Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

"Buy 1 for yourself and get the chance to sell your friends and family 5 and get your downline started!" We examine the multi-level marketing industry, where only the people who come up with the ideas make any money, and everybody else is left unhappy, broke, and tired of reading scripts and selling overpriced vitamins and similarly worthless products. Includes Global Prosperity, Pinnacle Quest International, IRS Codebusters, Stratia, and other new Global Prosperity scams.

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Emet

Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Emet »

I've never seen their show, "Bulls**t!", but according to TV.com:
Everyone wants to get rich quick, but are multilevel marketing schemes really the answer? Penn & Teller reveal the truth about direct-sales companies that market everything from sausages to sex toys.
silversopp

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by silversopp »

BS is one of my favorite shows. It's certainly not a "fair and balanced" objective research show (they make plenty of jokes at their opposition side and bring in topless women for no apparent reason). The entertainment factor aside, they do end up making a good case for their point of view in most of their shows.
Doc Bunkum
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Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Doc Bunkum »

And this show is scheduled to air when? :?:
Emet

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Emet »

Doc Bunkum wrote:And this show is scheduled to air when? :?:
Air Date
Thursday July 8, 2010
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wserra
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Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by wserra »

silversopp wrote:they ... bring in topless women for no apparent reason
You need a reason?
"A wise man proportions belief to the evidence."
- David Hume
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Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Judge Roy Bean »

It should be hilarious in parts, crude in others and terribly embarrassing to any numbskull they skewer on camera.

Whether or not they even attempt to be fair on any subject depends entirely on whether or not Penn Jillette has a personal axe to grind.
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No_Moron_Here

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by No_Moron_Here »

I wonder if Penn and Teller will schedule a debate with our very own favorite resident Forum Board Whore Extraordinaire, Lenny Clements (MLM Guru to the Suckers)? That would be a good one. They're all three in Las Vegas so it's pretty convenient. Since it will be on Showtime, Len can even get away with calling them "pricks."
Emet

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Emet »

They did film Tracy Coenen and some former Mary Kay reps. But it ended up on the cutting room floor.
RyanMcC

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by RyanMcC »

silversopp wrote:(and bring in topless women for no apparent reason).
Ratings. :twisted:
Emet

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Emet »

A Newbie over at The MLM forums
was a former Zrii rep, and was filmed for the show. A few MLMers chastised him for his participation. His reply:
I knew they were gonna give me a hard time and try to make fun, but I had a good time with it. I ended up making more from participating in that show than I did from selling bottles of their juice.
:)
Brandybuck

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Brandybuck »

IMHO, the show has very little in the way of rational debunking. With a few exceptions, most of their argument consists of ridiculing the freaks. It's great fun, but doesn't provide any ammo for the War to End Nuttery.

Typical episode:

1) Here is a nutter
2) Everyone laugh at him
3) Topless woman
5) Ass joke
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Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Cathulhu »

There was an episode involving the legendary Vomit Comet, and Penn Jillette got naked in free fall, causing a girlfriend watching with me to scream, "Oh God, my eyes!" Not a good thing since she brews the best dark beer in the known cosmos, and needs her vision. Fortunately, the unaired episode of Firefly that starts out with Nathan Fillion naked helped enormously.
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Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by wserra »

Just a reminder - tomorrow (July 8) evening on Showtime, 10 PM.

Go get 'em, guys.
"A wise man proportions belief to the evidence."
- David Hume
Emet

Re: Penn and Teller scheduled to "expose" MLMs?

Post by Emet »