Mary Kay Brand Ambassador Scam
A few years back, it was a big deal to be a “brand ambassador” for a company. To get a big one like Lululemon (when they were in their heyday) or cosmetic name like Smashbox was HUGE. You’d be your little social-media-influencer self, and they’d give you products for free as long as you promoted them on your blog. The payment for the promotions was reserved for the really big name celebrities or social media stars, but you still had clout just because *THEY* named you a brand ambassador.
Always a day late and a dollar short at Mary Kay…. not-NSD Cindy Machado (recently the former Cindy Machado-Flippen… and more commonly known as Cindy Mac)…. started her new Mary Kay Brand Ambassador program!!!
What? You’ve never heard of the MK Brand Ambassador program?
That’s because there isn’t one!
This is simply a way to disguise recruiting. Why on earth would they want to do that? Because being recruited to an MLM sucks? Cindy is promoting 50% profit on sales (oops, there’s that false earning claim again) and a personal website and 50% off your personal products (but she doesn’t mention that you only get that 50% discount off suggested retail if you buy a minimum amount of products every quarter). And what’s this discount on partner brands? What “partner brands” could MK possibly have?
I wonder how Mary Kay Inc. feels about made up titles and promotions like this? On the one hand, anything that increases recruiting is good for MK and their greedy little selves love it. On the other hand, they do like to control the message, and this seems completely off message. We’ll see if we ever hear about it again.
Visit the
Does MK assume everyone wants to be a social media influencer? (Flimsiest job title ever, IMO). Imagine if that was your dream and you’re like “I’ll be famous and Kendall Jenner will follow me!” and it turned out all you ended up being was “The Mary Kay Lady” with boxes and boxes of products stashed in your closets.
“Have access to brand certifications & resources.”
Huh? What is that, exactly? What “brand certification” is there but the worthless “IBC” title? And resources? Like weekly meetings you get to pay for? Ooh, sign me up!
I can’t say I’m too impressed by the art design, either. It looks more like paintballs shot against a garage door than anything to do with make-up.
Cindy is just keeping in real.
https://i.imgur.com/YSOcgdT.jpg
[img]https://i.imgur.com/YSOcgdT.jpg[/img]
Graphic design is not her passion.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/YSOcgdT.jpg)
I actually AM a brand ambassador for a company that makes healthcare-related accessories (compression and regular socks, headbands/scrub caps, lunch bags, etc.). I don’t have to post all over social media with dozens of hashtags. The nurses who founded and run the small company are friends, and they know that I know a LOT of people. So they gave me some free samples to try out, see how I like it, provide input for improvements, and share the goodies with friends.
Have I bought some of their items at full retail? Yep. Have I bought some of their items with a discount code? Yep. (My mom loves their socks!) Does being a brand ambassador cost me anything? NOPE. I don’t HAVE to shop if I don’t want to. So Cindy Mac’s “brand ambassador” program isn’t really a program; it’s a thinly veiled disguise that will cost the “ambassador” thousands of dollars.
Is that yet another MK divorce? 😳
One wonders.
Doesn’t this sound a lot like the Jamie Cruse Vrinios saga of calling people “recruiters for MK Inc”? They got in a TON of trouble for that.
She and Roya (formerly I think) Mattis can host a female-empowering weekend retreat together, to the tone of several thousand dollars per participant.
Yes.
Parsonsgreen with the inside dope, as usual. Much respect, Parsonsgreen!
I doubt MKC would allow this. They’ll all start inventing their own titles. LOL
Let’s see…Mary Kay Beauty Influencer, Mary Kay Cosmeceutical Advocate, Mary Kay Beauty Affiliate, etc.
Why does anyone pay attention to MK titles anyway? They have no bearing on job responsibilities. Everyone is doing the exact same thing: buying, recruiting and fake facials, while pressuring the downline to do the same.
Meanwhile, very few (if any) are actually “selling” anywhere near as much as they are “buying”.
The titles in MLM mean nothing.
“ I wonder how Mary Kay Inc. feels about made up titles and promotions like this?”
Oh, she *might* be admonished ONLY because her post has gained traction here on PT…
but she probably won’t see any heat from it.
Is it just me, or does she look like she has “dead” eyes? She kind of creeps me out.
Wow! This is nothing but a ploy to team build. The hardest time I had with recruiting was explaining over and over why they couldn’t get a discount, couldn’t use their “free” customer delivery service or propay because they were inactive. This is deceit at the highest level. My gosh, just give them your discount for being an “ambassador.” This is pretty much what we all did anyway to make sales quotas or production. The other big lie is only purchasing once a quarter. If you wait until the last day of the month, it’s actually more like every other month. So glad to be off the hamster wheel!! As a former car earning director, I’m ashamed of the way I was so gullible
Hmmmmm I have noticed other directors posting things about products for 50% off in their own ways. I have a theory. My theory is that Corporate (whassup Corporate 😁) gave all the directors notice that they are going to start ACTUALLY complying with FTC guidelines because the FTC is moving to amend the rules for MLMs (and other miscellaneous “gig work”). So now the directors have to have ACTUAL retail sales, they can’t just order volume at the end of the month like they’re used to if they fall short. We shall wait and see.
So that would be like when LulaRoe stopped giving upline the comp on inventory purchases and switched to just retail sales. Tons of top people bailed.
Man, wouldn’t that be a shame?
Oh Cindy. No mention of the minimum order requirements to keep that discount.