Friday, August 2, 2013

A little Herbalife red-herring

Here - linked - and from the SEC's Edgar database is the original Herbalife IPO prospectus. This document was filed on 1 October 2004.

Remember back then. George Bush was President yet to win his second term. Barrack Obama was a Illinois State Senator and you needed to be a political junkie to have heard of him. Almost nobody could have identified his family in a photo.

And so - lurking - unnoticed in the prospectus - is this photo presumably representing Herbalife customers or distributors:



The photo is there - you can go check it.

It occupied my mind for a while - but it is alas not the First Family much as I wish it were. It is just one of life's little coincidences.

Then of course I may be wrong. Been wrong before. Appearances might not be deceiving...




John

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite HLF post so far!

I'm assuming you looked into it and found out that is not Obama? Curious how you confirmed that it isn't?

The woman's hair actually looks very similar to Michaelle Obama's current haicut....wierd

Anonymous said...

In 2004 his daughters would have been 3 and 6.. those girls look a little older (but not much!)

But the father is a dead ringer for Obama, and agreed that the woman's hair looks about right as well.

William M. Connolley said...

> Barrack Obama

Barack. Unless you're suggesting shouting at him.

Anonymous said...

Here is 2004 photos
http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/sasha-and-malia-obama-aging-timeline

Anonymous said...

The photo is actually fairly commonly used in promo materials, if you google it (didn't know about the google photo capability until I saw it in BBC's panorama on Cupid and fake profiles...).
So it's at least here http://www.goldencastlevilla.com/testimonials.html
and here http://schoolportraits.lifetouch.com/justForSchools/smilesafe/index.aspx?id=202
and here http://b2b.expedia.com/daily/promos/conde-nast/caribbean_family.asp

So looks like a stock photo. Even if Obama was on it (and I'd have thought Google would find a reference to it pretty quickly), it would not mean anything for HLF

Anonymous said...

It's some sort of stock photo. Here are some other uses:

http://tineye.com/search/2bfb959352fe11d0f16e693dda8821d4597f10ca/

gf said...

It's some sort of travel stock photo:

http://tineye.com/search/2bfb959352fe11d0f16e693dda8821d4597f10ca/

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV7JZbKWwWA

Anonymous said...

Why do you say that it is not Obama?

Looks pretty close to me. That sure does look like Barack. And the shot of the wife isn't great, but from that angle looks a lot like Michelle. With two daughters that are about the right ages?

If that is not the first family, it is a doppleganger bizarro Obama famly.

Darren Peterson said...

It does look like the Obama family but I do agree wouldn't the girls have been younger in 2004?

Anonymous said...

Looks like there are multiple copies of this photo floating around. My guess is this is a stock photo. Another example:

http://b2b.expedia.com/daily/promos/conde-nast/caribbean_family.asp

Anonymous said...

Obama is a long legged mack daddy

General disclaimer

The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of Mr. Hempton. You should assume Mr. Hempton and his affiliates have positions in the securities discussed in this blog, and such beneficial ownership can create a conflict of interest regarding the objectivity of this blog. Statements in the blog are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors. Certain information in this blog concerning economic trends and performance is based on or derived from information provided by third-party sources. Mr. Hempton does not guarantee the accuracy of such information and has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of such information or the assumptions on which such information is based. Such information may change after it is posted and Mr. Hempton is not obligated to, and may not, update it. The commentary in this blog in no way constitutes a solicitation of business, an offer of a security or a solicitation to purchase a security, or investment advice. In fact, it should not be relied upon in making investment decisions, ever. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author. In particular this blog is not directed for investment purposes at US Persons.