The Toronto District School Board has been informed that an American based company, Vemma, has been promoting their sales program through Facebook and are soliciting students to become "brand agents" (sales representatives) for their product, a low in caffeine with added supplements energy drink called Verve. Students are also being encouraged to recruit other students as "brand agents" for this product. This is a concern that we are sharing with our parents, as the company is targeting middle and high schools students (ages 14 to 16 and over). They have a strong marketing campaign that may very well appeal to the young people. There is a significant cost for the start-up kit, and messaging on their website promotes this activity as an opportunity for the students to make money. There is also an incentive program that offers different levels of sales and rewards, such as cars and more. We can see that this could be seen by young people as an opportunity to make some money. It has been reported that company representatives are visiting secondary schools throughout Toronto for the purpose of recruiting "brand agents". Just last week it was reported that one of their company representatives met with students in a TDSB parking lot after class. This is being investigated by Toronto Police Service. At the school, we are informing students that they are forbidden to solicit product sales during school time, and all such activities must be done off school property and not during school hours. We at the TDSB felt that it was important to keep you, the parents/guardians, informed.
