S03.E29: Multilevel Marketing

[Athena]

The penultimate episode of the season.

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Main segment: Multi-level marketing
Segments: United States elections, 2016

 

[peeayebee]

It's awful how people getting pulled into pyramid schemes. Seeing the people crying as they describe losing money because of how the MLMs are structured is sad and angering. 

I have a little complaint about the video John wants us to send to people. I wouldn't send them to some people I know because of the language. I don't mind it myself, but I know people who would be offended by "fuck" and "bullshit." Maybe we're not really supposed to take the #ThisIsAPyramidScheme video seriously. 

I cackled when John did the Jamie Lee Curtis bit with her saying she eats all the Activa and "I shit like a machine gun!"

[Primetimer]

Make some of that soup your neighbour pressured you into buying off him first.

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[The Luvly Junkie]

Loved the throwbacks to Ollie-Scone being wrong during his Daily Show tenure. I was already aware about the Trump joke when he sub-hosted, but I didn't know about the Cubs prediction. Regardless, it was a fond trip back to his early days and to see how innocent and adorable he was (and still is). Boy oh boy has time flown by.

There's only 1 day left before Election Day, so I implore anyone who hasn't voted yet to take the opportunity to prove the Ollie-Scone from 3 years ago wrong. If you're still frustrated and maybe you want to take it out on a highly beloved comedian, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO SHOW OLLIE-SCONE IS WRONG! XD 

[teddysmom]

I need to start watching Jane the Virgin. Yowza.

[dusang]

35 minutes ago, The Luvly Junkie said:

There's only 1 day left before Election Day, so I implore anyone who hasn't voted yet to take the opportunity to prove the Ollie-Scone from 3 years ago wrong. If you're still frustrated and maybe you want to take it out on a highly beloved comedian, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO SHOW OLLIE-SCONE IS WRONG! XD 

Well, three years ago John said that the country did not want Trump to be president but did want him to run, for comedic purposes -- based on John's further editorializing on his podcast The Bugle, he probably intended Trump to be knocked out early in the primaries.  So I'd actually advocate to prove John right by showing that the country does not want Trump for president.  John is still wrong, because no one wanted this campaign, but at least let him be half right. 

[attica]

I remember being dragged to a Nu-Skin 'party' way back in the 90s. I bought something, since those deals are laden with guilt-pressure to buy. I remember it being crap stuff, but my skin care needs are weird and not much works for me anyway, so it's not like the crapishness of the product ruined the friendship. It is amazing to me they're still in business. I just assume pyramids collapse after a few generations/cycles, but: guess not!

[cpcathy]

Great episode, but why are we calling John "Ollie-scone?"

[Skyfall]

1 hour ago, cpcathy said:

Great episode, but why are we calling John "Ollie-scone?"

Cause Janice in accounting don't give a fuck.

[cpcathy]

That Janice....

[Popples]

This episode was eerily well-timed for me. As a previous "Mary Kay orphan", someone had recently pointed me to the website Pink Truth that exposed all the nonsense that goes along with that "business". The garage full of unused product was definitely reminiscent of our basement and front room growing up (it took moving house four times to finally be rid of it all). I understand the appeal it had to my mother; I was about six when she started doing it, and she was a single mother with two children and the opportunity to earn more income definitely resonated with her. That whole "run your own business on your terms and have more time to spend with your family" is just fucking horseshit. All the meetings she had to attend on Monday nights used to frighten me because she would get home well past 10:00, and even though I should have been asleep, I would stay up in her room until she pulled up to the front of the house. My brother who's nearly a decade older than me was supposed to be watching, but his room was in the basement and he came and went as he pleased, and if he was home, he was asleep, so there was little comfort in him. And any time my mother was home, she was usually on the phone with potential recruits. I was really bitter about this as a child. Even if she made a little profit, it went right back to Mary Kay with re-ordering products, the new suits you had to order (the color changed every year), or the yearly pilgrimage to Dallas. My mother isn't in the best of physical health, but if she were, she would still be out there trying to get her unit back together. I can only listen and give neutral responses.

I also find the products to overpriced and not that great to begin with (last time I checked it was around $15 for nail polish, I don't think so). I have very dry skin, and I have reason to believe the line that caters to people like me dries the skin out even more so you can keep using the product. Just before we ran out, I googled about face cleansers and moisturizers geared towards dry skin and the product that that I chose, I only have to use it twice a day, not reapplying several times all throughout.

I never watched The Daily Show, but every time I see clips with John, his hair is so startling to me.

Sorry to make this so long, like I said, the topic really struck a nerve with me.

[iMonrey]

OMG those old Daily Show clips of John Oliver . . . bangs! 

[Traveller519]

I remember one of my friends got into Mary Kay or Avon in University. As usual, with people in these scenarios, it's a lot of upfront talk about how great it's going to be, how all she has to do is sign up 5 more people in the next 3 months to get to the next level. I don't know how long she stuck with it, but it doesn't seem to have ruined her.

[peeayebee]

4 hours ago, teddysmom said:

I need to start watching Jane the Virgin. Yowza.

I enjoy it. I didn't start watching it right when it started, but I caught up. Jaime Camil is so incredibly funny. I was wondering about the show we saw the clip from (with the Herbalife stuff). Was that the original version of Ugly Betty? 

In the early 80's my mother was into Cambridge weight loss products. She struggled with her weight her whole life, or at least as long as I remember. I think Cambridge was a MLM, but I don't remember her selling it, only using it. There were shakes and soups, which she liked because, as she said, there was something to chew. I tried it. Ick. Probably about the same as the soup John had in the box. Anyway, I remember my mother having a cupboard full of all the stuff. One time my father and his brother drove up the coast to pick up big boxes of the stuff from their warehouse. 

[tenativelyyours]

There is a part of me that found so much outrageous about the whole MLM thing.  And yet this close to the election I just could not find myself to be as horrified as I probably should be.  Especially in terms of the targeting of the Latino community and the push into countries with perhaps more vulnerable demographics.

I get the show not wanting to be election centric but there is also a sense on my part that you can't complain about the turd in the water when you see it and you still jump into the pool.  The election is "last week".

But again.  I get the determination to not just be 'that'.  Yet they could have gone a different route.  John and the show could have focused on some of the initiatives that have gotten lost in the Orange Noise that has prevailed in the last year.  Are there any themes that are disturbing?  Are their any major initiatives that are trying to be smoothed through by with tricky wording (net neutrality type stands)?  Are there any Good things looking to pass?  Any really outrageous races in the Senate that might, of course, be limited to that state in terms of votes but will have consequences down the line if a certain individual is elected?  Jon Stewart did a nice piece on Ted Cruz in his run for the Senate and did a nice warning of what kind of Senator he would likely be.  And has been.

Or just do a show on something silly for once.  Something that either poked the pompous or even looked at the good we have achieved the last eight years that gets lost in a Republican Congressional Shout of NO!  too often. 

Because there is a good chance no matter how tomorrow goes, my thoughts feelings and concerns over MLMs will take a deep back seat if not completely forgotten in the weeks to come.   If it is an issue worth airing it might be worth doing so at a time when it can stand out and not get drowned.  Just how I came out of the show.

[stillshimpy]

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Great episode, but why are we calling John "Ollie-scone?"

We aren't, that's one poster's nickname for him. 

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I need to start watching Jane the Virgin. Yowza.

So here's a fun thing for those having fun with the actor's (admittedly dreamy) appearance on the show.  Here he is among the other actors in Rachel Bloom's video....but how awesome is he?  He does the whole video in his Jane the Virgin character....a telenova star:

Dude, I would buy Fifty pounds of NuSkin, wrapped in 100 pounds of MagicChef, while lighting a blistering conflagration's worth of Scentsy candles if it would get us to freaking Thursday more quickly.  

I deeply, deeply, DEEPLY appreciated that John had a nice, long, completely unrelated to Trump segment. 

I admit, I wasn't as engaged with it as a source of outrage, it was more that it felt like a refuge comparatively.  That, in and of itself, is completely horrifying.  A long piece, on the exploitation of people who start out just wanting to make a living or provide more security for themselves and family?  Yeah, that's what passes for a refreshing brain break right now.  That's alarming. 

Edited November 7, 2016 by stillshimpy

[Victor the Crab]

Nice of Ollie to admit he was wrong when he asked Drumph to run for president three years ago. And that he was wrong in saying the Chicago Cubs would never win the World Series. Still waiting for Jon to swallow his pride.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I have to admit, I didn't realize that Mary Kay was a MLM. I've bought their products in the past. Like years ago, and no one tried to convince me to become a Mary Kay seller. Just to buy the stuff. Some of it was good-like the lipsticks, but I think I only bought them, like three times over a space of 10 years.

Loved John's "Oh Fuck you!" to that HerbaLife CEO.
 

[meowmommy]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I have to admit, I didn't realize that Mary Kay was a MLM. I've bought their products in the past. Like years ago, and no one tried to convince me to become a Mary Kay seller. Just to buy the stuff. Some of it was good-like the lipsticks, but I think I only bought them, like three times over a space of 10 years.

That's how the ladies earn their pink Cadillacs.  From their downline.  

I'm more surprised that there wasn't more discussion of the granddaddy of MLMs, SCAMway.

[iMonrey]

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If it is an issue worth airing it might be worth doing so at a time when it can stand out and not get drowned.  Just how I came out of the show.

I tend to agree. I did appreciate the deconstruction of how these MLMs work, because when I hear the words "pyramid scheme," I tend to think of Bernie Madoff, and the kind of investment scheme where shareholders are paid dividends from other shareholders on down the line. I don't think of these "be your own boss" type of sales jobs where you basically have to recruit other friends to get your money back. That said, it would have made more of an impression if it had aired at some other time. No, the show doesn't have to cover the Presidential election every week for the full 30 minutes but there are plenty of other election issues to explore. At the moment, pyramid schemes just sort of seem irrelevant.

Edited November 7, 2016 by iMonrey

[Brandi Maxxxx]

Wouldn't a "dimaryp" scheme be worse than a pyramid? There would be just one unlucky person on the bottom supporting everybody else.

[TVcritic]

Wow. Madeline Albright a shill for MLM? How low can you go ...? Not so bright from Albright ...

[trow125]

I for one was glad to see a report on something completely unrelated to the election. I grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Amway is headquartered, and I always wondered why I never knew anyone who actually used Amway products (with the exception of one friend whose dad worked at Amway HQ). Now I guess I know: the distributors were just warehousing the stuff in their basements.

[Skyfall]

Also WITN is one of my local channels, that clip pretty much tells you all you need to know about that station...

[stillshimpy]

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I hear the words "pyramid scheme," I tend to think of Bernie Madoff

I think...??...that was a ponzi scheme which is an entirely different sort of madness.  We have a plethora of schemes and corrupt shapes from which to choose, though.  Lucky us.  

Edited November 8, 2016 by stillshimpy

[MisterGlass]

After watching this I started googling to see what other products are essentially pyramid schemes.  Just about every homeselling company I could think of has someone against it.  I found this article from Truth in Advertising that has links to a couple of other instructional pages for identifying scams.  Investopedia also has a page on pyramid vs. ponzi scheme.

I hadn't seen the Funny or Die music video.  The only protest song I'd heard was Million Dollar Loan from Death Cab for Cutie.

[rabidchipmnk]

9 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I enjoy it. I didn't start watching it right when it started, but I caught up. Jaime Camil is so incredibly funny. I was wondering about the show we saw the clip from (with the Herbalife stuff). Was that the original version of Ugly Betty? 

La fea más bella was actually the Mexican remake of the Colombian original, Yo soy Betty, la fea.  Jaime Camil was the male protagonist.  So he's a legit telenovela star too! (Kind of prefer the original one, LFMB was very Televisa-ised.  But sillier, IIRC. Of course, the way Armando Mendoza acts in the original would be setting off all sorts of red flag anger issue alerts in my brain if he were a real person and I would not advise any friend of mine to date him ever, but... telenovelas... Still a pretty good one.) 

This concludes your random telenovela trivia session.

Edited November 8, 2016 by rabidchipmnk
Then I started thinking on these telenovelas more and felt I had to elaborate

[movingtargetgal]

2 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

Nice of Ollie to admit he was wrong when he asked Drumph to run for president three years ago

We live in NH and are front and center for the "First in the Nation Primary" season (which begins the day after the previous election until the day of the primary in the next election year.  It is totally ridiculous.) In the summer of 2015 Trump announced his candidacy. Mr. Moving and I laughed our butts off and decided to attend one of Trumps rallies for shits and giggles.  It was redneck white supremacists Birther heaven.  A bunch of heavily armed misinformed angry people. I had never seen so many weapons and confederate flags before.  It rapidly became unfunny and down right scary.  We left feeling that there was just no way Trump would get anywhere because it was all so insane.   Now here we sit the night before the general election with most of us wondering how the hell it got to this point.  

[dusang]

Just watched the full segment and the Spanish version - I did not get the "Single Ladies" reference until I saw Jaime doing it. Oh, Johnny, you have other strengths.

[LJonEarth]

I'm surprised they stayed away from the essential oils MLMs, with their health claims and targeting of conservative religious communities.

[OneWhoLurks]

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Since HLF’s earnings call, two other notable events have taken place. First, on November 6th, John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight aired a 32-minute segment on multi-level-marketing companies with a focus on Herbalife. In his typically colorful style, John Oliver points out the hypocrisy and fraud inherent in Herbalife’s business and shines a spotlight on how the company harms hundreds of thousands of people every year. You can watch his scathing take-down of HLF here. To date, the John Oliver segment has been viewed on YouTube more than 8 million times including over 1.7 million views of the Spanish-language version representing about 11% of the Hispanic households in the U.S. These 8 million views are in addition to the 4.1 million viewers of Oliver’s show on HBO and millions more on Facebook.

Second, on November 7, 2016, the documentary film “Betting on Zero” secured distribution rights, which will include a 30 or so city theatrical release in early 2017 and online video-on-demand dissemination thereafter. We believe that the John Oliver segment and the wide distribution of the film are materially positive developments which will help elevate the Herbalife story beyond traditional financial news media.

Bill Ackman Comments on Herbalife