Mary Kay plants fluff pieces with the media to hype the company. Mary Kay’s public relations department sends out press releases and contacts reporters in hopes of getting television and print media coverage. This, of course, fuels the constant push to recruit new consultants.
Mary Kay is one of the most predatory multi-level marketing companies I have seen. I like to call it a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The company pretends that it “empowers women,” when in truth it is nothing but a leech which sucks millions of dollars out of women’s wallets each year. Mary Kay pretends to offer a business opportunity, knowing full well that almost everyone involved will lose money, because it is nothing but a glorified pyramid scheme which our government allows to operate.
The best marketing tool ever created was the Mary Kay Pink Cadillac. Everyone in the U.S. knows that a pearly pink Cadillac is a “sales incentive” for Mary Kay Ladies. What they don’t know is the harsh reality of the Cadillac drivers: They make relatively little money. I estimate that the typical Cadillac driver makes about $30,000 per year after business expenses, which includes the value of the Cadillac.
This estimate assumes that the sales director’s unit does the minimum production required for Cadillac status. If she does not meet the minimum, the picture is even worse. In that case, the Mary Kay director has a “co-pay”… which means she has to pony up some cash for the car. Then you can figure her income each year would be more like $20,000 to $25,000 (again after business expenses and including the value of the Cadillac).
While most of the Cadillac drivers are struggling to maintain the minimum production required to keep the Cadillac, the company reaps the benefits of the rolling billboards. What a great marketing ploy! The general public sees these status symbols, doesn’t know that most driving them are making little money, assume the women are raking in six figure incomes, and Mary Kay looks like a fantastic opportunity.
There are currently about 1,300 pink Cadillacs on the road in the United States. That means of the 500,000 consultants in America, 0.2% (two tenths of one percent) are in Cadillacs.
Watch the video below to see me explain the Cadillac con. The video is old, but the facts are still the same.
