[wayne-werwolf]

I think the point the author is trying to convey, is that they are similar to MLM schemes in that they profit off of peoples hopes and dreams. Altough there are MLMs that are pure pyramid schemes, there are some where it is also not impossible to earn some money with it. Their products do not even have to be downright bad or fake. Having read Daniel Kahneman, I suppose with (economic) desperation people become especially suceptible to hear the siren's call of such marketing. What would have made the comparison to MLM more apt tough, is if there would be a thing like: you buy X subscriptions and may resell them, or if you have Y people that you convince to also become subs/tokens sellers you also get a cut.

[superfrank]

> they profit off of peoples hopes and dreams

Not trying to be overly cynical, but isn't that just marketing?

A lot of marketing just getting people to picture a better future version of their life and then making them think that your product will get them there. They're not actually buying the product for the product, they're buying it to try to get that imaginary future. I don't really see how Repilit ad telling people they can built the app of their dreams is very different than a gym ad telling people that they can get ripped or something like The Container Store showing someone with a messy house magically getting organized and cleaned.

I'm not saying that any of those examples are particularly good or moral, but I don't get how what Repilit is doing is any different than just standard marketing tactics we see every time we watch a block of ads.

[wayne-werwolf]

This is a good point and I agree, this is just marketing. But I do think there is a moral continuum in that. I want to say on one end lies purely factual dry information: "On offer today are bananas, they cost x currency units, which is cheaper than Store ABC ...". On the other end is something amoral--maybe a good word is "scam"? Selling hopes and dreams, as I called it, is not immoral per se, I also agree. Where the threshold into amorality lies? idk ... But to take the Gym example, I've seen ads which are pretty okay, and some that are scam-ish. If they sell you a realistic, attainable goal of "getting fit" or whatever, that's okay. If they show you a pro athlete (10y+ training, substances and genetic luck) and tell you that "everyone" can achieve this ("you only need to sign up! just a few months!"), that is amoral to me, but not a scam. I would categorize the example in this post somewhere in that moral category.

[ElProlactin]

> I think the point the author is trying to convey, is that they are similar to MLM schemes in that they profit off of peoples hopes and dreams

Every scam plays to people's hopes and dreams. As do most legitimate opportunities.