In response to the Federal Trade Commission’s recent enforcement action involving individual participants in a direct selling company, Direct Selling Association (DSA) CEO Dave Grimaldi issued the following statement:
“Recent FTC actions reflect a continued focus on how earnings representations are communicated in the field, including by individual participants. Distributors play a direct role in how the channel is understood, and accountability extends to the individuals shaping that message.
As the channel has evolved – particularly across digital and social platforms – so too has the way these claims are shared and evaluated. For direct selling companies, this underscores the importance of ensuring that policies are not only clearly defined, but actively reinforced through training, monitoring, and consistent enforcement in the field.
Direct selling is built on individual choice, effort, and performance. Representing direct selling accurately is essential to maintaining trust with consumers.
Through ongoing industry education and self-regulatory efforts, including the DSSRC, we have worked to reinforce responsible marketing practices and clear expectations around earnings representations. We will continue to work with regulators and stakeholders to support standards that are both effective and grounded in how the model operates in practice.”
