The “Hey Girly!” Epidemic
“Hey Girly! Just wanted to reach out and let you know about an amazing business opportunity…”
Sound familiar? The “Hey Girly!” tactic is a huge part of the multi-level marketing (MLMs) industry, and it’s how MLM ambassadors reach out to other women in an attempt to bring them onto the team. The line between MLMs and pyramid schemes is extremely thin, and a lot of illegal pyramid schemes disguise themselves as MLMs, which can be dangerous for participants. Although MLMs, such as Avon Beauty or May Kay, market themselves as opportunities for women to be financially independent, it isn’t guaranteed that you will make money in a MLM. This is an extremely common occurrence, and often results in women losing money, solely in order to benefit the company.
The MLM industry has been functioning since the early 1900s, and has capitalized on women’s desires for financial freedom, independence, and empowerment in an extremely harmful way. Although MLMs market themselves as a business opportunity, these women are manipulated into investing in products in order to grow the MLM. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the idea of a woman making her own income was practically unheard of. Society has created a lot of standards surrounding women in the workplace, making it challenging for women to break into the business world. What was one of the first opportunities women had to make their own money? Taking a job with Avon Beauty.
Known as the original MLM, Avon Beauty happens to be one of the most interesting. Avon Beauty was created by David McConnell, who started out as a door to door book salesman. McConnell used a popular technique, offering a free gift in exchange for the potential customer’s time. Since McConnell would mainly interact with housewives that were home during the afternoon, he partnered with a fragrance company to give away free perfume samples. He soon realized that the housewives were more interested in the perfume samples rather than the book pitch, causing him to ditch the book pitches and create Avon Beauty, a door to door perfume company. McConnell realized that the most effective way to market beauty products to women was to hire women as brand ambassadors. By using women as ambassadors, the housewives were more likely to trust the company, ultimately getting more and more women involved.
Although marketed as a way for women to achieve financial freedom and earn their own income, it isn’t guaranteed that these women would make money from Avon Beauty, similar to other MLMs. In reality, very few Avon representatives make a liveable income. The higher you get in the company, the more money you will earn. However, becoming high up in these companies requires a lot of financial investments. Signing up to be an Avon representative costs money, you are basically paying to join without guarantee you will make a profit. Avon Beauty functions the same as other MLMs, promoting the “opportunity” rather than the products themselves, which is often a tell-tale sign of a pyramid scheme.
These MLMs manipulate and use women to promote their company and the “business opportunity” that comes with it. When thinking about Avon Beauty’s tactics, we can see a lot of similarities with more recently founded MLMs. These companies, such as Mary Kay, are tailoring their products towards women, while using women ambassadors to gain the trust of the potential customer. Women are more likely to trust other women, making them more likely to buy a product or join the company. More recently, the “Hey Girly!” tactic has been used by MLM ambassadors to establish a friendly and positive tone while reaching out to a potential customer. The “Hey Girly!” tactic is a huge part of the multi-level marketing (MLMs) industry, and it’s how a lot of MLM ambassadors reach out to other women and grow their teams.
MLMs and pyramid schemes are not going anywhere anytime soon, so it’s on us to be aware of the risks. We at The Edge advise you to be careful and cautious if you ever see a “Hey Girly!” direct messages pop up in your Instagram DMs. Although it’s possible to make a profit through MLMs, more often than not you are left with less money than you started.