Rippln's CEO recently apologized for "failed expectations" after the company promised a social network to transform communication, a smartwatch to outperform Apple, and an app bigger than email. Instead, affiliates received a string of failed product launches, abandoned projects, and broken promises.
In June 2013, Rippln's marketing efforts intensified. "The news will cover it," the company told its affiliates. "Complete strangers will approach you about it." The pitch claimed Rippln's technology would change human communication and the very structure of commerce. Over 200,000 webpages repeated these claims to the public.
Then reality hit.
In September, Rippln launched its Martian smartwatch with much promotion, calling it a "James Bond style Voice activated smart watch" designed to beat Apple to market. The watch sold for $300. Edward Baig of USA Today found it expensive with limited appeal, noting some features did not work. PCMag's Will Greenwald described it as feeling like late-1990s technology, not something from 2013. Rippln's own affiliates expressed disappointment, calling it an overpriced Bluetooth extension for their phones.
By October, interest in the watch disappeared. No one spoke of it anymore.
Next came Photo Guessaroo, an app approved by Apple for its App Store. Affiliates reported it never gained users. The company then introduced "The Ultimate Game of Life," a $497 personal development course from co-founder Jim Bunch. They promised a life transformation in 90 days, at fifty dollars per day.
The Communicator App, the product Rippln first announced as its main offering—the one meant to be bigger than email—never appeared. No release date was confirmed. No explanation followed. Just silence.
People who signed up as affiliates, investing time and money in Rippln's vision, faced harsh results. Wes Wyatt, a former Rippln affiliate, detailed his experience in a blog post titled "Why I Left Rippln." He analyzed the numbers, showing that the promised payouts did not arrive.
This pattern is common in multi-level marketing schemes. Most money in such operations flows to recruitment, not actual product sales. Flashy launches and bold promises fuel MLMs. Products often matter less than the ability to sign up the next person.
Rippln's CEO has since apologized for the "failed expectations." This acknowledgment rings hollow for the thousands of affiliates who put their own money into the dream. They did not invest in a product. They invested in hype. When the hype machine stopped, they were left with nothing but broken promises.