Iacocca, Phone Company Suffer a Disconnect
Former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca is quitting the board of a long-distance phone company that has been using his name to drum up business.
Iacocca said through a spokeswoman Wednesday that he never gave Intercontinental Communications Long Distance of Delrey Beach, Fla., permission to use his name.
The company, also known as ICLD, has been running ads in The Times and other newspapers with Iacocca’s picture to attract recruits for its network marketing program. “If you liked his cars, you’re going to love his long-distance service,” the ads say.
A spokeswoman for Iacocca said he has no ownership interest in the company and no management role. She said Iacocca agreed to sit on the board at the request of ICLD’s chief executive, Robert E. Brown, a friend and former executive at Los Angeles-based automotive publisher Petersen Publishing.
“He trusted him as an old friend,” the spokeswoman said. “I know he did not realize there would be national ads. This is all wrong. . . . It is misrepresentation, every bit of it.”
Neither Brown nor his son, Michael P. Brown, listed in corporate records as ICLD president, could be reached for comment.
ICLD ads tout the names of other celebrities, including performer Vic Damone. Damone’s personal manager, Dale Sheets, said Wednesday that the singer joined the board because of Iacocca, a friend.
“If Mr. Iacocca is leaving, then Mr. Damone will reconsider his position with the company,” Sheets said.
ICLD has been holding recruitment talks in hotels around the country to sign up salespeople for an elaborate multilevel marketing plan. A company representative recruiting people in Woodland Hills on Tuesday night dangled such benefits as health care and free vacations. The representative, Izzy Mantos, said company cars are available to salespeople because Iacocca “has connections in Detroit.”
During his two-hour pitch, Mantos wowed potential recruits with lofty earnings projections. While warning there are “no guarantees,” he said it is possible to earn $200,000 in eight months by doing little work.
Mantos noted that multilevel marketing companies have a reputation for promising too much. Holding a photo of Iacocca, he said: “You know what he gives us? Credibility.”
ICLD’s multilevel marketing program is like a daisy chain in which salespeople receive commissions for signing up other salespeople. They also earn commissions for signing up customers for ICLD’s long-distance service.
According to Mantos, ICLD was founded in 1993 and counts as long-distance customers more than 100 hotels in Canada, plus scattered hotels, hospitals and universities in the United States. He would not name any of the clients.
Helping Mantos make the pitch in Woodland Hills was former Chicago Bulls reserve player John Salley. Host of a syndicated talk show distributed by a unit of Walt Disney Co., Salley said he had recruited his brothers, cousins and mother to sell ICLD’s long-distance service.
Besides his brief association with ICLD, Iacocca has invested in the Koo Koo Roo restaurant chain and sits on its board. He also markets a spread made from olive oil.
