Politico has speculated that the reason for Avon withdrawing from the DSA is due to the Herbalife/Ackman battle:
The cosmetics company Avon has withdrawn from the Direct Selling Association trade group, making some thinly veiled, indirect references to the Herbalife fight unfolding in Washington, D.C., and beyond.
“We believe the association’s agenda in the U.S. is overly focused on the issues of a few specific brands rather than industry-wide challenges,” the company said in a letter to other members explaining its departure. “We believe that the U.S. DSA Code of Ethics requires updating to better reflect the current state of the industry in the U.S. … As the U.S. DSA is currently operating, we do not believe that either of these issues will be addressed.”
The nutritional supplements company Herbalife has been embroiled in a fight with hedge funder and billionaire William Ackman over the company’s business practices. Ackman and his firmPershing Square Capital have made a massive short bet that Herbalife will fail — and have been working regulators to investigate the company’s business practices.
The DSA — of which Herbalife is a major member — has recently embarked on a major public affairs and PR campaign in support of the direct-selling industry. That push happened to coincide with Herbalife’s