HARVARD'S NAME TAKEN IN VAIN
By Adnews Staff
People pushing pyramid sales schemes are bandying about the name of Harvard University, which leaves the venerable American centre of learning less than thrilled, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. There are some "multilevel marketing" companies who are on the up and up, such as Mary Kay Corp. and Amway Corp. There are also operations that are just scams. Legitimate or not, Harvard Business School has never put its seal of approval on multilevel marketing, as some practitioners are claiming in their pitches to sign up recruits. There is a story floating around that Harvard Business School teaches courses on multilevel marketing and has enthusiastically endorsed this marketing technique after doing extensive research. Perhaps it goes back to a 1984 article done by multilevel consultant Beverly Nadler, who did not get her facts right. Harvard has no such courses and has done no such research. Some at the university worry that Harvard's name is being smudged when it is used to lead people up a money-losing garden path. The Journal cites figures from the Washington-based Direct Selling Association which says that the vast majority of 6.3 million people in the U.S. engaged in "direct selling" are connected with multilevel companies.