Case #132-2023: Administrative Closure – jBloom Designs
BBB NATIONAL PROGRAMS
Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council
Case #132-2023: Administrative Closure – jBloom Designs
Company Description
jBloom Designs (“jBloom” or the “Company”) is a multi-level marketing company that sells custom jewelry. The Company is headquartered in St. Peters, MO and founded in 2013.
Basis of Inquiry
The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (“DSSRC”) is a national advertising self-regulation program administered by BBB National Programs. This inquiry was commenced by DSSRC pursuant to its ongoing independent monitoring of advertising and marketing claims in the direct selling industry.
This inquiry included 10 earnings claims disseminated by Company salesforce members. The claims at issues included representations that Company salesforce members could earn “unlimited income” and achieve “financial freedom” through its participation in the jBloom business opportunity. All of the subject claims were communicated on Facebook.
Company’s Position
jBloom did not attempt to substantiate the claims at issue and, instead, took action to facilitate the removal of the social media posts. The Company noted that all of the posts identified by DSSRC were disseminated between 2019 and 2021, and confirmed that the individuals responsible for the posts are no longer active designers with jBloom. The Company further informed DSSRC that almost all of the posts originated from a previous Company flyer that jBloom provided to salesforce members prior to 2018.
The Company provided DSSRC with an updated flyer that omits any reference to “unlimited income” and “financial freedom.” jBloom noted that the changes were made to the promotional piece shortly after the release of DSSRC’s Guidance on Earnings Claims for the Direct Selling Industry (i.e., “the Earnings Claim Guidance”).
The Company also confirmed to DSSRC in writing that it attempted to contact all of the individuals who were responsible for the posts and all but one of the ex-salesforce members were unresponsive. The one individual who did respond was able to remove the post at issue. jBloom also confirmed that it was in the process of contacting Facebook to request that the platform facilitate removal of the unauthorized posts that remain publicly accessible.
Administrative Closure
DSSRC greatly appreciated jBloom’s good faith efforts to address its concerns and noted that the Company’s efforts to remove the claims brought to its attention were necessary and appropriate.
As stated in DSSRC’s Earnings Claim Guidance, while DSSRC will evaluate any claim based upon the context in which the claim appears and the potential net impression of such claim to the audience, 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” and representations referencing “unlimited income.”
Moreover, as DSSRC has noted in previous inquiries, when a direct selling company such as jBloom is made aware of an improper income claim that was made by an individual that was an active salesforce member when the claim was made but is no longer affiliated with the company, DSSRC acknowledges that the direct selling company may not be able to locate the individual or require the former salesforce member to remove the claim. In that instance, DSSRC nonetheless recommends that the direct selling company make a bona fide, good faith effort to have the improper claim or post removed.1
In this instance, although the Company was unable to remove several of the posts that were the subject of the inquiry, DSSRC determined that jBloom demonstrated a genuine, bona-fide effort to address DSSRC’s concerns in this inquiry by making repeated attempts to contact the individuals responsible for the social media posts and by following up with Facebook. Additionally, DSSRC confirmed the subsequent removal of any earnings claims from its promotional materials that are made accessible to its current salesforce members.
Conclusion
Based upon the good faith actions taken to address the concerns at issue in the inquiry, DSSRC administratively closed the matter.
(Case #132-2023, closed on 10/06/2023)
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