Written by Frosty Rose

Okay, guys. Don’t tell anyone. I know you all know me for the level-headed, numbers-driven nerd who never gets fired up about anything (ha!). But I’m fired up. In fact, I’m downright pissed off.

We all know that Mary Kay is an exploitative, manipulative corporation that will draw in women and bleed them for every penny on every credit card they can scrape together. While that absolutely angers me, most of those women at least at some level consent to the treatment. No, they don’t deserve it. And, yes, Mary Kay deserves to go down in flames for it. But there’s at least a level of consent.

This stunt, however? This stunt is beyond the pale, and every single consultant involved in it deserves to be named and shamed, as do any administrators who allow it to continue.

Amy Reed Rhodes and Missy Hugues O’Neal are sales directors who recently ran a “fundraiser” to gift lip balms to nursing home residents. And then plastered pictures of the poor residents all over their social media to receive accolades for how amazing they are.

These fundraisers get my goat for a variety of reasons, but this one is particularly egregious. For those who are unaware of how these work, allow me to enlighten you. Directors and consultants, often working in teams, will find some cause that looks really good on social media. Maybe cancer care kits or hygiene kits for whatever the most recent natural disaster was. Usually, consultants claim that they do not profit from these fundraisers, and people get snookered into believing that they’re being generous and self-sacrificing. Ha!

The reality is that consultants, and especially directors, who spearhead these are making a profit. They may be offering a discount on the product, but they’re still making commissions on any orders that result from the fundraiser. Directors are still shoring up their production to try to meet monthly minimums. Consultants are encouraged to hold these as they wrap up big goals like DIQ or (previously) car production. And the hope is to build customers from those gullible enough to “sponsor” a resident.

Customers who purchase “gifts” like these believe they’re helping. And there are very real needs in these communities. Flood victims need soap and lotion. Nursing home residents need whatever care they can come by. Cancer is a beast, and those fighting it deserve some kind of support.

But, even with a 50% discount so the director “doesn’t make a profit,” the lip balms that Amy and Missy handed out are $7. Plus tax on $14. You could purchase 2-3 of any other brand of bargain basement lip balm for that. Plus, since customers are purchasing from a “for-profit” consultant as opposed to donating directly to the residents or a non-profit organization, they don’t get a tax write-off for their donation. Plus, for the same reasons as above, there is no accountability for directors who collect the money and may or may not use it for its intended purposes.

What has me seeing red about this specific instance is that the directors chose to publish the faces of the residents as they slathered overpriced lip gunk on them. Our elders deserve respect, care, and honor. And whoever takes advantage of them in this manner deserves to fry in the deepest pits of Hell.