Today we noticed a new miracle product being advertised online, this time for Russian Monster Mix, which is claimed to be a “steroid alternative” that is sold out until next month. Because the advertising hype seemed too good to be true, we decided to investigate a little further.
The ad we saw today read:
Controversy Over New Steroid Alternative
Rare Plant Increases Muscle Growth 700%.
HLifestyles.com
We have run across Hlifestyles.com before, in our research of raspberry ketone, and African Mango – both of which are heavily hyped by online supplement vendors and affiliate marketers, all without much evidence to support claims that they do anything. This alone is a giant red flag.
The article on HLifetyles.com/Muscle hypes “Russian Monster Mix” as giving “unreal gains” and tells how it “should be banned” because of the unfair advantage it gives. They also listed the Russian name of M????? M???, which appears to simply mean “Monster Mix.” These too-good-to-be-true claims are often just that: too good too be true hype aimed at selling common products under a fancy name. It should also be noted that there is a disclaimer at the bottom of HLifestyles.com which tells us that the article is not an actual news article, and that it is “sponsored” by C9-T11, which we have written about here.
From HLifestyles.com we eventually get directed to getmonstermix.com, which is essentially a long, rambling one-page sales pitch with little information. They use rather tired sales tactics such as saying it is sold out or available limited supplies, and the price will increase after today.
Fake Photos
On the website, we see Before and After photos that supposedly show a subject named D.J. Jeffries from Boulder Colorado after 8 weeks of using the product. The “before” image is a stock photo, easily found on other sites such as this one about hair removal. The “after” photo is also a stock image from Shutterstock (see here). Along with these faked photos are claims of muscle gains in a “field study” by Applied Nutritional Research – who are the creators of Monster Mix!
Cost
The getmonstermix.com website shows a “list price” of $99, but “your price” is $67. In other words, they mark up the list price so they can mark it back down for you. They claim that it would cost over $700 to buy all of the ingredients separately. This may be true, though there are certainly other competing products that can make the same claim.
Ingredients
The Monster Mix ingredients are shown below. Nothing in the list of ingredients really jumps out as anything groundbreaking, though many are staples in the bodybuilding world. Some notables on the list are creatine, L-glutamine, MSM, Tongkat Ali, deer antler, whey protein, and arginine. In a 2-scoop serving, there are 2 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 23 grams of protein, totaling 210 calories. It seems to be a valid product, but certainly nothing revolutionary.
Note that we are never told of a “rare plant” as stated in the original advertisement. That was simply a ruse to get you to click on the ad.
Here are the ingredients, as provided by Applied Nutritional Research, who appears to be the manufacturer of this product:
Bottom Line
Monster Mix is a new entrant in the “hardcore” performance powder ring. Such viable competitors include offerings by MuscleTech (Cell-Tech Hardcore Pro or Nitro Tech Hardcore Pro, for example) BSN, or even GNC. The price is slightly higher than most competition (GNC’s top product is more expensive), and the product doesn’t seem as readily available as others in this category. Whether they have hit on a special combination or not remains to be seen.
One thing is certain: Their advertising needs improvement.
Your Turn
Have you used Monster Mix, or have you ordered the product? We want to hear from you in the comments below! Let us know what the ordering experience was like, and if you found the product to live up to the hype.
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