The pandemic sparked some wild business ideas (our readers launched 300+), but the craziest idea we’ve heard? That would be “magic dirt.”
Black Oxygen Organics (BOO), a multilevel marketing organization (MLM) based out of Canada, raked in millions selling bags of dirt for $110 a piece before its dirt empire came crashing down, per NBC News.
In classic MLM Ponzi scheme fashion, the company paid sellers based on both how much dirt they sold, and how many new sellers they brought on board.
In May, sellers started popping up all over Facebook, using private groups to attract customers and tout the product as a miracle cure for everything from cancer to COVID-19.
By September, the company had grown to:
The Facebook groups that helped BOO grow ultimately led to its downfall. Anti-MLM activists joined BOO’s groups to get dirt on the sellers’ claims.
Making those claims public set off a series of events, including complaints from the FTC, a recall from Health Canada, and FDA seizures. The company finally shuttered after getting dropped by its shopping cart platform.
BOO founder Marc Saint-Onge has been peddling dirt since the ’90s and already has a pivot lined up.
Many members of the BOO community have migrated to a new Facebook group called “The Solution,” which reportedly offers an even purer version of magic dirt.