Amway

At one point of time or the other we all have come across Amway, in Kerala and as they say all over India now. Any one with a marketing degree or doing a marketing job, while in the middle of a job switch might have checked out the Amway option.  The guy whom I spoke with in one of those switch time a few years ago, was very articulate and told me Amway do not have to be a full time option, I can do it part time, like most of the housewives and others who were eventually hooked to it.  It seems Amway took our country by storm opening up an extra means of income and an opportunity to mingle with very well trained "elegant" folks and become elegant oneself. True too. The elegance adds well to our third world fancy. 

They arrested the Amway CEO & MD Mr. W S Pnickney and few other high ranking officials of the company under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act of 1978. It is said the multi level marketing took the form of pyramid schemes and required the members to bring in new members with a fee. The problem would arise when the base of the pyramid stops growing the the new members in the base of the pyramid gets nothing and the pyramid go bust. 

Nothing of such was happening, as the company had a product line to sell, good or bad. But one would have rather wished, rather than the entrance fee which the pyramid shared how wonderful it would have been had they shared the profit from real sale and that they could sell some real product which  an ordinary Indian would have had a real need say like a cheap electric fan (Cheaper than our "Cinni" fan before the advent of Chinese) or even solar lamps. 

As  more of our cities is going the super market way, the direct marketing was a sure way of personal interaction and the little profit earned a means of additional income to many but the idea it seems was not that broad and has been come down to be treated as a glorified Ponzi scheme.