Businesses with a cult of personality-like following

[J N Winkler]

Even now, I think saying No to a MLM pitch tends to be more fraught for women than it is for men.  Almost 30 years ago, my mother purchased several candles she didn't want when the then new neighbors across the street hosted a home-selling party for their daughter.  On my mother's part, this was a very conscious effort at diplomacy, and it came to nothing as a result of an incident that occurred at the tail end of the party.

My mother, who had paid in cash, came home to realize she had been given too much in change.  So she counted out the difference and stepped back into the neighbor's house (where the party was still in progress) to hand it back.  The neighbor said, "I am happy you feel so much at home here that you can enter without knocking."

That was the last home-selling party my mother ever attended.

[Scott5114]

My best friend considers my love of Braum's to be cult-like behavior.

The product at Whataburger is great but the service sucks so I rarely bother to buy it.

I'm not crazy about either one.  I think they both have decent burgers (not phenomenal, just decent), but I don't really care for crinkle-cut fries.

Braum's food side is just okay. It's the ice cream and, especially, the grocery side that shine. I don't buy milk or bread anywhere else because it blows Hiland and Sara Lee or whatever out of the water.

As for the bolded portions...

Is this just true of local dairies?  When I lived in the western suburbs of Chicago, Oberweis was the best milk around.  When I lived in southern Illinois, Farm Fresh was the best milk around.  And here in Wichita, plenty of people rave about Braum's milk.

I'm not entirely sure. We do have a Hiland dairy in downtown Norman, so the Hiland in the grocery store is probably fresher, or at least traveled less, than Braum's.

I toured the Braum's facilities when I was in high school. I remember them discussing a special process most dairies don't do, involving concentrating the non-water components of the milk during the pasteurization process, which is what gives it the distinctive Braum's milk taste. But it's been so long I can't really remember the details much more than that.

Heck, I just saw this sign from a bus window a month ago.  It's a list of positions available for the Ã"mnibus de México carrier group, and three out of the six positions listed specify "Sexo:  masculino" as a requirement.  Those are the two driving positions and the mechanic position.

Interesting that sort of thing is still both de jure allowed and de facto culturally tolerated in Mexico. Neither would be true in the United States, and indeed most Western countries.

[Rothman]

Tastykakes used to have a cult following in the northeast -- well, northeast of here, as most of the love I saw directed at them came from Pennsylvania.

I'm not sure if it's still like it was, given that Tastykakes are now available across a wider area. Indeed, one of their bakeries is located in London, Ky. now, where a number of other goodies are made (Mrs. Freshley's and a few other brands.)

Speaking of Cheerwine, it's available at Food City locations in SE Kentucky. But the closest place I've seen that carries Diet Cheerwine is the Food City in Richlands, Va.

Tastykakes have ebbed and flowed.  We picked them up on the way to KY from MA in PA when I was a kid, since they weren't available and my father loved them.

Their real availability has been inconsistent north of PA. They appear and disappear.  Fod a short time recently, Walmart in NY carried the classics, but then they disappeared again or diminished to their mini donuts or buns. 

But yeah, Tastykakes definitely have a Mid-Atlantic following.

[Rothman]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet. 

[Max Rockatansky]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

[abefroman329]

Even now, I think saying No to a MLM pitch tends to be more fraught for women than it is for men.  Almost 30 years ago, my mother purchased several candles she didn't want when the then new neighbors across the street hosted a home-selling party for their daughter.  On my mother's part, this was a very conscious effort at diplomacy, and it came to nothing as a result of an incident that occurred at the tail end of the party.

My mother, who had paid in cash, came home to realize she had been given too much in change.  So she counted out the difference and stepped back into the neighbor's house (where the party was still in progress) to hand it back.  The neighbor said, "I am happy you feel so much at home here that you can enter without knocking."

That was the last home-selling party my mother ever attended.

Wow, that is some next-level bitchiness on the neighbor's part.

[abefroman329]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

I had the same question - it seems like they're the Denny's of hypermarkets.

[Big John]

I had to look up MLM.  Means Multi-Level Marketing - Is this related to a pyramid scheme?

[Rothman]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

I'll split the difference and say zombies.

[abefroman329]

I had to look up MLM.  Means Multi-Level Marketing - Is this related to a pyramid scheme?

I'm not sure what distinguishes the two.

[skluth]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

I think it's more a cult of those who make fun of Walmart shoppers. There's at least one site dedicated to embarrassingly dressed Walmart shoppers.

[J N Winkler]

I had to look up MLM.  Means Multi-Level Marketing - Is this related to a pyramid scheme?

I'm not sure what distinguishes the two.

Most MLM enterprises offer cash incentives to encourage people who sell for them (the term itself varies from company to company and often has a cultish quality) to recruit others to sell, i.e., "build the downline."  Per the late-1970's FTC decision that lays out rules they must follow in order not to be considered pyramid schemes, an individual participant should not receive more from building his or her downline than he or she receives from selling the company's goods to retail customers.

Critics of the MLM business model complain that it leads to overpricing since the merchandise has to carry the cost of the downline payments, while encouraging participants to exploit friendships in order to build their customer bases.  Specific companies, such as LuLaRoe (yoga leggings) and Jamberry (nail wraps), have also been criticized for pushing their sellers into bankruptcy by requiring them to buy merchandise to have on hand which, if not sold by a certain expiry date, they are forced to write off (i.e., can't return to the company for a refund and also cannot sell without putting themselves in breach of contract).

[kphoger]

I had to look up MLM.  Means Multi-Level Marketing - Is this related to a pyramid scheme?

I'm not sure what distinguishes the two.

A pyramid scheme bases your income on how many people you have under you, not on how much product is sold.

Part of the calculus that determines how much a Scentsy consultant is paid during a given month is how many consultants she has underneath her, but most of the calculus is based on actual sales.  So, for example, my wife has to sell at least a certain amount of product herself, or else she gets zero commission from her downline.  Then, a certain number of those downline have to have sold a certain amount of product, or else my wife gets zero commission from their sales.  Then, in order for her to get paid at the maximum commission rate her title allows, the total sales of the entire team has to exceed a certain number as well.  As you can see, my wife's income is very much tied to real product sold to customers.

This is in stark contrast to, for example, LuLaRoe, which based its consultant commissions on how much product was bought by the consultant as on-hand stock, not on how much product was actually sold by said consultant in the form of sales.

Even now, I think saying No to a MLM pitch tends to be more fraught for women than it is for men.

This can actually lead to a moment of crisis for new saleswomen in an home party-based MLM business.  All her friends and family come out for the first party or two, and spend a decent enough amount of money on product to get her going, so she is encouraged in her business venture.  But, after that initial period comes to a close, she gets discouraged because her friends and family don't continue to buy enough product to keep her afloat.  There's a hump, of sorts, that she must get over–a point at which her pool of regular customers and number of downline makes it relatively easy to make the minimums each month.  But, until such time as a new consultant gets over that hump, it takes real work and creativity to expand her circle.

[jeffandnicole]

When I saw this, I thought of IKEA.

Ooh, that's a good one. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet (unless I missed it). Some people are convinced that IKEA is the best because of their rock bottom prices, but I'm not one of them. Sure, the price is great, but you have to build everything yourself and the quality isn't nearly as good as you'd find elsewhere. And chances are, you'll want to replace everything in five years, and 4 or 5 IKEA iterations of whatever you're installing end up being more expensive than one high-quality one that last 20-25 years.

While IKEA is known for this stuff, that's generally what you're buying at Walmart, Lowes, Target, HD, Best Buy and countless other places too. 

We have an IKEA kitchen, 7 years old.  It functions flawlessly.  The quality of the materials used is actually better than what most (non-IKEA) people give them credit for.

[Rothman]

IKEA is Swedish for crap.

[kphoger]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

Isn't Wal-Mart the only acceptable place to purchase food items for the midnight marijuana munchies?

Are meth heads Wal-Mart-only acolytes, or do they frequent Family Dollar just as much?

[NWI_Irish96]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

Isn't Wal-Mart the only acceptable place to purchase food items for the midnight marijuana munchies?

I thought that was Taco Bell

[formulanone]

I have had exposure to a couple of MLM enterprises that operate in presumptively male-dominated spheres.  Amsoil, for example, sells synthetic lubricants and greases for road vehicles, and although it's increasingly common to see women working behind parts counters and as service writers, I think it's still the case that fewer than 15% of auto mechanics are female.

From 20 years of working with and for dealerships, it's honestly probably closer to 2-3% (though becoming more common recently). Maybe it's a greater number in private repair facilities and quick-lube shops, and it so seems to be more common in urban rather than rural areas.

[Scott5114]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

Isn't Wal-Mart the only acceptable place to purchase food items for the midnight marijuana munchies?

I plan ahead and buy them at Crest with the rest of my groceries.

Then again, Crest has remained 24-hour throughout the pandemic, while our Walmart closes at 11 PM now, so if you've got the midnight munchies (and have someone to drive you) Crest is kind of the only option anyway.

[Rothman]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

Isn't Wal-Mart the only acceptable place to purchase food items for the midnight marijuana munchies?

I thought that was Taco Bell

Or Denny's

[Max Rockatansky]

No one has mentioned Walmart yet.

Does Walmart actually have a sect of worshippers or are they people who just tolerate them?

Isn't Wal-Mart the only acceptable place to purchase food items for the midnight marijuana munchies?

I thought that was Taco Bell

Or Denny's

Back in my late teens it was iHop. 

[Takumi]

Are meth heads Wal-Mart-only acolytes, or do they frequent Family Dollar just as much?

Dollar General as well.

[iowahighways]

Hy-Vee and Casey's (especially their pizza, and especially in smaller towns where they have little competition) fit this description as far as Iowa-based businesses go.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Hy-Vee and Casey's (especially their pizza, and especially in smaller towns where they have little competition) fit this description as far as Iowa-based businesses go.

While both have tried to break into Minnesota, they haven't hit the same cult status against established brands. Casey's is well-established, but their pizza is no better than any other gas station pizza. Hy-Vee has struggled to crack the Cub Foods-dominated Twin Cities metro beyond their initial small handful of stores, announcing last week it was scrapping its plans for more full-sized stores to regroup for smaller neighborhood market type stores.

[oscar]

Casey's is well-established, but their pizza is no better than any other gas station pizza.

I've always considered Casey's pizza mediocre, better than nothing. I've usually found better pizza at Holiday stations.