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Anti-multilevel marketing declaration issued

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
April 28th, 2023 | Tags: , | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Multilevel-marketing conference videos available

Posted 29 March 2023

Videos of sessions from the online conference “Multilevel Marketing: The Consumer Protection Challenge 2023,” are now available to be viewed for free. The event was the third annual multilevel-marketing (MLM) conference sponsored by The College of New Jersey School of Business.

  • Session 1 addressed how some current MLM businesses operate and outlined recent legal cases.
  • Session 2 featured activists who are critical of MLM on social media.
  • Session 3 focused on MLM industry documents, statements, and behaviors. It included a talk by Dr. Stephen Barrett on the types of harm caused by the multilevel marketing of useless health products, how ZYTO devices are used to offer baseless recommendations for multilevel-marketed health products, and baseless health claims made for multilevel-marketed Healy devices. (Quackwatch has detailed reports on the ZYTOand Healy devices.)
  • Session 4 focused on the Business Opportunity Rule and other recent MLM news.

Videos of … Read the rest

March 29th, 2023 | Tags: , | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Harsh realities of multi-level marketing exposed

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

June 14th, 2021 | Tags: , , | Category: Herbalife | Leave a comment

Multilevel-marketing company pitches scrutinized

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

March 22nd, 2021 | Tags: , | Category: Herbalife | Leave a comment

Book blasts multilevel marketing industry

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.

Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing Paperback – November 30, 2020

Ponzinomics 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

February 10th, 2021 | Tags: , | Category: Herbalife | Leave a comment

Multilevel Marketing: The day job that doesn’t pay

Posted 19 December 2017

From TruthinAdvertising.org

When then FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez took the stage at the Direct Selling Association’s Business & Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. in October 2016, she did not mince words when it came to the widespread use of inappropriate earnings claims as a means of recruitment in the MLM industry. More than a year later, it appears few if any of the DSA members in attendance that day took the warning to heart.

A TINA.org investigation found more than 97 percent of DSA member companies are (or have been) engaged in marketing schemes that peddle false and unsubstantiated earnings claims to try to convince prospective distributors to join their MLM network.

​​​​​​​TINA.org has amassed more than 3,000 examples of companies and/or their distributors making inappropriate earnings claims on their websites and social media platforms. These claims range from assurances of achieving financial freedom, to making … Read the rest

December 19th, 2017 | Tags: , , , | Category: Mannatech | 3 comments

Comedian John Oliver blasts Multilevel Marketing (MLM) , e.g., Herbalife

Posted 14 November 2016

Multilevel marketing companies claim to be legitimate businesses, but some seem awfully…pyramid shaped. John Oliver and Jaime Camil demonstrate how they work.  

In a 30-minute satire, John Oliver explains why multilevel marketing should be regarded as an “endless chain pyramid” and exposes the gamut of ploys used to trick prospective distributors and minimize government regulation.

The video, which has had more than 5 million YouTube views, ends with the promise that if each viewer sends it to five other people who do the same, it will reach every person on earth in just 14 referral cycles.

… Read the rest
November 14th, 2016 | Tags: , , | Category: Herbalife | Leave a comment