Amega Global's Recession-Proof Bullshit

Amega Global offer a quick road to riches for anyone able to keep a straight face while repeating the company's hilarious sales pitch.

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The company operates a multi-level marketing scheme, for which they make some brazen promises.

"You don't need any selling skills! ...With Network Marketing there is no limit to how much you can earn. One can easily earn more than the person who sponsored you!"

The company's lead product is the AMWand, pictured below.

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It would be easy to mistake the device for an ordinary pen. Alas, the AMWand cannot be used for writing - an unfortunate oversight, perhaps, given the size of the cheques the company's owners have presumably been writing for themselves.

So, what can the AMWand do? According to the company's handout (available here and here), it can

"Energize body fluids... Energize and optimize food and water... Enhanced sleep... Protection from toxins in food... Energize food and drink... Energize your beverages by moving the AMWand in a clockwise motion and notice the difference in taste... The AMWand can also be used on the face after application of skin care products. Use gently and always stroke upwards to prevent skin from sagging..."

Are any of these claims true? My money is on "no", and in the meantime: ASA complaint follows!

"I'm writing to complain about a handout for AmegaWellness.co.uk / Amega Global, which I picked up from a stall at the 'Mind Body Spirit' exhibition in London on 26th May.

The handout promotes the "AMEGA AMWand", and contains some health claims which I suspect are misleading.

1. "When the Bio-energetic field [produced by the body] is distorted or 'disorganized' from the interference that you encounter in your everyday life, it can immediately affect your strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance causing fatigue in the beginning that, if left unchecked, could ultimately progress to acute or chronic pain or even dangerous illness... In your everyday life, you are compromised by the effects of a polluted world. These pollutants include cell phones, computers, electrical appliances, toxins in food, water and air, stress and much more. These physical signs of imbalance put the body into a state of disharmony... The Amega AMWand addresses this imbalance at the energetic level to 'reorganize' your bio-energy field..."

I'd like to challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate their claim that a "disorganized" "Bio-energetic field" can cause "acute or chronic pain or even dangerous illness", and that the product can "reorganize" the "bio-energy field" to prevent these health problems.

The handout displays the terms "Electromagnetic Fields", "Radiation", "Toxins", "Stress", "Pollution" and "Ozone Depletion" next to ticks. I'd like to challenge whether this is misleading, because it might imply the product is able to guard against these threats.

2. "AMWad Uses: ... Energize body fluids... Energize and optimize food and water... Enhanced sleep... Protection from toxins in food... Energize food and drink... Energize your beverages by moving the AMWand in a clockwise motion and notice the difference in taste... The AMWand can also be used on the face after application of skin care products. Use gently and always stroke upwards to prevent skin from sagging..."

I'd like to challenge whether these health claims are misleading, and whether they can be substantiated.

3. "The Amega AMWand is made up of a special combination of granulated crystals, energized using our own proprietary technology.... The crystals... have powerful healing qualities..."

I'd like to challenge whether this claim is misleading, and whether it can be substantiated.

4. The handout also promotes a "Network Marketing... Opportunity" which appears to be a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme. I'd like to challenge whether the claim "You don't need any selling skills!" is misleading.

5. I'd also like to challenge whether the claim "With Network Marketing there is no limit to how much you can earn. One can easily earn more than the person who sponsored you!" is misleading, given the well-understood limits of such multi-level marketing schemes.

6. Finally, I'd like to challenge whether the claims "Once you have built the business sufficiently it starts to run itself, providing you with a residual income and time for other things" and "It's recession proof!" can be substantiated, and whether they are misleading.

I can confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or with the alternative medicine industry in general."

Amega Global's "exciting new technology"

Amega Global is one of those multi-level-marketing companies you wish your mother had warned you about.

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They offer a range of bullshit "energy" products which seem to defy the laws of physics - but not the laws of capitalism, apparently, since the company seems to be quite successful.

If you've run across them, it's probably because of the efforts of one of their "affiliates" (salespeople). One of them is "Valerye", who put this advert in Nexus Magazine:

"ZERO POINT ENERGY products. Exciting new technology. Increased well-being for yourself, family, friends and animals. Can also be used to energise plants, food and liquids..."

Can either Amega, or "Valerye", substantiate these amazing claims? Let's find out! ASA complaint follows.

"I write to complain about an advert appearing in "Nexus" magazine (August-September 2010, Vol 17 No 5, p76).

The advert, for Amega Global, promotes an "exciting new technology".

I suspect that the advert may be in breach of seven sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code. I can provide an original copy of the advert by post, if required.

1. The advert includes the text:

"ZERO POINT ENERGY products. Exciting new technology. Increased well-being for yourself, family friends and animals. Can also be used to energise plants, food and liquids. www.wandtheworld.com/?go=amega-miracle valerye@virginmedia.com 01276 857243"

2. (i) Physicists use the term "Zero Point Energy" to describe the theoretical lowest energy state of a quantum mechanical system [1]. A multitude of companies offer products that claim to exploit "Zero Point Energy", and the advertisers, Amega Global, are prominent among them.

(ii) I have been unable to find any scientific evidence supporting the claims made for any "Zero Point Energy" device.

3. Under Sections 3.1 and 50.1 of the CAP Code, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) "ZERO POINT ENERGY products" can cause "Increased well-being for yourself, family, friends and animals"

(ii) "ZERO POINT ENERGY products...Can also be used to energise plants, food and liquids"

4. According to The Royal College of Veterinary Science:

"The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (Section 19) provides, subject to a number of exceptions, that only registered members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons may practise veterinary surgery. 'Veterinary surgery' is defined within the Act as encompassing the 'art and science of veterinary surgery and medicine' which includes the diagnosis of diseases and injuries in animals, tests performed on animals for diagnostic purposes, advice based upon a diagnosis and surgical operations which may not necessarily form part of a treatment. These restrictions are in the interests of ensuring that animals are treated only by people qualified to do so." [2]

5. (i) Under Section 4.1 of the CAP Code, I challenge whether the advertisers have complied with their "primary responsibility for ensuring that their marketing communications are legal" in relation to their products which, they claim, can be used to treat animals.

(ii) Under Section 4.1, I challenge whether the advert may incite anyone to break the law.

(iii) Under Section 4.2 I challenge whether the advertisers have stated their products can legally be sold for use with animals, if they cannot.

(iv) Under Section 2.2, I challenge whether the advert has been "prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society".

(v) Under Section 6.1, I challenge whether the advert exploits the "credulity, lack of knowledge or inexperience of consumers" by not mentioning that, under the Act, only registered veterinarians can treat animals.

(vi) Under Section 7.1, I challenge whether the advert is likely to mislead by omission of any mention of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

6. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or with the alternative medicine industry in general. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser.

Footnotes:

Footnotes:
[1] Matt Visser, "What is the 'zero-point energy' (or 'vacuum energy') in quantum physics?", Scientific American Magazine, August 18, 1997 (http://homepages.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~visser/general.shtml#what-zpe)

[2] http://www.rcvs.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=92572&int2ndParentNodeID=89737&int1stParentNodeID=89642#students
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