Phillip Black / YouTube
Phillip Black / YouTube
Death, taxes and being accosted by someone trying to sell you their Herbalife products. These are the three guaranteed certainties in life.
The marketing corporation specialises in nutritional products aimed at people into sports and devoted to the gym life. However, they’ve made a rather dubious name for themselves due to the way they’re structured.
In addition to profits from product sales, Herbalife distributors can earn additional commissions from sales by other distributors they recruited, called their “downline distributors”. Some people perceive it as a pyramid scheme, whereas many in the scientific community doubt Herbalife’s nutritional value.
Like any organisation in pop culture, Herbalife is in the firing line – and South African actor Phillip Black has them in his crosshairs.
The comic mind behind the video pokes fun at the pushy sales reps, their “get rich quick” beliefs and the sheer volume of problems the product claims it can solve.
Director Matt Keeson and actors Vere and Emma Tinsdale also deserve props for their role in this clip, filmed entirely in a Newlands flat. There’s singing, dancing and even some partial nudity. What’s not to like?
We spoke to Phillip Black, the man who created this annoyingly-catchy toe-tapper. He came prepared and shared the one piece of advice he would give the Herbalife distributors:
“Please stop pretending to be my friend and selling me shit I don’t need.”
It doesn’t get much more comprehensive than that. Black also compared the products to Tupperware, joking that “they are both plastic and have no nutritional value”.
This fantastic send-up is certainly a relatable one, too. This goes out to all the friends we’ve lost to the Herbalife way of living: It’s also a tribute to everyone who’s been stopped in the mall or had a knock at the door after hours.
Sorry guys, we’re just not that into protein shakes.