# OKCpedia > Businesses & Employers >  Blue Stuff filing bankruptcy

## Patrick

Well, I'm glad the original deal between Blue Stuff and Bank One to purchase the Gold Dome didn't go thru.  They had originally put a proposal to buy the Gold Dome.  
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"Blue Stuff company to be sold 


By Jim Stafford
The Oklahoman

Less than two years after it was honored as Oklahoma's "venture of the year," Oklahoma City-based Blue Stuff Inc. will be sold by its creditor, IBC Bank, on Oct. 1, the company said in a statement Monday. 
Founded in 1998 by Jack McClung to sell an emu-based blue ointment that was touted for its health benefits, Blue Stuff sales hit $82.9 million in 2002. 

The Oklahoma Venture Forum and the Oklahoma Investment Forum honored it with the 2003 Venture of the Year award. 

But the company also agreed to pay $3 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint that it made unsubstantiated claims about the goo's pain-relieving qualities. 

Last year, Debra Murray, now company president and daughter of Jack McClung, told shareholders in a letter that the company was enduring financial difficulties relating to a strategy shift away from direct retailing to wholesaling its product to retail stores. 

Monday, the company issued the following statement through Steve Brown, its vice president for marketing: 

"Blue Stuff Inc., at the request of secured creditor IBC Bank, is doing a voluntary asset surrender to IBC Bank on Sept. 30, 2004, and will no longer be doing business as Blue Stuff Incorporated. 

"IBC Bank is selling these assets to our knowledge essentially as a single entity Oct. 1. The company that buys these assets is expected to continue to sell Blue Stuff products without interruption. 

"To repeat that important point -- all customers are expected to be able to continue to obtain Blue Stuff products. While achieving success as a product and a company, Blue Stuff had several things happen to it in 2002 and 2003 that caused its debts to exceed its assets. 

"We apologize that we are unable to provide additional information at this time." 

Brown said the company would have nothing to say beyond the statement. 

He would not say whether Blue Stuff officers knew who the buyer was that IBC apparently had lined up. For now, McClung is chairman of the board, Brown said. 

As for the bank's relationship with Blue Stuff, Randy Roper, IBC Bank's Oklahoma market president, would only say that "as a matter of policy, we don't comment on our customers and their business affairs." 

Stockholders received a letter from Murray last week that told them essentially the same thing that Brown said in his statement. 

Stockholder Judy Armstrong and her husband bought 1,000 shares after they became distributors for Blue Stuff. Armstrong tried the product and found it was effective in easing the pain in her legs. 

Blue Stuff is a privately held company that offered stock only to its distributors and certain customers. 

The Armstrongs paid $2 per share and believed that they would earn "10 times" what they invested, she said, based on what McClung had said. 

"But I don't think anybody ended up with anything," Armstrong said. "I'm gung-ho on the product. Still am." 

The company did a reverse stock split of its shares last year on a 1-share-for-20,000 basis, that left all but two shareholders, McClung and Vice President Josh Bellieu, with fractional shares. 

"I guess we're considered former stockholders, but we've never been paid for our stock," she said. "

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## mranderson

I felt all along "Blue Stuff" smelled funny. Now I am convinced.

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## Patrick

LOL mranderson.  Don't like putting Emoo oil on your body?

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## mranderson

> LOL mranderson.  Don't like putting Emoo oil on your body?


That sounds like Diva's topic for next week.

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## Patrick

LOL!  That cracks me up!  Wonder if Blue Stuff makes sex anymore appealing!  It's an interesting topic.  DarlingDiva, maybe a topic for next week??  :Smile:     I have heard that using various lotions during sex does improve the feelings for the woman though.  Okay, Okay.....this belongs in the other forum!

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## Midtowner

Another snake oil vendor goes down.

I won't lose any sleep.

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## mranderson

> Another snake oil vendor goes down.
> 
> I won't lose any sleep.


My point exactly. The investers were stupid for investing in that type of product to begin with.

A quote from a late family friend: "He who is dumb enough to gets took, deserves to get took."

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## Patrick

The owners of Blue Stuff always made a lot of supposedly scientific claims. None of them were ever proved by any scientific evidence and the owner had no scientific background. Supposedly he found the formula by luck.  Doesn't sound very scientific to me.

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## mranderson

Watch the first part of "Distinquished Gentleman" with Eddie Murphy... Before he runs for Congress.

I bet you find the kind of "science" that developed "Blue Stuff."

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## Midtowner

> My point exactly. The investers were stupid for investing in that type of product to begin with.
> 
> A quote from a late family friend: "He who is dumb enough to gets took, deserves to get took."


lol

They should go invest in homeopathic remedies.  That's the next frontier of medicine  :Big Grin:

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## downtownguy

Here's something to consider: Overnight success stories rarely exist. Either what is perceived as an "overnight success" actually was years in the making, or it's one big con. We in Oklahoma seem to be particularly susceptible to this (ie: CFS, Blue Stuff, Tower Tech)

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## Patrick

Yeah, I'm really not surprised Blue Stuff didn't survive.  Their ointments were very expensive and they were no better than Ben Gay or Icy Hot, in my opinion.

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## rxis

I agree with you.  Blue Stuff worked for me but it was just too expensive compared to its competitors.

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## mranderson

Probably worked psycologically. I have no doubt all these products are what was known in the early 20th century as "snake oil." Never trusted them, never will. That is what doctors are for.

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## rxis

everything has been a temporary fix or I should say murcle relief in my upper back (lats).  A chiropractor told me that it is because my right shoulder is longer than my left and it is not unusual.  The pain probably comes from straining.   I will try it out sometime.

Whats that burning sensation that blue stuff, ben gay, icy hot, etc gives?

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## Patrick

> Whats that burning sensation that blue stuff, ben gay, icy hot, etc gives?


I think it's the menthol that causes the sensation.  It's kind of similar to putting Vicks Vapor Rub on your chest or nose.   The menthol causes an increased blood flow to the site of application.

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## Patrick

When I first posted this thread, the Blue Stuff company was filing for bankruptcy. Now, the owner is personally filing for bankruptcy. 

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"Blue Stuff inventor files Chapter 7 

By Jim Stafford
Business Writer

The inventor of the popular emu-based ointment Blue Stuff has filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition that lists more than $4 million in debts, most related to the once high-flying business. 

Jack H. McClung filed the liquidation petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on Feb. 10. 

McClung listed assets of more than $1.5 million and attached a list of unsecured creditors that was 68 pages long. Most of them were Blue Stuff shareholders. Others were businesses owed money by now-defunct Blue Stuff. 

The Blue Stuff Inc. business was sold by its creditor, IBC Bank, in October to Blue Spring International, a limited liability company managed by McClung's daughter, Debra McClung Murray. 

McClung's bankruptcy filing should have no effect on the operations of Blue Springs International, which continues to market the ointment, said Steve Brown, vice president for marketing. 

"Jack McClung is not affiliated in any way with Blue Spring," Brown said. "Blue Stuff ceased to exist in September." 

In the bankruptcy filing, McClung lists his residence as 19200 E Camp Drive in the rural Logan County community of Meridian. The property includes 160 acres and is valued at $500,000, according to the filing. 

McClung said he is surrendering three parcels of property in Oklahoma City to secured creditors, including a home at 1415 N Hudson in the Colcord Heights subdivision. Bank of America is listed as the largest secured creditor with a claim of $880,000 against the property. 

Neither McClung nor his attorney, Janice D. Loyd of the law firm Bellingham, Collins and Loyd, could be reached for comment Friday. 

The filing leaves little hope that any of the scores of investors who bought shares of Blue Stuff Inc. will recoup any of their money. That reality didn't sit well with Bob Jones of Harrah, who invested $5,000 in the company because he liked the product so well. 

"I've got 2,500 shares of that Blue Stuff (stock) that I can't redeem, can't get any money out of it," Jones said Friday morning. "He's trying to duck all of his responsibilities." 

A creditors' meeting has been scheduled for 11:30 a.m. March 10 at the U.S. Post Office in Guthrie. "
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_Bankruptcy filing_
Who: Jack H. McClung, founder of now defunct Blue Stuff Inc. 

Date of filing: Feb. 10. 

Type of filing: Chapter 7. 

Assets listed: $1.58 million. 

Liabilities listed: $4.17 million. 

Largest secured claim: Bank of America, $880,000. 

Largest nonsecured claim: Cosmetic Specialty Labs Inc., $548,973. 

No. of shareholders listed: 216.

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## rxis

I still see ads selling Blue Stuff.  Except now its being sold in bulk orders.

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