Mary Kay Seminar 1992
Enjoy this video memorializing Mary Kay’s Seminar in 1992. How little things have changed. The fashions may be different, but nearly 30 years later, it’s the same silly event with stages, crowns, and silly skits.
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And all of it paid for by the attendees, including the exorbitant speaking fees for the kingpins.
Why would anyone do this? There should be a psychology study of this somewhere.
It’s cult brainwashing. That’s why they (and I) did it. People even go so far as homicide or suicide because the cult made them believe it was the right thing. It also doesn’t happen overnight. Most people who struggle with overeating don’t wake up one day and start eating 10,000 calories per day. It’s a progression. MK uses most of the effective and common psychological techniques that advertisers and manipulative people use to persuade people to do what they want. They give you little gifts so you feel obligated to reciprocate, they get you in a situation where everyone in the room is acting excited so you feel like an outcast if you don’t join in, and as pointed out in yesterday’s post, they create a feeling of lacking or unhappiness that you may not have felt before.
Question to former directors on here:
What I’d like to ask is, were any of these women this happy? Do they fake it at seminar? I was never on stage. I did not enjoy seminar and nor was I inspired by it. Is the exuberance completely faked?
I think most of it is real at seminar. It’s kind of the whole point…. get people all in a frenzy over the cult. Lots of groupthink. But you can’t help but get excited too when everyone around you is jumping up and down.
As long as we’re taking a look back in time, how about Tupperware in 1965? This short film is called “The Wonderful World of Tupperware,” and you’ll see how little has changed:
https://youtu.be/kbPjGl0vii4?t=1287
The above link will take you directly to the part where the narrator talks about the “unique home-party plan.” Brace yourself for what comes next: an example of a “weekly distributorship assembly” where the women are singing—I kid you not—a Tupperware-themed version of “Down In My Heart,” complete with (quote marks) choreography.
From there you’ll get to see their version of Seminar, which they called (and still call) “Jubilee.” Anita Bryant sings a Tupperware version of “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Told Me)”, followed by Johnny Desmond belting out “Hello, Dolly” while exchanging a few kisses with his fans.
Tiaras, uniforms, stage walks, cars, fireworks, more cars, screaming and crying…it’s all there. Then on day 4, a somber graduation ceremony, with “Pomp and Circumstance” played on an electronic organ, followed by–I am not making this up–a candle-lighting ceremony. Cringe upon cringe, it is.
But, as Tracy says about the 1992 video, other than the outfits and hairstyles, it’s the same old, same old.
Nothing new under the Sun.
[Footnote: The first part of the above movie is actually pretty interesting, at least to a nerd engineer like yours truly. It shows the manufacturing process from petroleum to the finished product. You even get to see (@6:25) a glimpse of a real slide rule, and yes, one of my now-useless skills is how to use one. You’ll even learn (@9:25) that the bit of plastic from the mold channel is called a “sprue.” Is that great, or what? (Hey, I told you I was a nerd, remember?)
[The plastic molding process has changed little since 1965: the raw material is still delivered as pellets or beads, to be compression-heated and forced into the metal mold. It’s become more automated, of course, but the process is the same.]
I forgot to include a link to Tracy’s review of Tupperware from back in 2008:
http://www.pinktruth.com/2008/10/12/tupperware-sucks-too/
Tupperware is struggling as a company, with worldwide sales down nearly 40% in the past decade. As of 2013, their largest market was Indonesia, followed by Germany. They’ve gone from market maker to also-ran.
As an introverted nerd I never joined Mary Kay but I am glad I found this site and the anti mlm community because it has helped me understand the psycological techniques that were used for imo brainwashing colleagues of mine in this very cult like company that I once worked for in customer service, it must have been something very similar.
Thank you for posting this. I actually like this video. It takes me back to a happier time when I was young. This was my first Seminar and I had a blast with my best friend. I had been a consultant for one year and had saved money from my skin care classes and facials so I could attend. I never over-ordered products and loved helping my customers. Those were some of the best years of my life. I was a consultant for 11 years. It was never my intention to be a director, I just enjoyed the business. I am still a customer to this day. With more years behind me than ahead of me I would much rather see something like this, women laughing, having fun with girlfriends (as stupid as it may look to you), than people rioting, burning buildings etc. I get that many of you had bad experiences in Mary Kay. I did not, I had fun, made extra spending money, and met some wonderful women who are still my friends today. I am not what you people like to call a Kaybot, I am no longer a consultant but I still love the company. I simply choose to see the positive rather than the negative. Think of your bad experience as a learning experience and move on. Believe me life is too short to focus on so much negativity. I will be dead when Mary Kay celebrates their 100th year in business, but I will be cheering them on from up above!
Oh Cheryl. Thanks for the advice we didn’t ask for.
It is not negative to share the truth. Nearly everyone loses money in Mary Kay. I am happy to help women avoid the trap of this scam.
Lol say what
So, you can see the positives in an organized scam that robs tens of thousands of women every month? Have a cookie.
Let’s remember many things were different in ‘92, including the amount of cheating in MK. No one had home computers, and that’s changed since, right?
I was not in MK in 1992, but my experiences are real and rampant now in MK. If my negative circumstances can pull 1 persons away from falling into that hole, you better bet I’m going to post on here to help.
What a selfish person you must be. Just because you had fun, you disregard the financial dangers imposed on other women. Shame on you.
Officer: Ma’am, you were weaving all over the road endangering other drivers.
CherylEllen: But I was drinking at a party, and *I* had so much fun. Stop being negative and move on.
Btw, Mary Kay doesn’t like people like you. You realize that, right? Your paltry purchases are not what got them to billions and debt-free. They like women ordering thousands of dollars worth of product and recruiting others who do the same. Let me guess: I’ll bet you didn’t even consider the company’s perspective, aka the real business.
Playing princess dress-up does not a “business owner” make. Mary Kay has employees to pay, benefit accounts to fund, headquarters and warehouses to run. Stop pretending like you understand how MLM operates.
You are degrading women with comments like this, “But like it was soooooooo like fun.” Mary Kay’s CEO eyes are rolling out of his male head thinking, “What a dingbat.”
I’d rather my children stand up to an unjust regime than join an MLM. That is one of the things Christ told us to do.
Christ also had very strong views on those who traded believing that they had His father’s interests at heart.
Mary Kay should have had hairspray as part of their regular line back then. The consultants would have ate it up.
I am not surprised that most of you can’t be happy for someone else who enjoyed their time in Mary Kay. I am sorry for those who are so guilt- ridden because they felt they needed to lie and cheat their way to the top-ultimately losing money. I am not selfish, I simply had a different and very positive experience and that was all I was conveying here. Sorry if I offended you for not jumping on your “victim” bandwagon.
You’re not sorry at all. You’re a troll who wanted to throw insults. You want to punch? We’ll punch back.
You are sorry you didn’t get the responses you wished to provoke.
You are the perfect kbot. It doesn’t matter to you how so many women have NOT had the time of their life but have lost their credibility among their friends and family, lost their control on family and personal finances, lost years of time they could have been spending in actual career jobs where they would earn 401k funds, have health insurance, and so much more.
Since the wide swath of damage from mlms didn’t include you, you don’t care about those who it does impact.
So – since it didn’t happen to ME, it didn’t happen to anyone. Or – it didn’t happen to me, so why the hell would I care what I participated in doing to other humans who put their personal trust in me?
You are a sorry piece of work, that you are.
No one said you were selfish, Cheryl. But your words certainly show a self-centered attitude. This isn’t all about you and your experiences, but you don’t want to even acknowledge that. You just want to throw darts at victims and at those who actually do give a crap. Pathetic.
“I am sorry for those who are so guilt- ridden because they felt they needed to lie and cheat their way to the top-ultimately losing money.”
Anyone with a basic level of empathy should feel negative about lying and cheating.
“Sorry if I offended you for not jumping on your “victim” bandwagon.”
Personally. I’m not offended, amused by your doubling down but not offended. And I don’t see victims here, I see survivors. women who saw through the lies and came out stronger at the other end.
I wasn’t a victim when I sent my inventory back, causing a chargeback. I was the victor.