Is no tragedy safe from being turned into a sales opportunity by MLM reps?

Business

Is there no depth too low for an MLM rep? Find out why tragedies like 911, killer hurricanes and the sad loss of a baby are sales gold for cynical MLM reps.

After researching MLMs for over a year, we’re used to seeing bad taste sales pitches and unethical attempts at recruiting. But nothing shocks us more than the eagerness with which MLM reps turn a tragedy into a sales opportunity.

As you’re aware, yesterday was the anniversary of 911 – a tragic day in which almost 3,000 people lost their lives. An event that still haunts the relatives of the dead, and the emergency responders battling health conditions today as a result of their bravery.

911 is the perfect sales opportunity for some MLM reps

But to some MLM reps, 911 is simply a fantastic opportunity to hawk more of their products. Don’t believe anyone would stoop that low? Here’s just a selection of some of their sales attempts (sorry, ‘memorial posts’) from social media (thanks to antiMLM reddit for finding and sharing these).

911 was “such an amazing experience”

If that wasn’t bad enough….

We’re used to everything being wonderful, amazing, perfect in MLM world. But 911? According to DeAnne Stidham, founder of LuLaRoe, it was an “amazing experience”:

Is it any wonder, with leadership like this, that MLM reps feel comfortable trashing what is a tragic day of mourning and remembrance? That they feel morally justified in using terrorism and death to sell products?

Let’s turn a killer hurricane into a fun game!

As a company, LuLaRoe have form for tastelessly turning tragedies into sales pitches. Here’s one of their reps using Hurricane Irma (which destroyed homes and businesses and killed 134 people last year) as a social media sales opportunity:

Your baby died? Great – you can make more money!

It’s not just global tragedies and killer hurricanes that are good for MLM business. Even the most personal tragedy can be used to recruit and sell. Here are two MLM reps using their dead babies to sell and recruit:

Don’t forget to go live at your grandmother’s funeral

We don’t know about you, but the last thing on our minds when we’re at the funeral of a close relative (or anyone for that matter) is how to use it as a sales opportunity. And yet that’s JUST the kind of opportunity an MLM rep will leap at. Here’s a SeneGence rep taking time out of mourning to push her products:

Read more about MLMs

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the manipulation and all out lies that some MLM reps are happy to use in their desperation to recruit and sell.

If you’d like to read more about how MLMs operate, we recommend checking out these revealing income disclosure investigations:

And these income investigations:

And finally, here some of our articles looking at the MLM business model:

Photo by Dan Gold