Let’s imagine we are talking about cars instead of MonaVie juice. If a new car sells for $20,000, you wouldn’t expect to get much than, well – a car. I actually heard a commercial for a cheap car recently where one of the sound bites was “you just put the key in the ignition, and it goes!” That’s about all I’d expect for $20,000. But if the new car is selling for $200,000, I’d expect that any claims the dealer makes about it can be backed up – and it better be one hell of a car! Does it really do 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds? Does it have a V-12? Do the seats have the fancy butt-warmer option? I’d also want to see reviews from sources like Car and Driver, and I certainly wouldn’t buy it on the basis of far-fetched claims on the company’s brochure or from some smooth-talking hustler of a salesman. If a dealer tries to tell me a car on the lot is a Ferrari, it should look like a Ferrari, not a Ford Focus… which brings us back to the subject of Monavie…

At $45, MonaVie prices itself at about 10 times more than the average 100% pure juice in my supermarket. I think it’s safe to say that it’s priced like a Ferrari. The Ferrari tells us what kind of engine and how fast it can go – I would expect MonaVie to say how much acai and other juice types it contains. Yet it does not. I would also like to see things on the label like that it has no preservatives and is made organically, and that it provides a significant amount of the recommended daily allowance for many vitamins. Monavie provides no such assurances on the label. Instead of a good review from sources like Car and Driver, we have poor reviews from sources like Men’s Journal.

In other words, if MonaVie costs some $45 but serves the same function as juice (tasting good and being good for you), it had better have some spectacular benefits. Alas, there’s no evidence of such benefits. Any testimonials can be explained by the placebo effect.

Originally posted 2009-09-16 10:46:39.