- Hello everybody,
and welcome back to the channel.
My name is Blair or the Illuminati.
And today we're talking about
an especially creepy MLM, Origami Owl.
When companies exploit
children it's shady,
MLMs in general, also shady,
but this still disturbing
combination of both.
Now, let me just say a disclaimer
that I am not trying to
criticize the children
that are inside this MLM,
they are not old enough to know
how fucked up pyramid schemes are
and the damage done by them.
So this is not their
fault in any capacity.
Now, the parents, the adults,
however that surround these children
and are failing them,
that's what I do plan
on criticizing here today,
along with the usual MLM rhetoric
we like to share here on the channel.
So let's start with how
this company was founded,
who they are, what they sell,
and then of course, (clears throat)
the mountains of dirt.
Let's get into it.
(upbeat music)
Origami Owl is a custom
jewelry MLM founded in 2010
by a young woman by the
name of Bella Weems.
And by young, I mean, seriously young,
she was only 14.
There is absolutely nothing wrong
with a kid starting a business.
I did it in my childhood,
I had this weird system of
multi linked up lemonade stands
as a child that I like paid all my friends
to go stand out all day
so that we could maximize square footage
on streets in the neighborhood.
I was probably kind of a weird kid,
but like whatever I used
to do that shit, it's fine.
But those things were my ideas,
I paid the money for the supplies
and my parents had nothing to do with it.
But the difference between my
little lemonade shenanigans
and Bella's jewelry business
is that her business turned into an MLM,
mine just became a really awesome memory
of something I did in childhood.
In 2015, the Chicago Tribune wrote
"If it wasn't enough for Bella Weems
to start her own jewelry business,
she wanted to introduce
others to entrepreneurship."
"We really wanted to be
able to make a difference
in the lives of others," she said.
"We are experiencing so
much success and we thought,
why not give the
opportunity to other people
to be able to sell the product themselves
and make some money."
That mindset of inspiring and
rewarding creative salespeople
has helped lead the company
she founded, Origami Owl
to hundreds of millions
of dollars in sales.
So, all right (clearing
threat) great wording,
but I have a few problems with this.
So let's get into the obvious one.
You hire employees because
they are employees.
If you want to give the opportunity
to people to sell products,
then you open up shops
and you hire employees.
You grow your business,
you build a website,
hire a marketing team.
Why do these MLMs think they're offering
some unique business
opportunity to their downline?
You're making customers
out of these people,
telling them to buy your product
and then wiping your hands
clean of whatever happens,
whether they're able to sell it
and make a few dollars or not.
Now this article is not directly saying,
"Oh, she was hiring people
to sell her jewelry."
But it is very much insinuating that
when that is not the
reality of it MLMs at all.
And besides the obvious that
she was a 14 year old girl
when she started, so she does
not have the legal capacity
to make decisions on her own
without a parent or guardian
to sign off on everything she does.
So it wasn't even really
her making those decisions
in the first place.
But anyway, when this article was written,
they had about 60,000 hunbots,
which isn't nearly as bad
as the hundreds of thousands
we've seen from other MLMs in the past.
However, although they may be smaller,
my problem with them,
isn't the number of
people they've recruited,
it's the age that they are recruiting at.
They moved quickly to a direct sales model
and they now sell through
more than 60,000 people
mostly women called independent designers
who have in-home parties.
The designers buy kits from the company
and make their own jewelry to sell.
Starter kits of chains, charms
and materials cost $149.
The company which earned
around $250 million in 2013
also sells its designers jewelry
through dedicated pages on its website.
And the company says most of the women
who sell the products are in their 30s,
but Weems says she aims
for a younger sales force.
The company's Owlette
Program teaches business
and leadership skills to
boys and girls ages 12 to 17.
"I wanted to give kids my age,
the opportunity to have their
own business," Weems said.
"It's an amazing opportunity
for the younger generation
to get to learn the business."
And believe me, when I
said we're getting deeper
into this, don't worry,
but for now think about what she said.
"I want to give kids my age,
the opportunity to have
their own business."
This is not their own business,
this is yours, it's her business.
And now it's been 10 years
since Origami Owl was founded
and Weems is 24.
She should absolutely know better.
But with the influences
Bella had as a child,
I can't say I'm completely
surprised either.
Forbes wrote about her company a few years
after it began and said this
about Bella's mother Chrissy,
"Christian Chrissy Weems has a touch
of notoriety to her past.
In 2011, she pleaded guilty
to computer tampering
for hiding evidence in
a case of Susan Brock,
an Arizona woman convicted of three counts
of sexual conduct with a
minor who Chrissy Weems
had then mistakenly felt
was innocent of the charges,
a spokesperson for Origami Owl confirmed.
She was sentenced to one
year of supervised probation.
So I think we can all agree
that Chrissy didn't have
the best judgment when she decided
to willfully hide evidence
in a case against a child predator.
So, I mean, like if you're gonna hide
that kind of evidence from a judge,
from the legal system,
or like try to at least
then why am I not surprised
that she would be totally okay
with her own child following
in the steps of an MLM pyramid
scheme type shenanigan?
Now, again, like I said, we
are only in the beginning,
we have only just begun to cover
how this business founded,
so we've got plenty to talk about.
So let's get into their products
and see what it is that they sell exactly.
Origami Owl, as I've said, sells jewelry,
even though it's not
really my personal style,
I won't lie and say,
it's all poor quality.
Now, I haven't seen it in person,
so it's hard to judge and
photographs can be deceiving.
They have pendants and lockets
you can personalize add little messages to
and I honestly see the
appeal for some people.
However, there are quite a few complaints
on the Better Business Bureau.
So let's take a look at those before
I get into price tags
and see if these necklaces
are actually worth it.
out of the dozen one-star plus reviews
on Better Business Bureau,
here are just a couple.
Angel on April 26, 2020 wrote
"Don't waste your money, I
bought one of their pendants
and it was broken within the year.
The glass popped out.
I asked them about the warranty
and I was told it was 90 days.
You would think for the price,
they would stand by their
products a little more.
Never again, I could visit a local store
and get better quality
for the same price."
And an anonymous user said
"The product is super cheap
for the outrageous price
they charge and they were
returning their product."
And another user stated,
"This company has great ideas behind it,
I enjoy the round lockets.
The only bad part about this company
is the Bar Living Locket.
What was advertised and what
I got were empty promises.
The fact that I had to glue dots
to hold the charms in place
and place them on a plastic bar,
which I had to buy the
plastic bar to go with it,
is ridiculous and inconvenient.
I paid $48 for the bar locket and chain,
and $3 for the plastic bar."
Most of their complaints honestly
were about the seemingly
hellish customer service
and return process.
Like, yeah, the idea of a
custom locket is cute and all,
but I still don't want to pay $70 for it.
I put together the default
silver base necklace
with crystal's a chain and two charms,
which was a butterfly and
some succulent plants,
which are just kind of the
first thing I clicked on.
And when you look at the cost breakdown,
the base is $30, the chain is $14
and the two charms were six
and eight dollars respectively.
So it was $58 for what exactly?
Even if it was fantastic quality,
it seems greatly overpriced.
You might as well get an Everlead
Living Memory Round Locket
for literally $13 and just
stick whatever nonsense
you want in that.
I'm just saying that similar
products are not this price.
Even if we go over to Etsy,
you can get an engraved
bar necklace for 11 to $24,
depending on if you want it personalized
on one or both sides,
on Origami Owl it's 38.
There's dozens of different
teardrop style earrings
on Etsy as well.
Some I found for $14, on Origami
Owl they're twice as much.
So this is almost like the worst
and craziest example of price hiking
I've seen it a bit.
Like at the end of the day,
I can see this as a fun craft for kids
or sentimental jewelry for teens,
but I am saying that this does exist
at more affordable prices elsewhere.
Next, obviously I wanted
to see if anyone else
had problems with Origami
Owl before going deeper
into the pit of how they target children.
Although their Wikipedia page
would lead you to believe
they're innocent without any
problems or controversies,
they have actually faced
quite a few legal battles.
One recent example from March, 2019
has to do with copyright infringement.
"Sam Corel, who owns a dog
of some purported repute,
brought this intellectual property suit
against jewelry company,
Origami Owl, LLC, Origami,
alleging that Origami engaged
in copyright infringement
by using in connection
with a promotional campaign
for a line of pet accessories,
an artist's original rendering of a dog,
which rendering Carrel claims
mimics a photograph of her dog
for which she is the
exclusive rights holder."
This might not sound like
a big deal in comparison
to other lawsuits we'd
covered here on the channel,
and it's true no one's died
over this picture or anything,
but still, could you
imagine having a photo
of your beloved pet that
you share with the world
and then a pyramid scheme
uses it without permission
to sell their bullshit?
Like if any business did this with Casper,
I would also be rightfully pissed off.
It goes beyond and considerate
and it goes into illegal territory.
Plus it's not the only time
they face down a copyright
infringement lawsuit.
Links Bracelets have also sued Origami Owl
for copyright infringement
in August of 2014.
Links Bracelets according to the paperwork
was founded in 2001,
which is nine years before Origami Owl.
They also had customizable bracelets
with interchangeable charms,
just like Origami Owl.
So does this mean that
Bella purposefully stole
this idea at age 14?
No, but it does look like they did
that much research about it
if these products actually
exist in the first place
since the idea was clearly in use already.
Now, personally, I don't
think the idea of a locket
with little charms in it is
super unique in the first place
but again, that's just my opinion.
This case didn't exactly make headlines
and obviously Origami Owl hasn't shut down
or stopped selling considering
as they're still operating today as usual.
The third lawsuit I found
is one where Origami Owl
is actually the plaintiff
and suing a woman named Julie Mayo
for selling similar products.
Now, overall, this sounds really stupid,
just right off the top.
the plaintiff's Origami Owl say
they spent thousands of
dollars making these products
and how dare Julie sell
hers at a low cost?
Apparently she was really
pushing her jewelry
because the year before this case,
Julie had filed for bankruptcy,
Origami Owl shows no mercy and
claims to be patent holders
for a heart shaped locket,
and again, it like, okay, perhaps,
but it just sounds so stupid.
You can't possibly go
around suing everyone
for selling a glass heart shaped locket.
There doesn't seem to be any photos
of the offending necklaces here.
And sure if Julie were lying and claiming
to represent her brand,
I can see where Origami
Owl might be coming from.
But it rubs me the wrong way
that when Links Bracelet sued them,
the argument is that their
products different enough
for it not to count,
but when they sued Julie,
she's stealing their ideas.
They even went so far as
to sue yet another person
named Neil Patel for this same thing.
So it's kind of starting
to look like a pattern.
Origami Owl gets furious with others
for even remotely having similar designs
while their own idea isn't
really that original or unique.
Alright, so now it's time
to face my biggest issue
with them head on, the
targeting children part.
As awesome as it is that
kids can get involved
in business at a young
age with lemonade stands
and things like that,
there is a huge difference
between that and an MLM.
It gives kids the wrong idea
about what actually
owning a business means.
Because if you remember from the start,
Bella said she wanted
to give kids her age,
the opportunity to get
to learn the business.
And by that she means
direct marketing apparently.
That appealed to a Adarah Hale 13,
a student at Kenwood Academy High School
who has been in the Owlet
Program for about two months.
She said she made about
$200 on her first order.
"I like being my own boss, she said.
"I like to work hard,
and I like knowing that
I don't need a person
over me approving everything I do."
Weems says she also
remains in learning mode.
She and her mother last month
hired CEO of Brett Blake
to handle day-to-day operations.
"We experienced all of
that growth, she said.
"My mom and I aren't
really good at the numbers.
We felt like we were
designers and more creative."
But here's the thing.
Adarah isn't her own boss,
even in the outlet program, Bella,
her parents and her company
are teaching children
that this is how you go about
owning your own business.
And nothing could be
further from the truth,
encouraging creativity,
jewelry, making all that stuff,
I don't have a problem with.
If Bella were even saying,
"Here's how I got my ideas and patents."
that wouldn't be a problem either,
but she's specifically said
she wants younger people
selling her products and
this sure as hell sounds like
it's targeting a younger crowd to me.
Although I started off
this video wanting to hope
that this was just some stupidity
on the Weems Family's parts
and not fully understanding
direct selling or how damaging it can be
to those who don't know better,
that is absolutely the
farthest thing from the case.
As a 2013 Forbes Article reads
"Crossman who had previously
acted as a consultant
with Origami Owl for
several months earlier
this year before becoming CEO in May,
boasts a resume that
includes Amway Global,
Home Interiors, Suzanne.com
and The Longaberger Company.
The Direct Sales Veteran seems
to be building Origami Owl to scale.
Other hires include Vice
President of Creative,
Tom Rascati, whose past
includes stints at Avon, Cutex,
Ultra Beauty and Bond No.9.
Other additions also hold
backgrounds in direct sales.
Origami Owl is bread and butter."
So just to be clear, the Weems
made the concert's decision
to hire people that have previously worked
with other large MLMs.
Amway and Avon, both with
their lengthy rap sheets
are nothing to boast about on a resume,
but because of the money they make,
they seem fantastic on the surface.
Chrissy Weems, Bella's mom
is the CEO, the company now,
and she continues this
frustrating creepy cycle
of recruiting children.
There's other ways to bring
kids out of their shell
and to give them communication skills
and the ability to practice those skills,
like extracurricular activities that,
just aren't pyramid schemes.
Another really worrying thing I noted
while watching this Origami
Owl promotional video
is how it's always the
kids behind the booth.
It's always the child
selling these products.
For a typical lemonade
stand kind of situation,
yeah, of course I understand
why that's the case,
but this is not their product,
it's not their business.
Seeing children attend
these giant honeypot rallies
is kind of worrying
and it's like honeypots
and training here.
Plus we've seen how pushy and toxic
these communities can really get.
And for others it becomes
absolutely cultish
the way some Avon ladies
or unique representatives
and plenty others of MLMs act.
This should not be an example
of the way businesses run.
And I'm not gonna say that I'm not upset
by seeing all of this.
And it baffles me that these mothers
don't take at least five
minutes worth of research
to realize what kind of
company this actually is
and what they're actually promoting
to their child and what
their child is investing in.
Like, I just don't understand
why you wouldn't do
that kind of research for
the wellbeing of your child.
Not to mention there's also these cringey,
overly happy Origami Owl
vlogs that Bella posts.
And again, it's a way to market children.
I mean, for fuck's sake,
she's showing a slide
in her office, building her own office
has a bubblegum machine,
says she's traveling
where "Vampire Diaries"
was filmed to talk to designers.
It's just, it's really
obvious that this is meant
to appeal to a young generation,
the kind of people she wants to recruit
as part of that sweet, sweet downline.
I've seen MLMs prey on
everyone, from military spouses
to cancer patients and as
fucked up as all of it is,
Origami Owl crosses a new line
by openly targeting children
because they aren't old enough
to make these kinds of decisions yet.
For them, this might be
the only closeup example
of a business they've seen before.
But to drive the point home
that this is fucked up,
check this out.
If you go to their enroll/join us page
on their website and scroll down,
you'll see where they talk
about the Owlette Program.
And if you click the Join
Us button beneath that,
maybe expect to be led
off to a separate page
where it discusses the Owlette Program,
well then surprise, surprise, it doesn't.
That button just lead you up to the page,
to their starter kits, the same kits,
every other damn hunbot
buys to get started.
So what this teaches children,
in my opinion at the very least,
is that they have to
pay to join a company,
which is bullshit and not the reality
of a vast majority of how real jobs work.
And if for some twisted reason,
you still aren't convinced
that this company is absolute garbage,
then it's time for my favorite
part of every MLM video.
We're going to take a look at the numbers
and what former huns have to
say about the whole thing.
According to their own 2018
Income Disclosure Statement,
the majority of their sellers
make an average of $82 annually.
Monthly would be bad enough, but annually,
and that's 93% of their company.
The 6% of their company
makes almost $3,000 annually,
which is less than $300 a month.
The rest and the other,
which is not even a full 1% of people
make close to or more than a living wage.
But again, the majority
makes $82 per year.
So can someone please
just casually remind me
how in the hell is this
a good example for kids
on how to run a business?
One review on the website,
pissed consumer reads
"As one of O2's longer corporate employees
I can assure everyone reading this,
that the company is in
fact lying to you all.
From Bella's bullshit backstory
to the empty being
forced for good doctrine,
to the very charms and
lockets we designed here,
if you're a happy customer,
you're a lucky fluke,
and there are a handful of you out there,
but make no mistake,
even you were lied to.
The jewelry we produce here,
stems from stolen and hacked
up competitors designs
and ideas are manufactured in China
using the cheapest quality materials
and retrofitted methods.
And in some of the most irresponsible
and unacceptable factories,
China still operates.
Jewelry, charms, lockets, and chains,
this is not O2's mainstay
or primary source of income,
it never was.
If that were the case,
Origami Owl would be marketed
and sold to the mass
public via retail channels.
O2 is a multilevel marketing
company or a pyramid scheme
parading itself as a
contender and innovator
in the jewelry and fashion markets.
Unfortunately, however, their main product
and business focus is selling
the initial enrollment packages
to what the company called designers
or merely the pyramid
recruited sales force.
98% of our focus here at
O2 is on these designers,
not our jewelry."
Now, obviously I can't
prove if Bella's backstory
is a lie or which factories
in China they're using,
but let's be honest.
This sounds just about in line
with what we've come
to expect from an MLM.
They pay their huns almost nothing
while they rake in hundreds
of millions of dollars.
It's an extremely
frustrating business model,
and it's one that's actually been copied.
There was another company out there
called South Hill Designs
that had almost identical products
and a nearly identical business model
although they came out in 2012.
I think they've died since
when I followed a consultant's
link to their YouTube channel
and stuff like the website was still down,
but still it shows that Origami Owl
was not the only one
ready to target children
for an MLM, if that's where
the money is, unfortunately.
Between their pyramid
scheme business model
and the way Origami Owl, recruits kids,
I actually think they're one
of the more dangerous MLMs
that we've looked into.
Again, not because of the product
and not because it's a
hunbot breeding ground.
And we know from other videos that hunbots
are very often the ones responsible
for creating more MLMs in the first place.
Business savvy people
willing to do their research
seem less likely to be a
part of direct selling.
And that's all I'm gonna say on that.
But these Owlette Programs that
are like literally encouraging
children to join MLMs.
This is insane to me.
They see, or the story of Bella and think,
oh wow, she was a kid
like me and started this,
and she became successful.
And think that that means they can too.
But the problem is
they're joining a business
that is tilted against them
and encourages their own
failure for the businesses gain.
And these kids joined for
all the wrong reasons,
because this is not a
healthy way to make friends,
learn about business or
communicate with others.
And seriously, if they're taught
how to make those cringey infuriating,
hey hun sales pitches,
they're gonna be horrible
salespeople in the future.
Not to mention they'll
have an absolutely garbage
and isolating social life
because a friendship isn't based
on supporting someone's
shitty jewelry business.
Now I'm not saying this is
100% true every single time,
because of course there's gonna
be that one weird outlier on there.
"I was different, I had
a different experience."
Good for you, hun, you had
a different experience,
but that does not excuse the over 98%
of people who did not.
Overall, I just feel
really bad for these kids
in the Owlette Program, which
every time I say Owlette,
I keep thinking the moist Owlette photo
where it's like the owl and the towel
is that's just a me thing though.
But anyway, since it's a smaller company,
at least by comparison to
other MLMs we've covered
and it was started by a 14 year old,
news outlet seemed to turn
a blind eye to this one.
There was no shortage of articles
when we were talking about
shady Amway or Avon behavior,
but there's so little about Origami Owl.
It could just be because
it's smaller and newer,
we'll have to wait and see,
but I really hope that this information
can start to spread
and parents don't buy these starter kits
based on some heartwarming story
about a little girl that liked jewelry
without understanding what
direct marketing actually is.
So with that being said,
that's where I'm going
to end today's video.
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Let me know your thoughts in
the comment section down below
about Origami Owl and
obviously, and specifically,
what do you think about
this outlet program
that they have and marketing children
to become so-called designers?
As per usual guys, hit that like button,
subscribing for you're new.
If you want more information from me,
including all the sources
I use in my video,
links for everything will always
be in the description box.
I love you guys, thank you so much
and I'll see you in the next one.
Bye guys.
(upbeat music)
