ANTI MLM MONDAY: LOVE BOMBING
In today’s anti MLM Monday post, I want to talk about love bombing. Also, if you’re new here, anti MLM stands for anti multi level marketing. The reason why I wanted to talk about love bombing in todays post is because of a post I reacted to in a recent YouTube video. This post is from my past. Hi, I’m an ex Beachbody Coach and Mary Kay lady. Anyway, before I use that post as an example, let’s first go over what love bombing is. This is just going to be a brief overview, but if you’d like to read a really great article this one explains love bombing in more detail.
Related: More anti MLM blog posts.
WHAT IS LOVE BOMBING?
If we want to take a look at Wikipedia’s definition of love bombing, it states the following:
Love bombing is an attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection. It can be used in different ways and for either positive or negative purposes. Psychologists have identified love bombing as a possible part of a cycle of abuse and have warned against it. It has also been described as psychological manipulation in order to create a feeling of unity within a group against a society perceived as hostile. In 2011, clinical psychologist Oliver James advocated love bombing in his book Love Bombing: Reset Your Child’s Emotional Thermostat, as a means for parents to rectify emotional problems in their children.
Related: How to spot an MLM company from a mile away.
LOVE BOMBING AND CULTS
To put it simply, this happens when one is being recruited. The cult member may shower then person with positivity and affection. This makes the potential recruit feel more encouraged to join because they actually feel happy. This is all a facade though. Sadly, people who join cults or MLM companies are usually (not always) in a vulnerable state.
Just recently I watched an interview with Grant Cardone (who is super problematic, but it was for a YouTube video) talking about how he got into Scientology. His story did sound like he was in a vulnerable state. It sounded as though he was struggling and this amazing organization (sense my sarcasm) had all of the answers and help. Love bombing is just to make you feel good or at least better about joining the cult.
MLMS HAVE BEEN CALLED COMMERCIAL CULTS
If you’re not new to the anti MLM movement you have seen or heard MLM companies be compared to cults. Some (including myself) have considered MLMs commercial cults. Now, I know, this sounds very extreme. How can an MLM company be a cult? First of all, the definition of what a cult is should definitely be updated. If we were to put a video of a Scientology church meeting/mass (whatever they call it) next to an MLM conference they would look exactly the same.
MLMs fit certain criteria from the BITE model and from Lifton’s 8 Criteria of Thought Control. I actually did a collab over a year ago about Lifton’s 8 criteria that was such a fascinating discussion. I’ve also spoken about the BITE Model previously in an entire separate post that is definitely worth the read. That post is more in depth and explains why MLMs are sometimes called commercial cults.
Related: My video collab discussing Lifton’s 8 Criteria of Thought Control.
EXAMPLES OF LOVE BOMBING IN MLMS
In my last anti mlm video, I shared the perfect example of this. It’s actually my own experience with love bombing. This was when I was already in the MLM. However, it should be noted that love bombing doesn’t just happen at the recruitment stage. Love bombing continues to happen so that you are brain washed into thinking this is so amazing. The below screenshot is what I shared in my video. This was a post that I was tagged in. My upline’s upline wrote it.
This screenshot isn’t even the worst of love bombing. I was praised for hitting a certain amount of points in Beachbody. You only made the list with a specific number. I couldn’t tell you what that was because I can’t remember exactly.
Related: the anti MLM video where I expose my past posts and love bombing.
MLM CONFERENCES
If you’ve never been to an MLM conference, there are so many examples of them online. MLM reps share about these conferences, but one Youtube search and you’ll see a bunch. If you watch them (especially Young Living), they’re alarming. They sometimes have praying involved and it almost looks like they’re worshipping something or someone.
Chelsea from the Youtube channel CC Suarez showed great examples of this in this video. Fast forward to about 8 minutes to see EXACTLY what I’m talking about. This is just one example of an MLM team’s conference, so just think of what an actual MLM conference looks like. When I was in Beachbody, there was a huge emphasis on getting to Summit which was their conference name. The reason why is because it’ll help hype you up. If you feel like leaving the MLM, the conference is supposed to inspire you even more, according to your upline. It’s just a way to suck you right back in so please don’t fall for this. Save your money and leave the MLM.
Related: Why MLMs are predatory and target people when they’re vulnerable.
Disclaimer: This is all based on my opinion and research I have done. Please do your own research and fact checking. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use. Second Disclaimer: Anything said in this post is for entertainment purposes, and my opinions.
Great resources to further your research and education:
Jon M Taylor’s (MBA, PhD) Study: The Case for and against Multi Level Marketing
AARP’s Study of Multi Level Marketing: Profiling Participants and their Experiences in Direct Sales
Steven Hassan’s BITE Model
FTC’s article of a Pyramid Scheme vs MLM
The rest of my anti MLM Mondays posts can be found by clicking this link.
My Anti MLM Educational & Commentary content on Youtube.
