Harper’s Calls Mary Kay a Pink Pyramid Scheme

Executives from Dallas-based Mary Kay Inc. gathered a few days ago at Tootsies, where they kicked off their foundation’s annual campaign to donate gently-used clothing to domestic-violence victims. Hard to argue with that kind of good work. This week, though, Harper’s Magazine is out with an “expose” saying that Mary Kay itself is a giant ripoff — a straight-up pyramid scheme that doesn’t deliver what it promises to its hundreds of thousands of saleswomen. You’ve got to have a subscription to read the whole Harper’s piece, but here’s an American Public Media synopsis/author interview, including a response from Mary Kay at the end.