| Posted 28 April 2023 Multilevel marketing (MLM) critic Robert L. FitzPatrick has issued an “Anti-MLM Declaration” that argues: - MLM is not “business” or “direct selling”
- the use of business terminology for MLMs is inappropriate and misleading
- MLMs are essentially identical; MLM product-transactions launder money-transfers and disguise MLM as direct selling
- Multi-level marketing is a destructive cult
- U.S. law enforcement policy toward MLM is unfounded, perpetuates harm, and must be changed.
Reference: FitzPatrick R. What MLM is, and what to do about it. Pyramid Scheme Alert, April 10, 2023 … Read the rest Posted 19 April 2023 Experts on natural products and toxicology have provided an overview of the problem of liver damage due to herbal dietary supplement (HDS) use in the United States. They suggest two strategies they hope will improve consumer safety and drive bad actors from the marketplace. One is a path for pre-clinical assessment and the other is the establishment of a list of products.
Reference: Gurley BJ, and others. Hepatoxicity due to herbal dietary supplements: Past, present, and the future. Food and Chemical Toxicology 169:113445, 2022 Their key points include: - The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 provides an insufficient framework for regulating HDS products.
- 20% of adult Americans regularly consume HDS products.
- Liver toxicity is among the most frequent serious events reported through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Adverse Event Reporting System.
- 20% of all drug-induced
… Read the rest Posted 14 June 2021 A recent exposé of multi-level marketing (MLM) by Good Housekeeping includes: - stories of former distributors with links to their videos in which they criticize how MLM companies operate
- links to videos describing how distributors use their pregnancies or infertility to recruit women facing similar struggles to become distributors
- discussion of cultism in the MLM industry
- discussion of the popularity of anti-MLM content on TikTok, which has banned content promoting MLMs.
- descriptions of MLM companies’ responses to recent warnings by the Federal Trade Commission
- evidence suggesting financial success for distributors is rare
- discussion of findings from the 2018 “AARP Study of Multilevel Marketing: Profiling Participants and the Experiences in Direct Sales”
- psychological support resources offered by the anti-MLM community
Reference: Garrity A. Inside the “toxic” world of women selling you everything from supplements to skincare on social media. Good Housekeeping, May 24, 2021 Source: Consumer … Read the rest Posted 20 March 2021 A management consulting firm has characterized multilevel marketing (MLM) companies as using “fraud, deceit, and outright lies in a flawed business model.” The firm refutes an MLM promoter’s twelve reasons that people should pursue direct-sales opportunities in MLM companies. It characterizes each of those reasons as a false promise. The twelve false promises are: - “You can work from anywhere!”
- “You decide how much effort you put in.”
- “It rewards those who work hard.”
- “You get to be your own boss!”
- “The hours are flexible.”
- “Startup costs are lower than for other businesses.”
- “It provides you with extra income.”
- “You will save money on childcare expenses.”
- “It gives you goals to work toward.”
- “You’ll feel supported and make lifelong friends.”
- “You can buy high-quality products at a discount.”
- “MLMs are fun!”
An superb article on the MLM market. Quotes: “The average MLM rep earns around $400 per … Read the rest Posted 10 February 2021 Robert L. Fitzpatrick, who operates Pyramid Scheme Alert, has penned the strongest attack on multilevel marketing (MLM) ever published in book form. His book, Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing, explains in vivid detail why the vast majority of people who become MLM “distributors” will lose money. Even worse, those who become too enthusiastic may act as though they belong to a cult. The book also spotlights how and why the Federal Trade Commission has failed to protect the public against deceptive MLM claims. Paperback – November 30, 2020Ponzinomics by Robert L. FitzPatrick, author of False Profits, is the first comprehensive account of how “multi-level marketing” was created in America, escaped criminal and civil prosecution and spread all over the world. It is the first book to deeply investigate the multi-level marketing phenomenon and to … Read the rest Posted 30 September 2020 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has ruled that Patricia Rodgers and fellow plaintiffs can proceed with a federal lawsuit that is seeking class-action status against 44 top-level Herbalife distributors. The Court’s ruling overturned lower court rulings that Herbalife could compel arbitration.
Reference: Alpert B. Herbalife faces a fresh legal hurdle. Barron’s, Sept 25, 2020 The Appeals Court order summarized Rodgers’ situation this way: Patricia Rodgers filled out the paperwork to become an Herbalife member in June 2010. Some six months later, she claims, she traveled over a hundred miles to Orlando, Florida, to attend her first large Herbalife recruiting event, the “January Spectacular.” According to Patricia, the keynote speaker at this event was a highly successful distributor who told the attendees that if they simply put in enough time, money, and effort, then they, too, could achieve life-changing financial success. . … Read the rest Posted 02 September 2020 Multilevel marketing company Herbalife Nutrition, Ltd. has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve federal charges that it conspired over a ten-year period to bribe to Chinese officials and falsify its accounting records to promote and expand its business in China. Under the agreement, Herbalife admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and promised to pay penalties totaling more than $123 million. By 2016, Herbalife’s business in China accounted for $850 million, which was about 20% of its worldwide annual net sales. Reference: Herbalife agrees to pay $123 million to resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case. US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York news release, Aug 28, 2020 MLM Watch has an archive of information about Herbalife collected over more than 30 years that includes regulatory actions and lawsuits against the company. Source: Consumer Health Digest #20-34, August … Read the rest Posted 20 April 2020 Global direct sales company Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. has recently extended its decades-long record of being the subject of regulatory actions. - Last year, it agreed to pay $20 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that it made false and misleading statements in numerous U.S. regulatory filings about the compensation model for its China-based service providers. SEC alleged that the actual model used is multilevel and based on downline purchases rather than hours worked. While direct selling is permitted in China, multilevel marketing is not. SEC found that Herbalife’s misleading statements deprived investors of the information they needed to fully evaluate the risk of investing in Herbalife stock.
Reference: Herbalife to pay $20 million for misleading investors. US Securities and Exchange Commission press release. Sept 27, 2019 - Two former company executives, Yanliang Li and Hongwei Yang, were charged in November on criminal and
… Read the rest Posted 21 October 2019 Oct 10, 2019 Harriet A. Hall, MD Science-Based Medicine A case of fatal liver failure in India was attributed to Herbalife products, adding to many other reports from around the world. Analysis showed Herbalife products contain heavy metals and other contaminants. The products have not been scientifically tested, and in the absence of evidence of benefit to human health, they can’t be recommended. Herbalife is a multilevel marketing company that sells nutritional and weight loss supplements in 94 countries. After many complaints, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated the company. In 2016, they described Herbalife as a scam disguised as healthy living; the company was fined $200 million and ordered to restructure its business and issue refunds to 350,000 Herbalife distributors. Herbalife has also been sued in Belgium and Israel. There have been over 50 reports of liver toxicity attributed to Herbalife products in Spain, Israel, … Read the rest Posted 05 May 2019 Abstract Herbalife® is a global nutrition and weight management company selling and marketing nutritional and weight loss supplements. The United States Federal Trade Commission described Herbalife® in 2016 as a scam disguised as healthy living. Herbalife®-associated liver injury was reported from multiple countries in the West. India is fast becoming the largest growing market for Herbalife® products, expected to surpass the United States in sales revenue. We report the first case of a fatal acute liver failure from the Asia-Pacific region, in a young woman who consumed Herbalife® products over 2 months. We also present unsettling data that showcase heavy metal contamination, toxic compounds, psychotropic substances, and pathogenic bacterial contamination in similar Herbalife® products in India. The growth of Herbalife® in India and expansion of its nutrition clubs in major cities that promise fake health benefits portend a serious public health concern. Slimming to the Death: … Read the rest | |
