Blue Buffalo brand ambassador???

[ElizaThornberry]

I applied to be a brand ambassador for Blue Buffalo and wanted to know if anyone on this forum has worked this specific position before or something similar (or maybe for another dog food brand). I got an email back after applying stating they were interested in me and to discuss the position. I don't know why but it seems....too good to be true for a student...almost sketchy?? Anyone have any experience with this or any suggestions??

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[MixedAnimals77]

Blue buffalo is new to the student rep industry, but our school just got one. So shouldn't be sketchy

 

[ElizaThornberry]

Blue buffalo is new to the student rep industry, but our school just got one. So shouldn't be sketchy

But I have heard about their multiple recalls due to lead and mold. I know dogs have died due to eating moldy food. That is an issue I have with the brand. Should I really represent a company like that??

 

[JaynaAli]

That sounds like a personal question, honestly. From seeing the ads and talking to my classmates, the brand ambassador jobs available to students were nice to have and paid well for a reasonably small amount of work. My personal opinions about Blue Buffalo aside, I wouldn't ever want to be a representative for any company or product I didn't 100% believe in.

Edit: That advice was written assuming you were talking about the brand ambassador jobs available to veterinary students during their vet school career. If you are talking about just a layman job at a pet retailer (which after checking your post history and realizing I think you're an undergrad so this may be what you are talking about), I have no actual knowledge of that type of position but anecdotally most vets I've talked to tend to dislike these reps because they make recommendations that may go against veterinary advice or tell clients the vet is wrong and their miracle food will cure fluffy's ailments (somewhat satirical, but also somewhat serious). But my comments about how I wouldn't ever be an ambassador for a company I didn't 100% believe in still stand.

 

[RightMeow!]

Hi, former pet retail employee that spent a lot of time hanging out with the different brand ambassadors at our store.

Brand ambassadors are traveling sales reps, and the job (at least in retail) is to convince people in the store to drop their current bag of food for <insert large name brand here>. If you don't find enjoyment in selling a brand you're not comfortable with, I wouldn't recommend it.

The job itself is easy, but the paycheck is usually small. The main complaint for our ambassadors was their lack of hours. They made $15-20/hr to walk around the store, talk to people, and hang out with store employees. But they also only worked 8 hours a week between 2 or 3 different area stores and had to drive between them with personal vehicles. Moreover, they couldn't have a second job in an animal related field to avoid "conflict of interest".

Our ambassadors were also treated like children by their management and were spied on frequently. Reprimands were common for failure to raise the number of <large name brand> sold at a store, even though there is little you can do about sales working a 4 hour shift there once a week. We also had a lady get fired for recommending a customer go to the vet for a prescription diet, rather than ignoring the dogs needs and pushing her employers brand.

Great job if you need a quick buck, I guess?

 

[ElizaThornberry]

Hi, former pet retail employee that spent a lot of time hanging out with the different brand ambassadors at our store.

Brand ambassadors are traveling sales reps, and the job (at least in retail) is to convince people in the store to drop their current bag of food for <insert large name brand here>. If you don't find enjoyment in selling a brand you're not comfortable with, I wouldn't recommend it.

The job itself is easy, but the paycheck is usually small. The main complaint for our ambassadors was their lack of hours. They made $15-20/hr to walk around the store, talk to people, and hang out with store employees. But they also only worked 8 hours a week between 2 or 3 different area stores and had to drive between them with personal vehicles. Moreover, they couldn't have a second job in an animal related field to avoid "conflict of interest".

Our ambassadors were also treated like children by their management and were spied on frequently. Reprimands were common for failure to raise the number of <large name brand> sold at a store, even though there is little you can do about sales working a 4 hour shift there once a week. We also had a lady get fired for recommending a customer go to the vet for a prescription diet, rather than ignoring the dogs needs and pushing her employers brand.

Great job if you need a quick buck, I guess?

This is very informative! Thank you, and I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post.

 

[ElizaThornberry]

That sounds like a personal question, honestly. From seeing the ads and talking to my classmates, the brand ambassador jobs available to students were nice to have and paid well for a reasonably small amount of work. My personal opinions about Blue Buffalo aside, I wouldn't ever want to be a representative for any company or product I didn't 100% believe in.

Edit: That advice was written assuming you were talking about the brand ambassador jobs available to veterinary students during their vet school career. If you are talking about just a layman job at a pet retailer (which after checking your post history and realizing I think you're an undergrad so this may be what you are talking about), I have no actual knowledge of that type of position but anecdotally most vets I've talked to tend to dislike these reps because they make recommendations that may go against veterinary advice or tell clients the vet is wrong and their miracle food will cure fluffy's ailments (somewhat satirical, but also somewhat serious). But my comments about how I wouldn't ever be an ambassador for a company I didn't 100% believe in still stand.

You are correct, I am an undergrad. Yeah, I don't like Blue Buffalo as a brand....but considering it bc I am a broke college student and it's technically animal-related. However, I 100% agree....morally...it just doesn't sit right with me.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

But I have heard about their multiple recalls due to lead and mold. I know dogs have died due to eating moldy food. That is an issue I have with the brand. Should I really represent a company like that??

I agree with JanayAli (it's not tagging her idk why). I thought you were talking about like a vet school student rep position so I was just clarifying it is indeed a legit opportunity. Did not realize you meant like an actual job/pet store gig like thing. That's a totally different field/question/ etc. Good luck!

 

[MixedAnimals77]

You are correct, I am an undergrad. Yeah, I don't like Blue Buffalo as a brand....but considering it bc I am a broke college student and it's technically animal-related. However, I 100% agree....morally...it just doesn't sit right with me.

Get an unrelated animal job. Get your animal experience elsewhere. It's good to diversify on your app! Plus other positions sometimes pay more and you don't have your moral issue.

 

[that redhead]

You are correct, I am an undergrad. Yeah, I don't like Blue Buffalo as a brand....but considering it bc I am a broke college student and it's technically animal-related. However, I 100% agree....morally...it just doesn't sit right with me.

I would avoid this job and find something else. (Also, I’m not familiar with VMCAS’ current classification system for experiences but I don’t know that this would even count as animal experience.)

 

[SkiOtter]

I would avoid this job and find something else. (Also, I’m not familiar with VMCAS’ current classification system for experiences but I don’t know that this would even count as animal experience.)

Nope. Animal experience is working directly with animals. I’d consider that the same as working at a pet store as a cashier which is just employment, not animal experience.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

You are correct, I am an undergrad. Yeah, I don't like Blue Buffalo as a brand....but considering it bc I am a broke college student and it's technically animal-related. However, I 100% agree....morally...it just doesn't sit right with me.

I worked as a brand ambassador for Nature's Variety for close to a year in undergrad. The job would be REALLY hard if you don't like the food because your job is to convince people to buy it.

Also, it just kinda sucked. In a 3 hour period, I'd maybe talk to like 8 people so it was boring and lonely. The stores were just never busy, not even on the weekends. And, the management of the retail stores could suck..some of them were nice but some were nasty.

Anyways, I don't recommend it

 

[Minnerbelle]

I would take a hard pass on this one. My experience with these reps have been horrible. The blue buffalo peeps are militant. They have followed me around petco/pet smart when I was buying cat food, and wouldn’t stop even when I told them to leave me alone. One particularly awful one followed me to the proplan isle and started making comments about the crap food I was feeding my cats. I politely just said I’m fine with this thank you, but this awful idiot kept going. So I said, I’m a veterinarian and my cats have particular needs and this is what they do well with. To which he replied, “well they don’t teach nutrition in vet school, and the content is brainwashing by the crap food companies”

 

[ElizaThornberry]

I would avoid this job and find something else. (Also, I’m not familiar with VMCAS’ current classification system for experiences but I don’t know that this would even count as animal experience.)

My bad, what I meant is animal-related. I would not be directly working hands-on with animals.

 

[ElizaThornberry]

Nope. Animal experience is working directly with animals. I’d consider that the same as working at a pet store as a cashier which is just employment, not animal experience.
[/QUOTE
Right, I meant animal-related....my bad. I was only considering it because I can't seem to find anything else around here that has anything even remotely to do with animals.

 

[SkiOtter]

[weird quoting]

Yeahhh I would barely even consider it “animal related” tbh. It’s a sales job and not much different than someone who works at a makeup counter at a department store in the mall. They know those products and are doing everything and anything to sell you those products even if something else may be better. You’d be much better off finding a non-animal job and doing something animal related on the side or volunteer based, if you couldn’t find something animal related.
Is there a shelter or animal control near you at all that you could see about working there, even if it’s on the animal care side of things and not medical?

 

[ElizaThornberry]

Yeahhh I would barely even consider it “animal related” tbh. It’s a sales job and not much different than someone who works at a makeup counter at a department store in the mall. They know those products and are doing everything and anything to sell you those products even if something else may be better. You’d be much better off finding a non-animal job and doing something animal related on the side or volunteer based, if you couldn’t find something animal related.
Is there a shelter or animal control near you at all that you could see about working there, even if it’s on the animal care side of things and not medical?

There is a Humane Society that is literally a few minutes away from my apartment and I have volunteered there. However, I don't anymore because I ended up just standing around because there were more than enough volunteers already and they weren't very informative on telling you what to do/how to do it.