USA John Robert Powers "school" Vs. "agency" Controversy
The John Robert Powers system is a franchise system and its franchises in the USA have been involved in a controversy over their status as a school vs a talent agency. Critics in the USA describe John Robert Powers franchises in America as using high-pressure sales tactics and misleading advertising. John Robert Powers USA asserts that is not an agency and does not make any percentage of the talents' earnings.
The Los Angeles Better Business Bureau believes that Powers fits the definitions of a "talent agency" and an "advance-fee talent agent" as per California law. Nevertheless the BBB notes that Powers would "undoubtedly deny that they are either " and that Powers' contracts do not use such terms. The Los Angeles BBB further notes:
| “ | All complaints cited in this article were filed against the Ontario John Robert Powers office. Although our complaints against a number of other Powers franchises are similar, some Powers locations in our files have no complaints. Nevertheless, we urge you to check our reliability report before signing a contract and to aware that John Robert Powers, wherever located, is a school. | ” |
JRP websites include photos of famous personalities and name other celebrities as graduates. Pictures of well-known stars such as Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne hang in the lobby of franchises. The Los Angeles Better Business Bureau attempted to contact some of these celebrities through their agents or close family members, and those who responded neither attended classes at JRP nor authorized use of their likeness. Celebrities, their representatives or immediate family members who claimed no involvement with JRP schools included Lucille Ball, Heather Locklear, Barbara Walters, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, John Wayne and Betty Ford. According to the National First Ladies Library biography, Betty Ford worked as a model for the JRP Agency. A Vanity Fair article says Grace Kelly was a model at the JRP agency.
John Robert Powers brochures in the USA continue to use the names of celebrities such as Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Betty Ford, describing them as "Powers models or graduates."
Read more about this topic: John Robert Powers
Famous quotes containing the words usa, powers, school, agency and/or controversy:
“The biggest difference between ancient Rome and the USA is that in Rome the common man was treated like a dog. In America he sets the tone. This is the first country where the common man could stand erect.”
—I.F. (Isidor Feinstein)
“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“The school system, custodian of print culture, has no place for the rugged individual. It is, indeed, the homogenizing hopper into which we toss our integral tots for processing.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“It is possible that the telephone has been responsible for more business inefficiency than any other agency except laudanum.... In the old days when you wanted to get in touch with a man you wrote a note, sprinkled it with sand, and gave it to a man on horseback. It probably was delivered within half an hour, depending on how big a lunch the horse had had. But in these busy days of rush-rush-rush, it is sometimes a week before you can catch your man on the telephone.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Ours was a highly activist administration, with a lot of controversy involved ... but I’m not sure that it would be inconsistent with my own political nature to do it differently if I had it to do all over again.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)