorneys General in California, New York and Texas simultaneously filed lawsuits ordering USAI to change its marketing plan and sales claims. Several of the board’s advisory members immediately resigned, including Leaf and DeBakey. A few others said that they were “misquoted or improperly used in USA’s sales materials.” Leaf told “Money” magazine, “They used my name with false statements to advertise the products.” In February 1987, company executives told the FDA that they were going to make labeling changes and bring everything into compliance, but in April USAI filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation and ceased operation. USAI’s deceptive sales and marketing tactics were reviewed in several articles published in 1986-1987.cite journal | author = Stare, F.J. | coauthors=. | year = 1986 | title = Marketing a nutritional “revolutionary breakthrough”. Trading on names. | journal = N Engl J Med | volume = 315 | issue =…
About: United Sciences of America – DBpedia
United Sciences of America United Sciences of America, Inc. (also known as USA) was an American company that was accused of fraud and shut down in the late 1980s. USA manufactured nutritional supplements such as “Master Formula”, “Calorie Control Formula”, “Fiber Energy Bar”, and “Formula Plus”, distributing them via multi-level marketing (a.k.a. pyramid marketing). The company experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, was heavily endorsed and marketed by various celebrities, and was marketed via over 140,000 distributors. However, an exposé by NBC revealed fraudulent practices, and this was followed by multiple lawsuits from attorneys general in three different states. Several of the company’s advisors resigned, and USA declared bankruptcy in 1987. Property Value dbo:abstract United Sciences of America, Inc. (also known as USA) was an American company that was accused of fraud and shut down in the late 1980s. USA manufactured nutritional supplements such as “Master Formula”, “Calorie Control Formula”, “Fiber Energy Bar”, and “Formula Plus”, distributing them via multi-level marketing (a.k.a. pyramid marketing). The company experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, was heavily endorsed and marketed by various celebrities, and was marketed via over 140,000 distributors. However, an exposé by NBC revealed fraudulent practices, and this was followed by multiple lawsuits from attorneys general in three different states. Several of the company’s advisors resigned, and USA declared bankruptcy in 1987. (en) dbo:fate Bankruptcy (en) dbo:locationCity dbr:Carrollton,_Texas dbo:wikiPageID 11527467 (xsd:integer) dbo:wikiPageLength 6420 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger) dbo:wikiPageRevisionID 1049757221 (xsd:integer) dbo:wikiPageWikiLink dbr:Money_(magazine) dbr:Multi-level_marketing dbc:American_companies_disestablished_in_1987 dbr:Alcoholism dbr:Alexander_Leaf dbc:Companies_based_in_Carrollton,_Texas dbr:Gary_Carter dbr:NBC dbr:Star_Trek dbr:Arthritis dbr:Food_and_Drug_Administration dbr:New_York_(state) dbr:Cardiovascular_disease dbr:California dbr:Cancer dbr:Carrollton,_Texas dbr:Jerris_Leonard dbr:Texas dbr:William_Shatner dbc:Defunct_companies_based_in_Texas dbc:Defunct_multi-level_marketing_companies dbr:Dietary_supplement dbr:Bill_Rodgers_(runner) dbr:Chapter_7,_Title_11,_United_States_Code dbr:Chris_Evert dbr:Radioactive_waste dbr:Richard_Nixon dbr:Robert_Adler dbr:John_A._Wise dbr:Attorney_general dbr:HIV/AIDS dbr:Michael_DeBakey dbp:fate Bankruptcy (en) dbp:hqLocationCity dbr:Carrollton,_Texas dbp:hqLocationCountry United States (en) dbp:name United Sciences of America, Inc. (en) dbp:wikiPageUsesTemplate dbt:End_date dbt:Infobox_company dbt:Redirect dbt:Reflist dbt:Short_description dbt:Multi-level_marketing dct:subject dbc:American_companies_disestablished_in_1987 dbc:Companies_based_in_Carrollton,_Texas dbc:Defunct_companies_based_in_Texas dbc:Defunct_multi-level_marketing_companies rdf:type owl:Thing dbo:Company yago:Institution108053576 yago:Organization108008335 yago:Abstraction100002137 yago:Company108058098 yago:Group100031264 dbo:Organisation yago:WikicatCompaniesBasedInCarrollton,Texas yago:WikicatCompaniesDisestablishedIn1987 yago:SocialGroup107950920 dul:Agent schema:Organization dul:SocialPerson dbo:Agent wikidata:Q24229398 wikidata:Q43229 wikidata:Q4830453 yago:WikicatDefunctCompaniesBasedInTexas yago:YagoLegalActor yago:YagoLegalActorGeo yago:YagoPermanentlyLocatedEntity rdfs:comment United Sciences of America, Inc. (also known as USA) was an American company that was accused of fraud and shut down in the late 1980s. USA manufactured nutritional supplements such as “Master Formula”, “Calorie Control Formula”, “Fiber Energy Bar”, and “Formula Plus”, distributing them via multi-level marketing (a.k.a. pyramid marketing). The company experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, was heavily endorsed and marketed by various celebrities, and was marketed via over 140,000 distributors. However, an exposé by NBC revealed fraudulent practices, and this was followed by multiple lawsuits from attorneys general in three different states. Several of the company’s advisors resigned, and USA declared bankruptcy in 1987. (en) rdfs:label United Sciences of America (en) owl:sameAs yago-res:United Sciences of America freebase:United Sciences of America wikidata:United Sciences of America https://global.dbpedia.org/id/4wahe prov:wasDerivedFrom wikipedia-en:United_Sciences_of_America?oldid=1049757221&ns=0 foaf:isPrimaryTopicOf wikipedia-en:United_Sciences_of_America foaf:name United Sciences of America, Inc. (en) is dbo:wikiPageRedirects of dbr:USAI dbr:United_Sciences_of_America,_Inc. is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of dbr:List_of_multi-level_marketing_companies dbr:Jerris_Leonard dbr:Juice_Plus dbr:John_A._Wise dbr:USAI dbr:United_Sciences_of_America,_Inc. is foaf:primaryTopic of wikipedia-en:United_Sciences_of_America
USA: The strange rise and fall of one MLM – June 1, 1987
USA: The strange rise and fall of one MLM USA: The strange rise and fall of one MLM By June 1, 1987 (MONEY Magazine) – No multilevel company has had a wilder history than United Sciences of America (USA), a nutritional-supplement company based in Carrollton, Texas. Endorsed by Star Trek’s William Shatner, Chris Evert, New York Met Gary Carter and other athletes, USA took off in January 1986. Seven months later, USA had signed up 140,000 — that’s right, 140,000 — distributors. By the fall, the company was pulling in $8 million and 10,000 to 15,000 new distributors a month. USA’s chairman Robert Adler, a former computer entrepreneur, and president Jerris Leonard, a former U.S. assistant attorney general under Richard Nixon, had a multilevel company that looked as though it would never stop growing. Company executives were quoted projecting sales would top $100 million in 1986 and $1 billion in 1989. Then the pyramid started crumbling. In October, NBC’s 1986 show aired a critical report about USA. The company failed to mail some commission checks in November. In December, USA’s checks to its distributors started bouncing. At that time, the Food and Drug Administration issued a regulatory letter challenging the propriety of four USA products: Master Formula, Calorie Control Formula, Fiber Energy Bar and Formula Plus. The FDA said the products were promoted with unproven claims that they helped prevent cancer, AIDS, arthritis, alcoholism and heart disease. A few weeks later, USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with debts of $8.6 million and assets of $7.3 million. One week later, attorneys general in California, New York and Texas simultaneously filed lawsuits ordering USA to change its marketing plan and sales claims in their states. USA executives told the FDA in February they would make the necessary changes in labeling and sales materials to come into compliance. But a month later the company appeared to give up any comeback efforts when it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. To borrow a line from Shatner’s Captain Kirk, USA boldly took multilevel marketing where no MLM had gone before. The company produced two awesome videotapes, designed to be played on VCRs of prospective USA distributors. Shatner narrated the first tape and spoke of ”a brave new world of optimum health and vitality” that ”could change your life.” He then launched into an apocalyptic view of the world. Advanced technology, said Shatner, ”has given us valuable gifts” but ”with a deadly price tag.” Toxic chemicals. Cancer. Nuclear waste. But, Shatner said, ”one man in Dallas, Texas, believed that something could be done.” That man: USA chairman Robert Adler. The tape said USA had created a 16-member executive advisory board of doctors and scientists, including heart specialist Dr. Michael DeBakey and the chairman of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Preventive Medicine, Dr. Alexander Leaf. The tape did not say that board members were scheduled to receive $5,000 to $20,000 consulting fees. Several of USA’s board members also got $50,000 or $100,000 research grants from the company in 1986. As USA drew negative publicity in late 1986, half of the medical advisory board members, including Leaf and DeBakey, resigned. A few said they were misquoted or improperly used in USA’s sales materials. Leaf told Money: ”They used my name with false statements to advertise the products.” A second videotape, explaining USA’s marketing plan, featured the athletes. Chris Evert urged viewers to ”join me and hit your financial ace now.” Marathoner Bill Rodgers said USA was dedicated to providing Americans with ”financial security.” And Gary Carter said: ”Join me and hit your financial grand slam now.” Today, Evert’s agent says the tennis star liked the USA products and was impressed by the company’s credentials. Bill Rodgers told Money: ”I was as surprised as anyone to hear about USA’s legal problems.” Carter’s agent had no comment.
USA – United Sciences of America: Update
USA – United Sciences of America: Update : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted.
The Selling Of U.S.A. – D Magazine
The Selling Of U.S.A.Robert M. Adler II, founder of Dallas-based United Sciences of America Inc., wants his company to be America’s all-time start-up success story. To land that title, he’ll have to beat Compaq Computers’ first-year gross of $105 million. And he just may succeed. USA Inc. is a multilevel network of more than 100,000 “associates” who distribute the company’s four nutritional supplements nationally. With endorsements from superstar athletes and prominent scientists, USA grossed $34 million in sales during its first seven months of operation. Will USA become business’s newest star, or will it follow the path of Herbal Life International, which began as the supernova of multilevel marketed nutritional supplements-but fizzled after unsavory details about management and ingredients were exposed? At first glance, USA seems nearly perfect. Its videotaped promotional pitch, narrated by Star Trek’s William Shatner, uses exciting verbs and high-tech adjectives to explain these “revolutionary” products that have been “years in the making” (three years, to be exact). Between scenes of laboratories and environmental pollution, doctors and scientists talk tough and scary about the hazards of everyday living. “We’re discovering new diseases at a faster rate than we’re finding cures for known diseases,” notes Dr. Robert Morin, a member of USA’s Scientific Advisory Board. The script suggests that preventive medicine and the proper nutritional balance in our daily diets can literally save our lives. And how can we achieve that nutritional balance? Take a guess. We hear about the USA Research Foundation and its $1.2 million commitment toward nutritional study programs, a number of which involve the effect of USA products on human health and fitness. Says grant recipient Dr. Alexander Leaf, another of USA’s advisers, “I’m happy that they’re supporting the work in my laboratory.” You’d better believe he is. Research takes money, and USA’s endorsement and financial support will likely attract the attention of other funding sources. The tape’s tone becomes more seductive when the subject shifts to individual business opportunities for USA associates, talking about a “ground floor opportunity to be part of an American legend in the making.” USA’s multilevel marketing relies on a word-of-mouth, friend to friend sales and personnel recruitment technique (a la Mary Kay Cosmetics) through which a company can avoid stocking retail outlets and incurring huge advertising bills. Instead, USA’s associates receive royalties from their retail sales and sales made by their recruits. They work from a plan formulated by Mark Albion, a marketing professor at Harvard, who guarantees on the tape that “anyone who uses this [advertising and marketing) package properly will become very successful.” Using the package correctly couldn’t be very hard. According to Haydon Cameron, USA’s vice president of marketing and a former Cambridge Diet salesman, “What we say in our literature is that you don’t have to learn about all this nutrition, you don’t have to learn about the business plan from the Harvard Business School; just let the videotapes make the presentation for you.” By supplying a ready-made pitch for its associates, USA now sidesteps the early problems they had when “relatively untrained, unsophisticated new recruits thought up their own ads,’1 says Bill Beckhart,…