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National Safety Associates

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For other companies with similar initials, see NSA (disambiguation)

National Safety Associates (NSA) is a privately-owned marketing company based in Collierville, Tennessee, best known for selling a line of water and air filters, and then the nutritional supplement Juice Plus, via multi-level marketing.

History

The company was founded in 1970 by Jay Martin, a schoolteacher-turned-entrepreneur, who continues as CEO as of 2007. NSA initially sold home fire-protection equipment via door-to-door salespeople. In the late 1970s, they expanded into water filtration products. In 1986, they began using multilevel marketing, then expanding their product line to air filters and educational games for pre-schoolers.

In 1993, they began selling the nutritional supplement Juice Plus, which was manufactured by Natural Alternatives International in San Marcos, California. NAI has manufactured supplements for various clients, including the U.S. Olympic Committee, Mannatech, Arbonne International, Jenny Craig, NuSkin International, and Dr. Reginald Cherry.

NSA had some legal troubles in 1993, as the Attorney General's office followed up on complaints that the company was deceptively requiring new distributors to make large upfront purchases of air and water filters. Each of the 32,000 distributors in Florida purchased an average of $7,000 worth of water filters, and many of these distributors were unable to sell all of them. The company's business in the U.S. decreased that year, requiring the layoff of dozens of employees.

In January 1994, NSA signed athlete O. J. Simpson as the company's official celebrity endorser of Juice Plus, on a multi-year six-figure contract. For the year of 1994, NAI reported sales of $34 million and net income of $1.9 million, with a total of 250 distributors. However, after Simpson's arrest for the murder of his wife in mid-1994, NSA suspended Simpson's contract. The Juice Plus product was brought up during his murder trial, and a video was displayed of Simpson at a Juice Plus sales rally in Dallas a few months before his arrest. The product was actually the subject of some of the trial discussions. The defense had claimed that Simpson could not have performed the murder because of an arthritic condition. However, jurors were shown a videotape of Simpson giving a motivational speech in March 1994, three months before the murders, saying that Juice Plus had cured his arthritis pain and improved his golf game. The resulting publicity further increased sales.

The company has expanded from the United States, and as of 2000 is selling products in 33 countries,

As of December 2007, NSA is no longer producing water filters, choosing to concentrate on their Juice Plus brand. The company will continue to offer water filters until their current supplies are exhausted.>

References

  1. "Company history page". nsavirtualfranchise.com. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
  2. Laurel Campbell (August 31, 1993). "Corporate - NSA returns to marketing focus, trims Memphis staff". The Commercial Appeal. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Frank Green (February 22, 1995). "O.J. plug is a plus. The prosecution mentions Juice Plus, and sales are up". San Diego Union-Tribune. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. Linda Deutsch (July 19, 1995). "Simpson exercise video shown in murder trial. Defendant jokes about punching wives". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. "Business notes". Jefferson City News-Tribune. November 26, 2000. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

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