Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council Recommends Pink Zebra Discontinue Salesforce Member Earnings Claims

McLean, VA – August 24, 2023 – The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC) of BBB National Programs recommended that Pink Zebra At Home discontinue certain earnings claims made by salesforce members on Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. 

The inquiry into Pink Zebra, which markets home fragrance and décor products, was commenced by DSSRC through its ongoing independent monitoring of advertising and marketing claims in the direct selling industry. 

The earnings claims that formed the basis of this inquiry include, but are not limited to:

• “What would you do with an extra hundred dollars, an extra five hundred dollars, maybe an extra thousand dollars a month.”
• “Are you looking to earn a little spending cash for the holidays? Maybe replace an income?
• Join Pink Zebra and supplement a part time income, a full time income, or just have a fun side hustle.”
• “Wanted; Women Seeking: Financial freedom; health care; Part-time hours; Stay home with Kids; Rewards…Use the extra income for: vacation; car payment; tuition; debt reduction; shopping; What would YOU use and extra $100 - $200 a month for?”
• “Looking to make some extra cash or replace a full time income.”
• “Pink Zebra has allowed me to replace my income.”
• “These are all Bonus to the Financial Freedom Pink Zebra Gives me!”
• “If you are already on social media, you have time to make money doing it! Part-time, Full-time, Anytime, on your time!”

As stated in DSSRC’s Guidance on Earnings Claims for the Direct Selling Industry, some words and phrases commonly used in earnings claims can carry a particularly high risk of being misleading to consumers. Such words and phrases include claims such as “financial freedom,” “full-time income,” “replacement income,” “residual income,” and “career-level income.” Furthermore, earnings claims must be substantiated and representative of a level of earnings that can be generally expected by the audience. 

When DSSRC opened its inquiry and informed Pink Zebra of its concern that these types of earnings claims can lead a reasonable consumer to conclude that salesforce members can earn significant, career level, or replacement income from the Pink Zebra business opportunity, Pink Zebra did not contest DSSRC’s concerns. Instead, Pink Zebra promptly responded to the DSSRC inquiry and took steps to have nine of the 10 salesforce member posts discontinued.  

The salesforce member responsible for the one remaining post was contacted by Pink Zebra with multiple takedown requests, however because the salesforce member remained unresponsive, Pink Zebra terminated the salesforce member’s account. DSSRC asked Pink Zebra to submit copies of the communications to the salesforce member and continue efforts to have the remaining post removed from social media, including contacting the platform, Pinterest, to ensure it knows that the post is not authorized and commenting on the post itself to ensure that post viewers understand that the claims made are not authorized by Pink Zebra. 

All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of DSSRC decisions, visit the DSSRC Cases and Closures webpage.