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Multi-Level Marketer: Difference between revisions
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A stock character, especially in parody, the '''Multi-Level Marketer''' insists that they are [[Insistent Terminology|an Independent Business Owner]] and have an exciting business proposal, but won't explain what it is... but they are just as insistent that it's not a [[Ponzi|Pyramid Scheme]] and that there is [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|no selling involved]]. Invariably, the loudmouth in the cheap suit insists that you too can join the [[Fiction 500|Fortune 500]] and [[Get Rich Quick Scheme|Get Rich Quick]].
Just as inevitably, they turn out to be peddling Amway[[Tradesnark|®]] – or any of a long list of other cookie-cutter schemes which operate under the same or similar business model. Buy the product, drone on [[Ad Nauseam]] to your friends to not only buy the product but resell it to others, and eventually you can be a Direct Distributor at the top of [[Insistent Terminology|what they insist]] is [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|not a pyramid]]. And that rival soap company? To the most devout followers of the Amway® cult, Procter & Gamble™ must be [[Deal with the Devil|linked directly]] to [[Satan]] based on [[wikipedia:image:P&G logo.jpg|this logo]], a [[Everyone Is Satan in Hell|mockery of Revelations 12:1]] ("And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars.") since it has 13 stars instead of 12.
They might even invite you to a party, but that gathering will turn out to be yet another sales pitch. The "Tupperware® party" was the original, but this model has been extended to other lines and brands... including a few marketing [https://www.vox.com/2014/10/17/11631986/its-hard-out-there-for-a-sex-toy-entrepreneur sex] [https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132402&page=1 toys] or lingerie. Step One: Find the latest hot multi-level marketing scheme
[[Results Not Typical]] as a few people at the top of the "multi-level marketing" pyramid will prosper, but there are limited returns for most of the others. If they're peddling cosmetics, why not add a bit of [[Animal Testing]] controversy for good measure on the presumption that [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped]]?
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Top Secret (film)|Top Secret]]'', a sequel to the ''[[Airplane!]]'' parodies, has the main character's fiancée and love interest working in some backward and distant Third World jungle, selling Supperware™ (an [[Bland-Name Product|ersatz of Tupperware]][[Tradesnark|®]]) to the primitive natives.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had [https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-11-25 one of these] as a throwaway gag.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]
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