One thing I frequently heard a semi-famous Anti-MLM Youtuber, whom I will not name because this is not shade at any one person, is that, “affiliate marketing is not like MLMs”. This seems in part to be a way for creators to make money. After-all, there has to be some way to make money and feed one’s family and exist in the world. However, the idea that these creators are drawing people in on the premise that most marketing claims are lies, it feels disingenuous to hear the same pitch for NordVPN that every other youtuber on the planet has already spat out.

I have been consuming a lot of Anti-MLM youtube lately, and while I think the content is incredibly important and timely, I am noticing that a lot of these Anti-MLMers have become influencers in their own right. I do understand that brand deals are different than the interpersonal workings of MLMs, and yet the end goal of the creator (or seller) being paid money from a company that they may or may not use without financial compensation, is an interesting thing to consider. I am also by no means saying these creators should not have brand deals. I know people need to make money and I know that it takes an incredible amount of time to create content on the internet. What I dislike is that the only way for most creators to even get paid is through brand deals or ad revenue. I am not anti-capitalism, but I am jaded by the fact that any content for either entertainment or education is effectively unpaid until ad revenue comes in and supplements. At times this can take creators YEARS to achieve.

I also believe that there will be an incentive for MLM creators on Youtube and Tik Tok to keep pushing out content (or whatever app replaced TikTok if there’s a ban), all for the sake of getting more ad revenue. This, I believe, is how we lost bigger Youtubers who used to seem more politically or even culturally neutral. Now it seems that youtubers adopt personas and change their way of thinking based on what sponsors and advertisers have the best deals. I truly hope that the trust we have in these Anti-MLM youtubers is not misplaced, but eventually, they too might succumb to the power of the almighty dollar.

My take home point here is that while this Anti-MLM content is great, we must always question our sources and continuously re-evaluate where our information is coming from… and with that, I ask you…

Are affiliate marketing and sponsorships really better than MLMs?