About five years ago, a family-friend of mine told me they were starting a new company. At the time, I thought it sounded pretty cool. They would get shipments of clothing and it would be their job to sell them. I attended a bunch of their parties and even bought a few items from them. I only realized years later that the company that they had been working for was LuLaRoe — a famous Multi-Level Marketing company (MLM) and a well-known scam. When I saw that Amazon was making a documentary about it, I was very interested to see how they would handle the subject. Overall, it did not disappoint.
The documentary consists of clips from a variety of people. It starts with DeAnne Brady and Mary Evans, the two owners of the company. They explain its simple origins as a clothing business that quickly expanded into a multi-million dollar company. It also includes clips from past (and current) sellers for the company and employees. I think the docuseries did a really great job of capturing every perspective. Although it definitely seemed slanted in the favor of the employees at times, it gave every major person in the organization a chance to speak. However, based on what was discovered about the organization over time, I think you can hardly blame them for siding with the women who lost thousands because of Brady and Evan’s ownership.
MLMs have become a bit of a meme on social media. People joke about getting emails from random friends from years ago that can offer “great opportunities” and “full-time pay for part-time work.” But LuLaRich showed the sad reality of what MLMs can actually do to people. The higher-ups in the company were shown to be extremely controlling and pressured women to join. They even went as far as to encourage mothers to sell their own breast milk just so they could afford the start-up costs. This organization cost families money, time, friendships, and even relationships. I don’t even think the documentary covered everything that happened with LuLaRoe during its peak, but it was able to cover all of the main points of how destructive the MLMs can be.
One of the most interesting things (in my opinion) that makes LuLaRoe stand out as an MLM is the amount of lawsuits that were filed against it. The largest one they were able to include clips of during the series, and it was very interesting to see how the leaders of the company avoided questions or answered them in very specific ways to try their best not to be persecuted. It was very interesting to see how the owner’s of these pyramid schemes can try their best to explain their actions, and convince themselves that what they’re doing is right.
LuLaRich gave great insight into the power that MLMs have to make or break lives. People can make thousands one week or end up taking out a second mortgage on their house the next. It’s horrible to see how many lives LuLaRoe ruined, but it’s important that people watch it to learn what to look out for. So, although their leggings may be incredibly soft, LuLaRich has confirmed I won’t be making another purchase from LuLaRoe anytime soon.
Spoiler Alert is an Opinion culture column used to give reviews for movies, television shows, or other related media.
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