This week in PR fiascos, the multi-level marketing company Monat apparently made a big mistake on TikTok.
Like many MLMs, Monat—a company selling haircare products—is often described as a predatory pyramid scheme. It’s also faced class-action lawsuits for marketing allegedly dangerous products, and been accused of leveraging COVID-19 anxieties for profit. In other words, Monat’s brand is pretty toxic—which explains the weird email they sent to TikToker @hattie_rowe, asking her to take down one of her videos.
With 82,000 followers on TikTok, @hattie-rowe specializes in anti-MLM content, targeting specific brands for mockery and/or debunk videos. Last November she posted a duet with a Monat representative doing the company’s signature dance, writing, “I learnt Monat’s pyramid scheme cult dance to summon new GirlBosses to my team.”
Her TikTok caption reads, “who’s ready to earn an extra income in exchange for your full head of hair??”—a reference to the fact that some Monat products were accused of causing hair-loss.
Four months later, @hattie.rowe says she received an email from Monat’s compliance department, asking her to delete the TikTok. The problem is, Monat seems to think she works for the company.
In a viral TikTok that’s now been watched more than 300,000 times, @hattie.rowe reads aloud from the email, making fun of Monat’s demands. The email is probably automated because rather than acknowledging the fact that @hattie.rowe was actively criticizing Monat, the email highlights her use of the phrase “extra income.” Apparently Monat sellers should use more vague terminology like “added additional spending money.”
“It’s really comforting to me to know,” remarked @hattie.rowe, “that as a company, you’re shitting yourself that much that… you have emailed me, who is in no way shape or form associated with your company, for breaking your compliance terms.”
Over in the comments section, most of the replies were thoroughly derisive toward Monat.
“I like the part where they had a problem with the income part but not the “in exchange for a full head of hair” part,” wrote one commenter. “the fact they emailed you and you dont even work for them,” wrote another.
Another commenter joked, “They’re just directly giving you content now,” which is honestly a great point. In a reply to her own TikTok, @hattie.rowe wrote, “Who wants to see the ‘training’ document they sent me??” So it looks like there’s more Monat mockery on the horizon.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @hattie.rowe via TikTok comment and Monat’s media relations department via email.
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