No economist could remain unmoved by the brouhaha that has engulfed Herbalife, the nutritional supplements company. The sponsors of football teams such as Barcelona and LA Galaxy, it sells diet drinks and protein bars through a network of small distributors, many of whom recruit, train and supply further distributors. This may be an intelligent way of selling the product through word-of-mouth. But doubters wonder whether Herbalife isn't too reliant on distributors filling their spare bedrooms with protein shakes, which they hope to sell at a profit by recruiting yet more distributors.
沒有一個經濟學家能夠對近期跟保健品公司康寶萊(Herbalife)有關的喧囂無動于衷。作為巴塞羅納足球俱樂部(FC Barcelona)和洛杉磯銀河隊(Los Angeles Galaxy)等足球隊的贊助商，該公司通過一個由小型分銷商組成的網絡銷售減肥飲料和蛋白棒，其中很多分銷商會再招聘和培訓分銷商，并向他們供貨。這可能是一種通過口口相傳來銷售產品的聰明方法。但質疑者的疑問是：康寶萊是否過于依賴分銷商？這些分銷商在自己家客房堆滿各種蛋白質混合飲料，希望通過招聘更多分銷商來銷售這些產品，好從中獲利。