How MLMs used the pandemic to prey on vulnerable women
Did MLM companies capitalise from COVID-19?
“If you have any doubt in your mind about your future, or any concern that you might not be able to make a payment, or your health isn’t the best and you’re concerned…Just reach out to me and let’s just have a conversation.” — MLM Advocate
Yes, that is a real quote, from real MLM “hun” — a euphemism given to the over-the-top MLM consultants, that flood our timelines. The term derives from the way the hunbots use endearing terms like “huns”, “girls”, “angels”, and “boss women” to suck in vulnerable women to the ‘empowering’ MLMs.
The truth of MLMs is a lot more sinister — masked by Instagram filters, friendship, and false income claims.
“Never, ever has there been a better time to say to people, ‘How would you like to be able to work from home?” — MLM Advocate
MLMs show striking similarities to illegal pyramid schemes, the huns try to distract the attention away from the triangle-shaped business model, with some stating it’s shaped like a “family tree” or a “Christmas tree”, but to not notice is just willful ignorance.
Multilevel Marketing (MLMs) are saturating our social media, with consultants, distributors, coaches, and any other title they are given. Touting big benefits like working from home, 6 figure salaries, and the dream life, they actively seek out the undoubting.
Partly due to the over-saturation, and the business model itself MLMs are not able to offer that fantasy lifestyle to the majority of women. 99% of recruited sellers lose money in their MLM venture.
The truth is, these companies have also preyed on the most vulnerable. Think, single mums, the unemployed, defeated students, and the lonely. With promises of money, cars, holidays, and sisterhood, MLM companies push a predatory practice on desperate women in society. Once the 99% don’t succeed, they are criticised and often bullied when they decide to leave.
It’s not the “girl boss” narrative often portrayed.
“It makes me just devastated to hear about the incomes that people are losing because of this. And it reminds me of why I started my Network Marketing Business” — MLM Advocate
Any girl with a social media account will be able to recite a time a hun reached out to them. To many, the messages are obviously scripted and copied and pasted; “Hey girl, I love your Instagram. I have just partnered with an amazing company, and want you on my team.”
The structure of the MLM business model is to blame for those vexatious messages. The more members they recruit onto their team, the more money they make, this is what builds a downline of people. Hence, the pyramid-shaped business model.
In other words, the more people recruited, the more the top “uplines” will make.
With such a voracious system, the anti-MLM community are not surprised that these companies tried to capitalise from a deadly pandemic.
“None of my girls are freaking out because we all have a side hustle. AKA we don’t need to go to work to make money.” — MLM Advocate
As the world started to adhere to lockdown rules, MLM companies used this opportunity to prey on those who were struggling or worried.
Many top distributors were boasting about their incomes, while workers were having their incomes slashed. Other distributors were labelled as opportunistic, by flaunting their “safe” work from home lifestyle — playing into the anxieties surrounding the virus.
In a time when so many people were getting laid off from work and essential workers had to enter themselves into exposed conditions, a remote “opportunity” that required no previous experience seemed too good to be true.
Except, these “jobs” are truly too good to be true. They offer a false dream, on the premise that if you work hard enough, you’ll be able to become a millionaire, retire early, or pay off all your debts.
The truth is, many women find themselves in debt as a result of these MLM companies, after pushing away their friends and family for being “negative”, these business models have and continue to ruin lives.
“I couldn’t be more thankful that I have a home business that I can work out of, and not stress about going to a 9–5 job…So, if you’re out there listening to this and worried about all this, this is the right time to get in” — MLM Advocate
The truth is, these disreputable companies were desperate to encourage people to join during the pandemic. They amped up their recruitment process, hence why you might have noticed an influx in messages or posts.
The MLM companies were counting on the fact that people were scared. Distributors for companies like Mary Kay, Younique, Beachbody, and Young Living admitted that they had seen an increase in recruits since the pandemic.
Bear in mind, getting recruited into an MLM COSTS money. Take Nu Skin as an example — The cheapest way to become a distributor for them is to pay a monthly fee of £152.65.
In Britain, the virus has pushed unemployment past three million for the first time in 30 years. Knowing that 99% of distributors earn no profit, and then seeing MLMs encourage vulnerable people to spend their last bit of money on a business opportunity, which is designed to fail, is indisputably immoral.
Calling an MLM company “recession-proof” completely undermines the fact that it isn’t even dependable in the best of times. Even without a pandemic sweeping the earth and unemployment claims growing, MLM companies have caused many to declare bankruptcy, sell their houses, and end up in debt.
Not to mention, in countries like the U.S. where healthcare is not free, to urge members of the public to leave their 9–5, which often comes with healthcare benefits, is irresponsible beyond belief.
It’s not all about recruitment, however. Many lifestyle MLM companies even promoted their workouts, nutrition, and essential oils as ways to prevent the COVID-19 virus from affecting them.
With no scientific or clinical evidence to suggest essential oils or protein shakes can help prevent such an aggressive virus, to share such information is wrong in incalculable ways.
This is not the first time that MLMs have unethically capitalised from people in desperate circumstances.
Some have used infertility to encourage women to buy their products and become a “coach” for a discount on said commodities.
Others have shamed working mums for not being able to spend time with their children.
There have even been examples of the uplines using mental health claims to encourage women who may have depression and anxiety, to join their team. Despite the fact that MLMs have actually proven to be detrimental to the mental wellbeing of distributors.
“This is what got me out of my situation. What I went through 5 years ago was my own coronavirus, internally and financially. Why wouldn’t I share this with you?” — MLM Advocate
Make no mistake, the disaster of MLMs is a women’s issue. The vast majority of these companies purposely prey on unsuspecting women in society.
They exploit a lot of fault lines in the economy, that affect women. As females are already underpaid and undervalued in the cooperate world, MLMs promise instant success, with a career that has never been inclusive for females, and often requires years of development to achieve.
MLMs also offer camaraderie with other women, or “sisterhood” — a team of supportive women who will become your best friends. Despite, multiple ex-distributors sharing that these “best friends” later block you on social media when you leave.
The undertones of MLMs are incredibly sexist, with a bombardment of female empowerment posts from “boss babes”. In reality, the uplines will tell their downlines to lose weight, to get clearer skin, improve their hair, and work from home to be a better mother. By playing on these biggest insecurities, upheld by a patriarchal society, they are able to trap innocent women into their scheme.
You’ll also see various MLM distributors will call themselves the “CEO of their own business”. In a world where only 5% of CEOs are female, the appeal of this can entice thousands.
More often than not, the actual CEOs of MLMs are wealthy men. The sad truth is, these companies are exploiting women, to make men rich. This makes their fake brand of feminism nothing less than an insult.
While feminism likely has a different definition for every person. Objectively, it doesn’t mean exploiting, limiting, and lying to women. It definitely doesn’t include persuading women to buy products that will make them thinner, their hair longer, and their skin clearer, to make men richer.
“I just told my team ‘you better not hold out on people right now, you better unapologetically share this with the world right now. because people need this now more than ever.’” — MLM Advocate
We all know somebody who has found themselves trapped in the MLM entanglement.
Our first instinct is to buy their products or join their team, just to support them. However, in the long-run, this will do much more harm than good. This will fuel false hope, and make them believe they can make it all work. The cycle of “investing” more begins, which only empowers them to keep chasing sales and harassing people on social media.
Remember, MLM schemes mirror cult behaviours in many ways, including the culture of positive thinking. The top will tell those at the bottom that they will always encounter “negative” people, who will try to demolish their dreams because they are jealous and resentful.
The last thing you need to do is to push your friend away. MLMs already create a toxic culture, which tells distributors to cut family, friends, and even spouses out of their life for being “haters”.
Sadly, many people remained brainwashed, you have to be positive, patient, and try to prevent others from ever entering into one of these scams.
