My world on the web
The MLM conversation and the union conversation have eerily similar structures, but the former is designed to commodify and destroy solidarity, and the latter is designed to reinforce and mobilize solidarity. Seen in this light, an MLM is a mirror world union, one that converts solidarity into misery and powerlessness instead of joy and strength.
Source: Pluralistic: MLMs are the mirror-world version of community organizing (04 Feb 2025)
A 7:30 report that aired on the ABC in 1986 described the brand’s representatives as “the army of housewives and mothers who make money selling plastic containers at parties”.
“It’s much more than plastic to them – it’s Tupperware,” said the male reporter.
“And they don’t just sell it. They believe in it.”
Source: Tupperware’s filing for bankruptcy sparks reflection from Australians who sold the famous plastic by Syan Vallance
“More than plastic, it’s Tupperware.” My mum worked for Tupperware in the office when she finished school. Early eighties, it must have been the high point of the company. When I look through our draws and our cupboard, I think we too have bought into the myth. For me, my favourite memory is the moment when Kip tests the durability in Napoleon Dynamite:
This sticks with me having had Tupperware destroyed by kids collecting basalt rocks … Not invincible!