DSSRC Administrative Closure #246

The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC) contacted a direct-selling company (“Company”) that sells cosmetic products regarding certain earnings claims that were disseminated on social media by the Company’s salesforce members. The posts were identified as part of DSSRC’s ongoing monitoring process, which found thirteen posts on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

The posts that formed the basis of the DSSRC inquiry included unqualified claims that the business opportunity offered “unlimited income potential,” “car bonuses,” “vacation bonuses,” “generational wealth,” and “life-changing income.” One claim suggested participants could earn a “full-time salary” and “quit their day job.” Section 6 of DSSRC’s Guidance on Earnings notes that such language is prohibited when made to a general audience of prospective or current salesforce members, as they carry a high risk of being misleading.

The Company responded promptly to DSSRC’s inquiry, agreeing to review the social media posts and address DSSRC’s concerns by reaching out to the salesforce members responsible for the posts in order to facilitate their discontinuance. The Company was successful in removing ten of the thirteen posts. The remaining posts were disseminated by two inactive salesforce members, who the Company attempted to contact but could not reach and one individual using who was using the Company’s brand name but who had no past or current affiliation with the Company.

The Company provided DSSRC with copies of its attempted correspondence with the inactive salesforce members whose posts remain accessible on social media. Based on these actions and the good faith efforts of the Company to remove the remaining posts, DSSRC has administratively closed this inquiry.

(Administrative Closure #246, closed on June 22, 2022)
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