USN for Kids - Twitter war

[Wyatt Earp]

OK, I'll write really slowly and try to use small words so you can stay with me:

 

1. Jarradvz asks question

2. USN CEO tries to bully Jarradvz by threatening him with lawyers if he asks the question again

3. Issue gets widespread publication

4. USN sponsored person complains that USN is getting bullied by social commentators

5. Irony

 

It's already been mentioned that I am now feeding the troll.

But I still don't get what that had to do with my post.

You strike me as someone who struggles to play the ball .

 

Cheers peeps, enjoy all your totally preservative free food in your monochromatic lives ,I am off to train

[rattlesnake]

I think as a broader issue, and especially in this digital, online age the need for CEO's and spokesman of companies to be tactful in their responses and dealings with the general public is higher then ever before.

 

USN CEO could have actually won many supporters by replying with something like this;

- Dear Jarad

"Many of your comments and concerns around supplementation in general are valid and are of concern to us too. Can I suggest that we engage with you on this to try and relieve your concerns and perhaps even gain an understanding of how we can better our product offering"

 

Damage control in 2 sentences.

 

It's the same as retail shops that respond with aggression when taken to task on bad service. If they just put the customer and their image first they would no doubt win a loyal customer + many more due to the online nature of the complaints.

 

I think most people on this thread are just taking exception to the way Albe (A CEO) and spokesperson for USN responded. Could have been handled so much better.

Edited October 31, 2012 by rattlesnake

[Wyatt Earp]

I think as a broader issue, and especially in this digital, online age the need for CEO's and spokesman of companies to be tactful in their responses and dealings with the general public is higher then ever before.

 

USN CEO could have actually won many supporters by replying with something like this;

- Dear Jarad

"Many of your comments and concerns around supplementation in general are valid and are of concern to us too. Can I suggest that we engage with you on this to try and relieve your concerns and perhaps even gain an understanding of how we can better our product offering"

 

Damage control in 2 sentences.

 

It's the same as retail shops that respond with aggression when taken to task on bad service. If they just put the customer and their image first they would no doubt win a loyal customer + many more due to the online nature of the complaints.

 

I think most people on this thread are just taking exception to the way Albe (A CEO) and spokesperson for USN responded. Could have been handled so much better.

 

Why, oh why do I always have to read that last post.

but can someone maybe just correct me as I might be wrong, I missed all the correspondence on twitter and wherever else.

But from what I gather it was dealt with rather amicably in public but turned to what it was via direct message.

So perhaps their was some credibility lost on both sides of the argument.

[sluiper]

It's already been mentioned that I am now feeding the troll.

But I still don't get what that had to do with my post.

You strike me as someone who struggles to play the ball .

 

Cheers peeps, enjoy all your totally preservative free food in your monochromatic lives ,I am off to train

 

See, I knew it wasn't worth the effort.

[Let's Ride]

There are ways and means to get to actually engage in conversion. A simple request or phone call would have most likely been met with a positive response.

 

Ahem ..."I contacted him on numerous occasions on social media, and he replied very quickly during the holiday season."https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/111476-momsen-29er/?do=findComment&comment=1558333

[Metzet]

2012 ?

Didn't realise that.

 

Wow, great response

 

...so I got point across then, please "like" my post

[M L]

Sorry, I didn't realize that the relevance of a persons comment was based on the amounts of posts made. If so, I have increased by 200%today alone so I may have just gained some respect.

 

Never intended to step on toes.

 

You along with dangle obviously misunderstood my post.

 

3 posts and one of them a fairly well written piece of grammar commenting on a USN and their marketing mechanisms thread is very suspicious - "sounds like a bunch of USN 8==D holders".

 

As for "If you are affiliated with USN in ANY matter, your comment is irrelevant", If you are being sponsored/payed by USN then you are going to be biased. Seen the comments on the twitter page from USN affiliates and it makes for biased comments.

[Danger Dassie]

OK, I'll write really slowly and try to use small words so you can stay with me:

 

1. Jarradvz Tim Henman (One in the same) asks question

2. Doesn't receive a response

3. Publicly and anonymously insults and attacks USN CEO

4. Continues diatribe on twitter, despite being invited to discussion on twitter by said CEO

2 5. USN CEO tries to bully Jarradvz by threatening him with lawyers if he asks the question again

3. Issue gets widespread publication

4. USN sponsored person complains that USN is getting bullied by social commentators employee provides a more grounded response.

5. Irony, exampled by anonymous posters on an internet forum so wrapped up in their own aggression and sarcasm, they fail to have an adult discussion.

 

So granted, Jarrad has some valid questions, which could have been answered had he taken the invitation to discuss.

Absolutely it would have been best if USN's CEO have responded that way, despite the provocation.

 

Consequently the whole real issue is getting lost in a cloud of petty bickering and childish remarks. I'm hoping those making such remarks aren't holding any real positions of responsibility, that would be a real example of irony.

 

GJ Powell is providing some proper feed back, so without the trolling, which is bullying really (another irony) it would be good to see some proper interaction and debate with what he's posted.

[Red Zone]

Bottom line for me is that this was a very bad reaction from USN, I used to use their products, but dropped them as soon as the Chilliboy / Bason poopstorm hit and I did some research. My impression is that they cannot defend their position and therefore went on the attack. What is super dangerous is that some parents are not very well educated and will see a product designed for children, by a well known (sponsored the Boks) and assume it is safe.

 

There is a good reason that I keep my supplements in a locked cupboard and my kids know that they are "dad's medicine", I treat my supplements as if they are drugs, to be taken responsibly.

 

Another concern that I have is that there may be cross contamination with other blends when USN produce the children's supplement.

 

Get your kids on this stuff and you are going to have a nightmare getting them off, just like a fast food addiction.

[doris]

The part that worries me is the levels of protein and supplementing on this - for the vitamins and supplements etc that is ok to a point however the high levels of protein are not great - some interesting articles on the side effects of protein:

• http://www.medicinen...rticlekey=50900
  
• http://www.holistick...rotein-powders/
  
• http://www.healthkno...et_effects.html
  

Guess there are arguments for both sides - however for a normal kids doing normal stuff, a normal kids needs around 35g of protein a day - this is around 3.5 glasses of milk - here is a quote:

 

Quote

 

30g a meal is actually fairly easy to accomplish. For example, one skinless chicken breast (130g total) has ~40g of protein, a medium egg is about 6g protein. Even a slice of bread has about 4g. One scoop of the average whey powder is usually around 25-30g of protein, making a quick fruit/whey shake after a workout an easy way to boost intake.

 

So an average kid certainly does not NEED the protein - so who is the real target market ? Parents who want to get off a guilt trip of not feeding their kids right ? Parents who are pushing their kids to hard in the first place ?

 

Interesting article however in favour of training kids a tad:

 

http://well.blogs.ny...ining-for-kids/

 

Personally I will stick with a more natural approach for as long as possible or until a doctor diagnoses my kids personally and advises otherwise

[Slowbee]

Keep the personal insults out please guys. Just because someone does not agree with your point of view does not give you any privilege to attack them on this forum.

 

Go use other platforms.

[JarradVZ]

Wow, things seem to have gone a little off course here.

 

As stated before, I have no personal vendetta against USN or any other supplement company. USN did however catch my attention. Their CEO is very vocal on Twitter, promoting new products at every opportunity. My problem came when I noticed that many of his posts were blatant lies! One that sticks in my mind is about a specific supplement being able to provide 40% (!) gains in strength or recovery or something. I went straight away and did a scientific literature search to see if there was any research at all to back these claims. Unsurprisingly, there was absolutely nothing of the sort to be found anywhere. How can it be legal for a company to make completely exaggerated claims such as this without having to provide any evidence to back themselves up?

 

So, I sent them an e-mail. My mail was redirected to Irma Botha who is involved in R and D for USN. I asked some simple questions about whether I could see any research that had been done on some products. Irma got back to me a little while later and told me that USN does not conduct any clinical research. They relied on research done by others but they could not send me this research as it was stored in an "archive". She told me to go on to Medline and do a search. I left it at that.

 

When I saw the kids product all I did was ask questions again but this time on Twitter. Then I was bullied and did what Albe probably didn't expect, I fought back. He seems to me like the sort of guy who is used to people running away from him, tails between their legs. I certainly didn't expect the message to spread like it did.

 

Mr Powell, I do not profit from drug companies. I earn my money on consultation fees and don't dispense so much as an Aspirin. I have a distrust of big pharma and I am well aware of some of their dodgy practices. They are however, a strictly regulated industry. A drug has to be proven to be both safe and effective (at great cost to the company) before it is allowed to be marketed. That marketing is then strictly regulated too so that they can't even mention the specific product name in their adverts. Supplements are different, they have to be proven to be dangerous before they are removed from the market and they can be marketed as wonder-drugs without proof. You are not effectively defending USN, but rather trying to defer the blame. The supplements industry is rotten, how can you deny that?

 

Dangle, you have an affiliation to USN. I don't think that you can comment here in an unbiased manner. And no, the odd protein shake for your 8 year old is certainly not going to kill him. I never said it would though.

 

My mission has already been accomplished. There are now a few more people out there who will look a little more critically at the contents of a supplement before buying it. Hey, there may even be a few who will look at the available clinical research before believing an impressive sounding claim from a supplement company.

[(Deon)]

See this is why I like the hub.. there is space to say stuff.

 

Beats bookface by a mile!

[Wyatt Earp]

Dangle, you have an affiliation to USN. I don't think that you can comment here in an unbiased manner. And no, the odd protein shake for your 8 year old is certainly not going to kill him. I never said it would though.

 

My mission has already been accomplished. There are now a few more people out there who will look a little more critically at the contents of a supplement before buying it. Hey, there may even be a few who will look at the available clinical research before believing an impressive sounding claim from a supplement company.

 

Help me out, what is my affiliation ?

 

To be very frank, other than being personally attacked by trolls in this thread (simply because I liked a post), I have made comments based on my own integrity and honesty.

I have not been biased, as you would say, nowhere have I defended USN, read very carefully, I implore you.

 

@Lamber, thank you for the mature manner in which we could communicate

 

I will however part by saying this, and interpret it it whichever way you please.

Reaching a handful of people on twitter and The Hub is hardly a mission accomplished.

What you have showed however (to me) is a lack of integrity by posting details of direct messages, and I am not saying this from a "biased" angle at all.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Dangle

[M L]

Was also an interesting thread: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/120252-recovery-shakes/

[rattlesnake]

 

 

 

I will however part by saying this, and interpret it it whichever way you please.

Reaching a handful of people on twitter and The Hub is hardly a mission accomplished.

What you have showed however (to me) is a lack of integrity by posting details of direct messages, and I am not saying this from a "biased" angle at all.

 

How exactly has he shown a lack of integrity. Help ME understand please. Jarrad has been very clear, consistent and calm in all of his responses. (And no I don't know the guy). But what I admire is that he wasn't afraid to take on one of the big guys - just because something is marketed and sold in a shop doesn't mean it's legitimate or that us as consumers should just accept it. Much like McDonald's claiming to sell healthy food.

 

USN have made some pretty inflated claims - fact

USN have been subject of controversy with regards to content - fact

CEO did not handle the issue with sufficient professionalism - Fact

 

Seems to me that Jarad has acted with the upmost integrity in his approach, introducing himself on the hub and the way he handled himself on that twitter war. He doesn't seem to lack integrity in my mind, but hey this a forum and opinions are allowed. But maybe saying that someone has no integrity is bordering on a personal attack - see slowbee's post.

Edited October 31, 2012 by rattlesnake