Democratic TV ads hammer DeVos for record as Amway chief

[Robbien]

The state Democratic Party today launched a television commercial hammering Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos for his record as president of Amway.

The ad comes days after the company unveiled image-burnishing commercials of its own to counter the criticism it has faced as DeVos seeks the state's highest office.

The 30-second Democratic spot, airing statewide, claims that as president of Amway Corp., now Alticor Inc., DeVos laid off 1,400 workers and invested $200 million in China. DeVos served as president of the company, co-founded by his father, Rich DeVos, from 1992 to 2002.

By contrast, the ad claims, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm traveled to China to bring $200 million in investment back to Michigan.

"(DeVos) talks about being a successful businessman. That is the mantra we've heard for almost a year and a half," said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, who planned a press conference today in front of Alticor headquarters in Ada announcing the ad. "We believe he's part of the problem of outsourcing, not the solution."

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/115755397220930.xml&coll=8

[Lefty48197]

1. I saw it on channel 7 at about 6:30. It was GREAT!

The ad really slammed Dick. It concluded, "Two different styles, two VERY different results" right after contrasting Dick's sending jobs to China, with Gov. Granholm's success at bringing investment from Asia. I LOVED the ad!

[Robbien]

2. So glad it was good

About time they hit DeVos for his connection to Amway and Amway's bad acts.

[MichiganVote]

3. Very good ad, neat, tidy, memorable, no fiction, straight talk

DeVos camp (SCAMway) has written letters to local stations asking that ad's be withdrawn for false and misleading information.

[Purveyor]

4. Good Ad....Granholm kick! n/t

[Captain Hilts]

5. Wasn't AMWAY banned from Canada? nt

[LTR]

8. They got nailed for tax evasion and fraud

In 1983, Amway, headed by Richard DeVos, pled guilty to tax evasion and customs fraud in Canada, resulting in a fine of $25 million CAD, the largest fine ever imposed in that country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway

Not sure about being evicted from Canada. The Amway mafia might have erased that from the Wikipedia article.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Other than that, they were okay....nt

[noonwitch]

15. I don't think they ever paid the fine

If I remember correctly, Reagan made a deal for them to get out of paying the fine. Somewhere, there's got to be a record of that, it wasn't that long ago.

I saw the ad this morning and thought "It's about time". DeVos has been running nothing but negative ads. I have yet to see an ad that gives anyone a reason to vote for him, just plenty of garbage about Granholm.

Every time I see the DeVos ad with the small business owner talking about how hard it is for him to do business in Michigan, I think to myself "Maybe you're just not good at running a business".

[notadmblnd]

6. Now they need to tie him to Blackwater

the private security company who was sent to NO after Katrina and to Iraq to protect Paul Bremmer and co.

We don't a man with access to a private army running Michigan.

[LTR]

7. Outsourcing? That's just the tip of the iceberg!

What about Amway and their shady pyramid scheme? Even though his dad was the one that started and built the company, that silver-spoon Dick was around during some of Amway's run-ins with the law (fines, tax evasion, fraud, etc.).

How insecure is DeVos and Amway about the skeletons in their closets? So much that they even attempted to whitewash Wikipedia:

http://who-got-the-gravy.blogspot.com/2006/07/devos-campaign-gets-dirty-with.html

Someone from his campaign added some suck-up PR crap to Dickhead's article, and removed an interesting link with rather unflattering info (courtesy of the Michigan Democrats):

http://www.whatyoudontknowaboutdick.com/

Amway, like other MLM cults, is very paranoid. So paranoid that they really aren't "Amway" anymore. Like many other MLM schemes that have run out of people to piss off (hello, DS-Max!), they changed names (sound familiar?). "Alticor" is now the name of the umbrella company for Amway. Quixtar is now the name Amway goes under in North America, though the Amway name itself is still present in other countries.

So, how bad is Amway? These sites will keep you busy for awhile:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/%7Edst/Amway/

http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q5=amway&submit2=Search%21&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0

How bad are the DeVos'? So bad even Shaq left their NBA team as fast as he was able (okay, that was a cheap shot).

All in all, I can't believe anyone in Michigan would even consider this parasite, who sponges off his daddy, who likewise built a massive fortune off the backs of desperate people working their asses off. Their 'holier than thou' Christian beliefs are a bunch of bullshit. There will be a special place in hell reserved for the DeVos family.

[Robbien]

13. Amway is some scary shit

It surprises me that the good people up in Michigan are willing to vote for Devos.

[PurityOfEssence]

9. Just call him "Ponzi"

There are plenty of guys around who've been screwed by this mob.

[DinahMoeHum]

10. Amway, aka "Scam-Way"

n/t

[BushOut06]

12. He's done a crappy job with the Orlando Magic also

He bought himself a NBA franchise here in Orlando, and has done a pretty shitty job with it. Now he's trying to shake down the city for millions upon millions of dollars for a new arena, when he could very easily afford it himself.

[w4rma]

14. Very good. (nt)

[bleedingheart]

16. I am soooooooo very happy to hear this!!!

[jayfish]

17. Here's A Link

See Dick Run

Seems like it's longer than 30-sec, so this might be the exact ad.

Jay

[HeardOnTheHill]

18. "Basically an Asian company"

Courtesy of The Grand Rapids Press

About 80 percent of Alticor's business comes from overseas. "We're basically an Asian company," he (DeVos) said, noting that a majority of their business is in countries such as Japan and China.

[Akoto]

19. My dad was in Amway when I was a kid.

He quit before long, though. He believes to this day that it's a cult. :)

[garthranzz]

20. Great Ad! And Amway is a cult

Anti-Semitic too.

Very scary.

[Iowa]

21. Another worthless, 2nd generation offspring of a wealthy parent...

"DeVos served as president of the company, co-founded by his father, Rich DeVos..."

The Walton snots, the commander-in-thief, this asshole, and many others... they have wreaked one hell of a lot of havoc upon this world. I'm always reluctant to support a child of a famous/wealthy parent for political office - Dem or not. While there are always exceptions, most wouldn't be operating in that realm without the juice provided by mommy and daddy. They are usually consummate lightweights. We can almost always do better.

[Vidar]

22. Lovely to see Granholm attacking for a change.