One Thursday evening in October 2000 I went to see a product presentation given by a company I didn't know called "Nikken". There I got to know that the company had been established with a Norwegian distributor as late as March 2001. I've tried to search the Web looking for information about the company, but since this company is new to Norway there was little information available. For this reason I chose to write about the company, their marketing and magnet therapy. This paper was originally geared towards Norwegian readers and was until recently not available in English. You can of course read the Norwegian version if you wish.
Should you have any comments regarding what I've written, it being factual errors, suggestions for rephrasing, or anything else, feel free to contact me through email on nettrom@online.no
Future updates of information regarding Nikken and this document will be published on my new website. An archive of past blog entries about Nikken has been made available, and it will later on also feature updated versions of this document.
Nikken started in Japan back in 1976. At the moment they're about 25 years old, a fact that is often referred to by the company's representatives. They have a large market share in Japan and are now established in several countries. Most of their sales happen as far as I've understood in Japan and the USA, but they're also advancing quickly in Europe.
Nikken is based on a philosophy which states that life should be based on 5 pillars: a healthy body, a healthy mind, a healthy family, a healthy society and a healthy economy. To help you out with getting a healthy body they'll sell you a large variety of products. Most of these for sale in Norway are based on a magnetism. They do also sell other things like nutrional products, video films about their philosophy and Nikken's products as well as products for cleaning and "energizing" of water (both drinking water and the water in your shower).
When it comes to the healthy economy they'll like you to achieve one by selling their products to people you known (by the principle of network marketing). In addition to the usual profits from the products you sell directly and those sold by those you recruit there does (at least in the US) exist bonus systems with free cars, subsidized housing and luxurious cruises. The system is also designed to make you advance in status through further training and also by how much cashflow you generate.
I'm not going to write a lot about the company's history. Should you wish to read more about it I suggest you visit their website. [NIKKEN.COM]
Network marketing, also known by the name "multi-level-marketing" (MLM), is based on the principle of recruiting a network of people to sell products for you. This network is called your "downline". You'll then receive a percentage of the trade your downline creates and by such have an economic interest in having as many people below you as possible, and that they sell products worth a lot of money.
You will of course also receive a percentage of any products you sell yourself directly to somebody. This means that there exists several different ways for you to earn money and it doesn't necessary mean you'll have to recruit people. Please do observe that you'll earn money based on the work (/cashflow) of your downline without it necessarily meaning the same amount of added work for you, so from an economic interest it would be desirable to have a large downline with a high cashflow. That way you'll earn money "nearly without doing anything".
I'm against network marketing by principle, and there's two reasons why I've taken that standpoint. First, it looks to much like a pyramid game/scheme. Please note that I'm not saying it is a pyramid game. Such games are illegal in Norway while network marketing is legal here.
In such a game those who are high up get the large sums of money, while those who are recruited at a late stage won't get anything or just pocket change. The system is designed so that you'll have to be high up in it (in other words: get in early) to make good money. The concept of pyramid games is usually based on the saying "there's always another gullible idiot".
Secondly, the sales of products based on network marketing will mostly be geared towards your own friends or colleagues. One of the arguments that is often used is that we're already recommending products to our friends and colleagues, the only difference this time is that we can earn money while doing it. Something they often "forget" to mention is that there's a reward system based on sales, and that they'll try to get you motivated to reach goals in that system, which means trying to sell as much as possible.
Of course we all go around recommending products to the people we know, but I very rarely see recommendations where it'll make a profit for the person making it. The only motivation is trying to find the best product for the person asking you. This is how I'd like it to continue being, those recommendations given to me by the people I know should be reliable. If they'll make a profit from it they'll quickly become "just another salesperson", and most of us know by expericen that they (nearly always) recommend their own products.
Another factor regarding friends is that your role to them changes. It starts with everyone being friends but when you start selling products to them it becomes a salesman/customer-relationship. If you recruit one of them to your downline it'll mean another relationship. This can quickly turn more complicated than anyone would like it to be, and ruin good friendships.
I've so far been participant in one of those situations, and have friends who have been part of another. Both of these started as good friendships but were ruined by economic interest. It is easy to see a conflict occuring between those above you in the system, wanting high sales making them money, and friendships were money isn't the important factor. I've yet to see something positive come out of such a conflict.
The Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) have several articles available about network marketing [NCC] Particularly relevant to this article is item #4 in the last article in the references, which reads:
4. Be skeptical of any company trying to sell miracle products or promising enormous profits. Only because the company claims it doesn't necessarily means it's true. Ask them to give documentation supporting their claims.
(My translation of item #4 of the article Pyramidesalg: Tenk før du handler!)
Most people who are introduced to Nikken's products do so at what is called a "Wellness preview". It is supposed to be a taste of the wellness you'll see if you start using the products. Even though the company is based on five pillars the presentation I was at only concentrated on two of them: body and economy. One could therefore believe that a good life comes as a natural consequence of a healthy body and lots of money.
A "Wellness preview" is a product presentation. It's carefully planned and is carried through with a clear goal of selling products. In other words it's pure marketing. It's like walking into any other shop answering "yes, do you have anything to recommend?" after the salesperson asks if you would like some assistance. In my case it was obvious that the salesperson had been doing this several times before, she was in other words no inexperienced amateur. Everybody's free to make up their own mind about how to approach such a meeting, I prefer to do it with a healthy dose of skepticism.
The meeting started with a quick run through Nikken's history and the startup of the Norwegian distribution. An IT-company was mentioned but not by name, even though it was a large company by Norwegian standards and their story sounded like a success. Instead focus was on Nikken, the products and their history. This meeting prioritized the magnetic products but also did a short presentation of what Nikken calls "far infrared technology".
First product to be demonstrated were the magnetic insoles. A "volunteer" was brought up and they tried to push him out of balance, first standing simply on the floor then standing on the insoles. Of course it was impossible to get him out of balance while standing on the insoles. The effect was explained as coming from the insole's magnetic force polarizing the body, which in turn makes it respond more quickly when somebody tries to get it out of balance. In addition it was said that the insoles can achieve increased blood circulation in the legs and less pain in the back and neck.
Next product were a couple of magnetic balls with knobs on them. These come with a frame so they can be used sitting in that frame for a massage, or you can take them out to play with them in your hand. I was asked to volunteer for this demonstration, accepted, and got one of the balls to hold in my hand. The presenter spun one of the balls in the frame underneath my hand and asked me if I felt anything. Of course I did feel something since the ball in my hand vibrated from the ball spinning below it. That can be easily explained by the laws of magnetic forces (basic physics knowledge). She concluded that the magnetic force would naturally effect the body in close proximity of the magnetic field.
The demonstration didn't end there, instead she'd like to demonstrate how the magnetic force could increase my flexibility. It started with her stretching the muscles in my chest (pectoids) by pulling my arms backwards until I told her to stop. Then I got to rest for a couple of minutes while she spun the two balls behind my back, thereby making the magnetic force affect my muscles. The stretching exercise was then repeated, and was supposed to result in my arms being able to go further back than when the test started.
During the two minutes I rested I was asked if I felt anything. To this question I answered "no" since I couldn't feel any effect at all from the magnets. Instead I felt a warmth going through the muscles in my chest, which in my opinion is a natural consequence from the stretching increasing the blood circulation. During gym classes at school we were taught that warming up meant more flexible muscles, and since the muscles in my chest became warmer it would result in them being more flexible. I am not surprised that this "example of the effect of a magnetic force" can be explained by simple principles of medicine and doesn't need any magnetism to work. The second stretch didn't show any particular increase, but I'm rather flexible from years of training.
Other magnetic products were also shown: different wraps for parts of the body, single magnets to be put where needed, a mattress and a pillow. These were told to have an effect on low blood circulation from diabetes, pains in fingers, elbow, shoulders and neck resulting from sitting in front of the computer, and PMS. Among these was a product for the wrist claiming to cure pain coming from working with a computer, particularly over long periods of time like 10-12 hours at work. Nobody mentioned that sitting 10-12 hours in front of a computer isn't a particularly good idea to start with. I'll get back to magnet therapy later.
They demonstrated a product using "far infrared technology". I don't believe the technology actually works as they claim it does. There's talk about "developed by NASA" but there are no references to information from NASA about it. Searching the web to find answers have resulted in lots of information about the use of "far infrared technology" in astronomy. As of now my conclusion is that this tecnology is just some fancy terms put together to impress those without much knowledge, but without a basis of documentation or actual science.
One example of this technology was a plate with a "far infrared" layer of coating. This plate was put on the palm of a person in the audience and then an ice cube was put on top of the plate. The fact that the cube melted faster than a cube on top of a different plate was said to be explained by the technology. Another plausible explanation is that the plate leads energy (in the form of heat) from the palm to the surface were the cube is. This will of course make the cube melt faster since the body heat melts it.
I've yet to see any good explanation on how this "far infrared technology" is constructed and how it actually works (if it works at all).
I left the presentation before they started talking about the economic benefits to be gained, after all I'm against the system. Instead I went home and continued searching for more information about Nikken and their products. Presentations where they say "we cannot prove that it works, but it works" and claims it can cure just about anything provokes me. The company representatives know very well that what they're selling isn't certified as medical products, but they seem to care little whether their claims hold water. It's illegal to advertise Nikken products in Norway, but one of the people in the audience said that several distributors in Norway advertised their products on the web. She who held the presentation didn't seemed concerned by this and gave no indication that she'd like to investigate it further.
I was mainly looking for basic information:
Is there any information available from Nikken about the effect of magnet therapy or more factual information about the technology behind their products?
The short answer is "no". [NIKKEN.COM] The long answer is "some information is available, but it's not on Nikken's website". Instead you'll have to go to the Nikken distributors' website, 5pillars.com. [5PILLARS] There it's possible to find links to documents about the results of scientific studies. What surprised me is that the information cannot be found directly on the Nikken website and that the scientific studies are rarely based on the products themselves. Instead it is small tests of particular effects or test of competitors' products.
A search using Google Groups [GOOGLE] looking for information about Nikken will return several discussions about the effect of their products. I've seldom seen a distributor refer to actual documents, instead they use general references like "studies have been conducted". In one instance there was a reference to a study by the Baylor School of Medicine and one study by the University of New York, but it was left to the other participants in the discussion to actually find the reports.
I've been looking quite a lot for facts regarding the effect of magnet therapy. One of the first resources I found was Magnet Therapy on About.com [ABOUT.COM] where there's links to further information. Through those links I was able to find conclusions of both of the aforementioned studies, and the trend is quite clear: there is yet to be conducted enough studies to draw any conclusions about whether there's clearly a positive effect or no effect at all from magnet therapy. Some patients feel better after being treated with magnets, while other patients feel better from using a placebo product. Most conclude that more research should be done. The Baylor School of Medicine report also points out that it was a pilot-study trying to find out if further research would be worthwhile.
Other reports from research have both positive and negative conclusions. Another company offering magnetic products, Bioflex, have four reports on their website. [BIOFLEX] One of those reports is the aforementioned Baylor School of Medicine report. With some searching one will also find reports with negative conclusions, two examples are:
There are no links directly to these reports from for instance 5pillars.com [5PILLARS], but it's possible to find them through a search on PubMed/Medline, which is linked from 5pillars.com.
I'd like to repeat that I'm surprised that there isn't information directly available from Nikken itself. Nor is it possible to find information from research conducted by independent researchers acting on initiative from Nikken. Nikken is, as I mentioned earlier, a company with a 25 year history and should by now have been able to produce a vast amount of information regarding the effect of their products.
Testimonials is often used by Nikken distributors to confirm the effects of their products. I've also seen it used in the marketing of another product based on magnetism [ECOFLOW]. During the presentation I was at several of the people there spoke about their good experiences with the products. It comes as no surprise, after all it is "good pr".
There are things about these testimonials that Nikken of course will not point out to you. First of all, they will never have a testimonial stating that the products didn't work. Instead they'll talk about positive experiences and claim to see a clear connection between a condition and the effect the product had on it. To them it's inconceivable that there might be other reasons why a patient's condition has improved. There's never talk about scientific studies with a large number of patients, control groups and where the patients' background is well-known. The description of the patient's condition is simple ("he had wrist pain") and there's a simple conclusion drawn from it ("product X made the pain disappear").
Testimonials is a trait that Nikken shares with another group of people: the religious. There too are testimonials used to describe the great experiences one can have if one has faith in a certain religion. This can be seen daily on for example christian TV channels. It's very obvious that Nikken wishes to use testimonials in their marketing since all testimonials concentrate on the positive side of the products. The results of scientific studies can't agree whether magnet therapy works or not, and would therefore create doubt in the customer's mind.
The most interesting find for me while searching for information was a mailing list for Nikken distributors [NIDIST]. Unline two other [NICLOSED] lists this one was open to the public, and I could carefully read the distributors comments. What surprised me was the lack of distribution of information. Instead they most often referred people to contact their closest superior, or go further up, in other words "go upline". I'm used to a fairly free flow of information criss-crossing regular lines of organisation and found the formalized chain-of-command thinking surprising.
The mailing list showed the same attitude towards references as I had earlier encountered, meaning they pretended such things didn't exist. One would've though a bunch of distributors would known where such information could be found and would lead the newbies there, but from what I've seen that never happens. I noticed one instance where information was exchanged, one distributor sent several testimonials as an attachment to a post. Another instance that surprised me a bit was when one of the members claimed that it's impossible to make a skeptic change his/her mind [MSG49], and distributors should instead focus on helping: "...who has time to debate when we know that these products are really helping people?" Not even the distributors, those who actually meet the customers, have the knowledge and information necessary to discuss the products with someone skeptical about what they're selling. The attitude seems to be that if you don't buy in on the stories and testimonials they won't talk to you.
The last thing I noticed on this mailing list was how they reacted when someone claiming to be an experienced distributor came in and posted several critical messages about Nikken [MSG281]. One of the replies says "Maybe time for Silver Training again?" [MSG290] One could tend to believe that Nikken solves the "problem" by sending critical distributors back to school so they can be taught the "right way". The lack of critical comments from other distributors regarding the behaviour and posts from some of the others startled me, as it's common to react to such things on a mailing list. There's few questions and the result is, not surprisingly, few answers.
I've had contact with several distributors since the presentation. It has rarely been long periods of contact though, probably coming from the fact that I do not come across as somebody they'd want to have contact with (ref the quote about not discussing with skeptics). So far I've only had one long discussion about what I've written, and that discussion did not have a positive outcome. Those distributors that I've had contact with have, with one exception, been completely negative to what I've written. My answers to their inquires through email have yielded no replies.
Whether magnetic products of the kind that Nikken sells have an effect cannot be confirmed nor refuted. This even though Nikken is a 25-year old company. Studies have been conducted but on a too small scale to able to draw conclusions from them. Testimonials are used to confirm the effect, but those testimonials are unreliable. "Far infrared technology" is as of now only undocumented usage of a term borrowed from astronomy.
Nikken's marketing is, as far as Norway is concerned, treading the fine line between legal and illegal. The effect of the products is, as earlier stated, difficult to document, even though the distributors would like to claim the opposite. The claims of a clearly positive effect are not well-founded, and the claims of a positive effect on certain illnesses is highly doubtful. Nikken state themselves that they cannot advertise their products in Norway since they're not clinically tested. They should therefore, in my opinion, limit the usage of claims about a clear effect on illnesses to keep themselves from doing marketing with misleading claims.
The distributors' argumentation for their products follow in the fotsteps of Nikken itself. There's seldom references to factual information, instead testimonials are used in same manner as the company does. Their behaviour is therefore similar to that of the newly converted religious: "we cannot prove that God exists, but he does exist!" (there's a similarity to "we cannot prove that it works, but it works"). The amount of information distributed across organisational lines is surprisingly small, instead they are encouraged to make contact in vertical lines in the hierarchy.
The list of references is a good starting point for more reading about Nikken and the technology. In addition to those I have several things that might be interesting. Should you have useful information about any of these and want me to add it to the list feel free to contact me. I've so far noted the following:
What exactly is this "technology". Little information is available through Google, that is after all the astronomy links are ignored. Good explanations, pictures etc would be of great help.
Nikken claims to have several patents on their technology. A search of the US Patent & Trademark Office [USPTO] returned at least one hit: patent #5,304,111 [PATENT]. This patent refers to several older patents. Research into this patent as well as the referred patents could return interesting information.
Nikken (and/or Nikken's distributors) have a large amount of websites on the domain 5pillars.com [5PILLARS]. That domain as well as nikken.com is owned by Nikken [WHOIS]. There seems to be a lot of information available, but it will of course be filtered by Nikken and the distributors. Some of it may be useful though.
Amway sued Nikken, and Nikken responded by counter-suing Amway [AMWAY]. Both cases are related to patents. Case documents or anything of the sort would be interesting.
Another company marketing magnetic products were fined USD30.000 for misleading claims in marketing of their products. Once again case documents or articles would be interesting (I've seen at least one article and I'll get a reference to it once I find it again).
For a slightly different view of magnet therapy, have a look at Quackwatch.com [QUACKWATCH]
The changelog for the Norwegian version has been as follows: