AdvoCare Customers Who Cashed Their First FTC Refund Are Getting a Second One, as 170,571 Payments Totaling More Than $11.4 Million Go Out

In October 2019, the Federal Trade Commission announced a case against AdvoCare, the Plano, Texas, maker of the Spark energy drink and other health and wellness products. The FTC’s complaint called the company’s business model an illegal pyramid scheme. Seven years later, that case is still sending money back to the people it says were hurt: 170,571 second-round payments totaling more than $11.4 million, going to AdvoCare distributors who cashed or accepted their first refund.

Checks in the new round must be cashed within 90 days, and PayPal payments must be accepted within 30 days, according to the FTC’s AdvoCare refund page, which is dated October 2026.

From a $59 Fee to a $150 Million Settlement

The FTC’s Oct. 2, 2019 announcement laid out the allegations. AdvoCare sold its products through a network of “distributors,” and joining cost a $59 fee. Full earning eligibility, the FTC said, required reaching “advisor” status, which typically meant $1,200 to $2,400 in product purchases. The agency alleged that the reward system favored recruiting over retail sales, pushed distributors to buy more inventory than they could sell and relied on exaggerated income claims. In 2016, it said, 72.3% of distributors earned no compensation at all.

Andrew Smith, then director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the announcement: “Legitimate businesses make money selling products and services, not by recruiting.” In a consumer alert the same month, the agency said AdvoCare promoted what it called a “life-changing business opportunity” through pro athlete endorsements, sporting event sponsorships, conferences and podcasts. The complaint alleged that 72 percent of distributors lost money or earned nothing, and the FTC said that when distributors’ costs were counted, nearly all of them lost money.

The settlement was large. AdvoCare and its former chief executive, Brian Connolly, agreed to pay $150 million and accept a permanent ban from multi-level marketing. Promoters Carlton and Lisa Hardman settled for a permanent multi-level marketing ban and a $4 million judgment that is suspended once they surrender substantial assets. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and the Commission voted 5-0 to authorize it.

Distributors received notices at the time saying they could no longer earn from their downline’s purchases, that some might be eligible for refunds if they had significant losses, and that they could get a 100% refund on unused products.

Round One Returned More Than $137.8 Million

The FTC began mailing refunds in May 2022. In its May 5, 2022 announcement, the agency said it was returning more than $149 million to more than 224,000 consumers who lost money in the scheme, by check and by PayPal. The current refund page counts that first round as having resulted in more than $137.8 million in refunds.

The money came from settlements reached before the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling that limited the FTC’s ability to seek monetary relief under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act, a point the agency made in 2022 while asking Congress to restore that authority. The same release noted that FTC actions in 2020 led to more than $483 million in refunds nationwide.

A second round follows a simple rule laid out in the FTC’s refund FAQ: when money remains after the first distribution, the agency may send more, and money that cannot be distributed goes to the U.S. Treasury. The FAQ also says that over the last five years more than 95% of collected refund money went to consumers, and that attorneys and FTC staff are not paid from settlement funds.

Spread evenly, the second-round totals work out to roughly $67 per payment, though the actual amounts may differ.

What the Second Round Asks of Recipients

The only condition is the one the FTC attached to the group: payments go to people who accepted their first payment. The refund page notes that not every distributor qualified for the original settlement, and that those who reached Advisor level and spent much more on products than they received in rewards, among other criteria, may have been eligible. The FTC states that most AdvoCare distributors lost money. Anyone who did not accept a first payment is not on the list.

The refund page says the FTC sent the payments as a paper check or through PayPal, and that the two carry different deadlines. A check must be cashed within 90 days, and a PayPal payment must be accepted within 30.

Questions go to the refund administrator, Analytics Consulting, at 1-855-744-1802. The FTC also publishes a Spanish version of the refund page. As with other cases, the contact numbers for each program are posted at ftc.gov/refunds, which lists the case, the company issuing payments and a phone number.

For readers following the larger stream of FTC money going back to households this fall, the AdvoCare round sits alongside Amazon’s Prime refunds, where the FTC raised the maximum per customer from $51 to $200. Former distributors who have moved or changed email addresses since 2022 can use the administrator’s line to confirm whether a second-round payment was sent to them.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Stevepb – CC0/Wikimedia Commons