Plexus Worldwide

February 7

The DSSRC issues a case decision finding that the company uses atypical earnings claims to market its business opportunity.

February 14

As part of its 2023 investigation into 100 MLM companies, TINA.org notifies Plexus of its findings that the company has used atypical income claims to market its business opportunity.

April 13

The FTC sends Plexus a Notice of Penalty Offenses Concerning Substantiation putting the company on formal notice that it is unlawful to, among other things, make claims relating to the health benefits, safety, and effectiveness of products without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support them, and that disease-treatment claims must be substantiated by at least one randomized, controlled, and double-blinded human clinical trial of the product.

October 26

The FTC sends Plexus a Notice of Penalty Offenses Concerning Money-Making Opportunities putting the company on formal notice that it is an unfair or deceptive trade practice to misrepresent that profits or earnings are the ordinary, typical or average profits or earnings made by participants, and to fail to disclose conditions affecting income, such as expenses borne by the participants, among other things.

June 30

TINA.org sends a letter, along with a list of more than 660 direct selling companies that includes the company, to the FTC urging it to implement a penalty offense program targeting the direct selling industry and its market-wide practice of using deceptive earnings representations and false health claims.

October-November

As part of its larger investigation of the 16 MLMs targeted by the FTC in April 2020 for making deceptive COVID-related claims, TINA.org finds that Plexus has continued to make unsubstantiated health claims and deceptive income claims.

February 2

TINA.org contacts company urging it to hold itself to the same standards it is allegedly asking of its distributors and to start by removing over 80 deceptive company “documentaries” from its YouTube channel. Such videos feature representations that participants are, among other things, set for life, quitting their jobs, making more money than they ever thought possible, realizing financial freedom and becoming stay-at-home parents.  These representations, together with images of expensive homes, luxury cars, and exotic vacations, clearly make express and implied income claims that the FTC has expressly indicated violate the law.

Later that same day, Plexus removes the deceptive “documentaries” from its YouTube page and responds to TINA.org.

December 9

TINA.org publishes a detailed article informing consumers of issues they should be aware of when considering Plexus.