Ethos Review and Profile

Ethos no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Original Npros business profile for Ethos, preserved below for archival purposes:

Ethos Environmental developed and marketed Ethos FR, a liquid fuel additive promoted for gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. The San Diego company described the ester-based formula as an engine cleaner and lubricant intended to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions. Its principal products were Ethos FR and the more concentrated Ethos FR+, both of which remain listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel-additive registration database. EPA registration permits an additive to be introduced into commerce; it does not constitute EPA certification of the company's fuel-economy or emissions-reduction claims.

The business was originally privately held before completing a reverse merger with publicly traded Victor Industries on November 2, 2006. Victor Industries changed its name to Ethos Environmental, Inc., issued 17,718,187 shares to the former Ethos shareholders and valued the acquired assets at approximately $4.4 million. The company reported revenue of $1.78 million in 2005 and $4.77 million in 2006, although it recorded a net loss of $6.56 million for 2006. By the first nine months of 2009, revenue had fallen to approximately $1.03 million, while the company reported a $4.13 million net loss, a $3.31 million working-capital deficit and an accumulated deficit of $55.74 million. Its auditors and management reported substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Ethos Environmental primarily functioned as the product developer and manufacturer rather than as a conventional MLM company itself. Its fuel additives were nevertheless promoted through network-marketing organizations. In 2006, 4E Corporation launched an MLM program centered on Ethos FR and reported signing approximately 64,000 members within its first months. A later marketing division known as EcoMates also recruited independent marketers to sell Ethos FR and FR+ through direct, word-of-mouth promotion. Participants purchased or sold the fuel treatment and could earn compensation from personal sales and the activity of recruited marketers. Publicly available compensation materials from these programs are limited, and the network-marketing operations were separate from Ethos Environmental's publicly reported corporate structure.

On December 31, 2010, Ethos Environmental completed a merger with direct-selling company Regeneca International.