DSSRC Administrative Closure #107

The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (“DSSRC”) contacted a direct selling company (“Company”) regarding a Facebook video post disseminated by a Company salesforce member. The video came to DSSRC’s attention pursuant to its routine monitoring of social media posts in the direct selling industry and it was determined that the video implied that the direct selling business opportunity offered by the Company could typically result in salesforce members earning and/or replacing career level income. 

The approximately seven-minute Facebook video was posted in April 2019 and featured several unqualified testimonials from Company salesforce members who indicated the possibility of earning significant income that could be considered career-level. As noted by DSSRC in section 6 of its Earnings Claim Guidance 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.”

Shortly after receipt of the self-regulatory inquiry, the Company contacted the salesforce member responsible for the post and had the video removed within 24 hours.  

Based upon the Company’s actions to promptly disable the concerning video, DSSRC administratively closed its inquiry.

(closed on 11/23/2020)