Mary Kay Inc. attempts to cover itself on the issue of earnings… often inflated during recruiting pitches and guest events.

One of my many complaints with this product-based pyramid scheme is the pervasiveness of false earnings claims. Mary Kay sales directors parade around “high checks” and imply that those are normal checks. They brag about executive incomes, but fail to mention that the majority of sales directors are making $20,000 a year or less. They conveniently forget to mention business expenses when talking about commission checks and 1099s.

Mary Kay Inc. is doing a great job of covering itself by telling consultants and directors to be truthful in their earnings representations. The unfortunate thing is that Darrell and gang know that the misrepresentations happen all the time, and Mary Kay Inc. is the beneficiary of those untruths. From the June issue of Applause magazine: