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Semi-protected edit request on 20 June 2018

This needs to be revised please change "World Financial Group (WFG) is a multi-level marketing company" to "World Financial Group (WFG) is a It's a financial brokerage."

This is not an MLM. It's a financial brokerage and is proven to be by the BBB. The company is structured as such. Whoever last edited this don't understand the structure of a brokerage. WikFeatured (talk) 21:24, 20 June 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia goes by reliable sources, with a strong preference for third-party sources. Per the New York Times: As a pyramidlike, multilevel sales organization, World Financial produces the big compensation for its agents not from their sales of products so much as their recruitment of new agents, according to the company's marketing materials.[1] This is much more persuasive than original research based on the BBB's routine profile. You are free to continue this discussion, but do not reopen the request until consensus has been formed. Grayfell (talk) 21:32, 20 June 2018 (UTC)
What Wikipedia goes by is actually irrelevant. Here's the FTC's commentary on what an MLM is, and is not, including specific commentary on Wiki's own MLM pages. FTC MLM Legal definitions. Here is what the FTC document comments on Wiki's own MLM page: "MLM spokesmen clearly crafted this definition, which Wikopedia [sic] uncritically accepted in lieu of definitions of consumer advocates that would highlight the inherent flaws in MLM. For example, no mention is made of the endless chain of recruitment and a pay plan that is recruitment-driven, top-weighted, and financed primarily by incentivized purchases of the participants themselves. These critical features will be explained later in this chapter." Worth noting in all this is that the Wiki MLM page MLMs specifically calls MLMs "pyramid selling" based on 2 references that are actually dead sources. There's already been discussion on this issue on the MLM page, and it's acknowledged that the sources are not valid, and therefore would be candidates for removal. Note here from the FTC's 2008 rule, that MLMs and pyramid schemes are _legally_ defined as different things. "Multi-level marketing is one form of direct selling, and refers to a business model in which a company distributes products through a network of distributors who earn income from their own retail sales of the product and from retail sales made by the distributors‘ direct and indirect recruits. Because they earn a commission from the sales their recruits make, each member in the MLM network has an incentive to continue recruiting additional sales representatives into their ―down lines.― - Peter J. Vander Nat and William W. Keep, “Marketing Fraud: An Approach to Differentiating Multilevel Marketing from Pyramid Schemes,” Wiki has a distinct obligation to get this correct, and _not_ protect bad terminology (the current case) because "oh, but it's sourced". The sources are bad, and the conformance with legal definitions is horrendous. --Cprael (talk) 19:24, 13 August 2019 (UTC)
Wikipedia actually exactly does (or at least should) follow its own rules, and uses a variety of sources per WP:V policy. Could you clarify which specific sources are "dead" and how that is relevant based on the WP:RS guideline that sources need not be currently (or even ever previously) available online? DMacks (talk) 05:24, 16 August 2019 (UTC)
You really should read the things you cite. Your statement is factually inaccurate. Allow me to quote _from WP:RS_. "Like text sources, media sources must be produced by a reliable third party and be properly cited. Additionally, an archived copy of the media must exist. It is convenient, but by no means necessary, for the archived copy to be accessible via the Internet." The source _must_ exist. At this point the MLM assertion is not documented at all - all cites to the assertion have been removed (and as previously noted, failed RS). As such, it's an unsupported assertion, fails WP:RS, and does not meet the standards set out by the relevant legal institution (FTC), as noted above. Unless you can lay out a cogent argument including relevant documentation with sources, I'm going to remove the unfounded assertion.--Cprael (talk) 06:18, 19 August 2019 (UTC)
Since you have not "clarif[ied] which specific sources are "dead"", there's obviously no way I can figure out where it might exist. Actually state the specific citation, since I see no {{Deadlink}} or similar tags in the Multi-level marketing. DMacks (talk) 06:48, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

Removing cite #1 (Lubove, Seth (May 28, 2008). "Dutch Insurer's U.S. unit draws scrutiny from regulators". The New York Times. Retrieved June 20, 2018.) because it is a duplicate article to cite #3 ( "Aegon in Missouri Provokes Regulators Finding Sales Deceptions". Bloomberg. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011.) Here are the lede 3 paragraphs from each article:

(NYT) Aegon, the Dutch insurer that owns Transamerica and its pyramid-shaped tower in San Francisco, had a rough 2007. Earnings dropped 20 percent to €2.55 billion, or $4 billion, dragged down by weakening investments in the Netherlands. One bright spot was the Americas, where profit rose 12 percent to $2.18 billion. The company can thank people like Dana Lagattuta of Agoura Hills, California. As a successful agent in Aegon's little-known World Financial Group, Lagattuta oversees 50 other agents who sell life insurance, annuities and mutual funds from Aegon units.
May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Aegon NV, the Dutch insurer that owns Transamerica Corp. and its iconic, pyramid-shaped tower in San Francisco, had a rough 2007. Earnings dropped 20 percent to 2.55 billion euros ($4 billion), dragged down by weakening investments in the Netherlands. One bright spot was the Americas, where profit rose 12 percent to $2.18 billion. The company can thank folks like Dana Lagattuta of Agoura Hills, California. As a successful agent in Aegon's little-known World Financial Group Inc., Lagattuta oversees 50 other agents who push life insurance, annuities and mutual funds from Aegon units. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cprael (talk • contribs) 23:11, 15 December 2019 (UTC)
Reverted per note "PLEASE NOTE: This article's statement that WFG is a multi-level marketing company is sourced to The New York Times. Please do not change or remove this information unless you have a reliable source stating that WFG is no longer an MLM." Rhode Island Red (talk) 02:29, 16 December 2019 (UTC)
The note itself is invalid, or should be retagged to note that the correct source is Bloomberg News, NOT the NYT. Therefore the correct course of actions is to (a) adjust the note to correctly point to Bloomberg, and (b) remove the NYT duplicate article. It is not to revert the change.Cprael (talk) 00:15, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
The only post on your talk page if from 5 years ago telling you not to edit the WFG page to remove references to them being an MLM. We can all tell who is paying your bills. --208.113.0.174 (talk) 21:13, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
Harassment from an anonymous IP, in Canada. Lovely. If you have something substantive to say that addresses the facts, please do. If not, go away.Cprael (talk) 18:06, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
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