Thursday, March 2, 2017

I Scour the Internet: The Good, the Sad, and the Weirdly Fugly Edition for March 3rd, 2017

In case some of you have been out of the Sister Wives loop for a couple seasons, and let's be real, I don't blame your absence at all, our favorite ex-Mrs Kody Brown has stepped up to the plate to hit a financial home run with her newest MLM venture.

Yeppers, Meri has drunk the LuLaRoe kool-aid, and she likes it!

Well, I think she does, at any rate.

And it appears she is very successful in this latest venture. Too bad she hasn't partnered with her sisterwives Robyn and her less than illustrious online store MSWC, nor with Janelle (affectionately known as Jangle here in CJ's Living Room) and her venture to STRIVE for better health and well-being with her health tips and encouragement blog.

True to Brown Family form, Meri continues to be a day late and a dollar short when capitalizing on her sister wives fame to make a quick buck by showing the monogamists of the world how sisterwives can be successful and empowered women despite sharing the same neanderthal for a husband.

So, I searched out the internet to get the scoop on this rather hot MLM that almost everyone is talking about.

Here is a sampling of what I found.


LuLaRoe, as described on the company's website, was created by its founder DeAnne Stidman to "...provide an opportunity for people to create freedom by selling comfortable, affordable, stylish clothing, and offering its Retailers the independence to set their own pace and schedule."

Funny how there is only the tiniest mention that this company was the latest in Stidman's adventures in "network-based marketing" more commonly known as multi-level marketing...aka MLM.

Ah...the plot thickens...

Beyond all the empowerment hype, there is the daunting realization that, in order to get one's foot in the LLR door,  an initial investment of almost $5000.00 (for the all important onboarding box) is required for the privilege to start selling the LLR inventory as a "consultant"  at pop-ups and social media live events.

Oh, and did I mention, consultants have no say in the lovely patterns or colors that LLR ships to them?

Oh yeah. This can quickly get very, very ugly pretty darn quick.

I mean, with LIV (the other MLM the Browns are involved with), you pretty much knew that each product was the same for everyone. With LLR, some consultants might get the coveted solid black leggings, while others might get prints only their ancient great-grandmother could love.

Even with these negatives, women are falling literally all over themselves to get onto the LLR bandwagon. Here's a video I found on You-tube of a typical LLR fanatic describing her first week of sales.

The Good...





Oh, and she was so excited she completely forgot about her onboarding box! Shame on her!





This gal's enthusiasm almost made ME want to get on that LLR bandwagon with her!

But wait, there's more!


The Sad...


From  the happy happy joy joy enthusiasm we can segue to the reality for most of the women yearning to be consultants, mainly, how do you finance the expensive $5000 outlay for that onboarding box?

Here's how one consultant met that challenge...







If you prefer to put all your eggs into one basket by quitting your day job, you might end up like this hapless LLR consultant wannabe...






But wait...there's more!

It seems LLR has been in the news a lot recently. From a class action lawsuit to customers dissatisfaction with leggings ripping themselves apart, LLR has receive a lot of negative attention.


Here are links to some news articles detailing LLR's recent woes:

LuLaRoe's Business Is Booming But Some Sellers Are Fuming


Fashion marketer LuLaRoe sued over sales tax charges


This clothing company is facing claims that its 'pants rip like wet toilet paper'

And here's a fun read about what happens when your LLR leggings decide to go rogue at Disney World!


LULAROE FOR TRAVEL: THAT TIME MY PANTS DISINTEGRATED IN DISNEY WORLD




Last but not least, we come to the final section...

The Weirdly Fugly


Here's another video I found that summarizes the LLR phenomenon.  A little bit of LLR history, and a lot of how LLR works for the woman who decides to place an order...






So there you have it. The Good, The Sad and the Weirdly Fugly world of LuLaRoe.

Makes me wonder what Meri really thinks about her newest venture. Hmmmmmm....Let's hope she can keep it positive because those McMansions don't pay for themselves!

That's all for now, and remember I Scour the Internet so YOU can make an informed choice before laying out your hard earned megabucks for air-conditioned leggings!