As an aside JHubbard, being a business owner, you have to spend money to make money. If they spent $17 Million on this (that is if they did, I can make up any number and tell you I spent so much money on research, patents, etc. There is no way to track that), I am sure that they foresee making much, much more. As a matter of fact, billions are made by producers of MLM products every year. $17 Million is a mere pittance compared to what they could gain.
The nature of MLMs is based on a Guru-based model. Sell your friends, sell your family, recruit, network, recruit, network, did I say RECRUIT!!
When a beloved friend of mine died from cancer, her daughter sought to sell Cutco knives. I of course bought them. Hey, they are good knives, although pricey. Then she sought to get me to sell them under her. I have invested $250 K in my business and had no thoughts of investing in anything on that level of marketing. The good part is that it gave her a better sense of self. Maybe that is what they are selling. My sister was also a huge distributor fo Mary Kay. She even got the car (as long as her sales were kept up). What did she actually get? A greater sense of her self. She went on to greater things of which I am proud of. (Oh after Mary Kay, she decided to take those skills into real estate -- she failed.) She went back to school got her masters and now is a psychologist for 1st time pregnant unwed mothers. She treasures what she learned about herself at Mary Kay.
That being said, if you desire to know more about yourself, there are other venues to do so without investing so much time and money. If that is the route you want to go, I support it. However, I would suggest you to turn over every stone before you do.
Here is an interesting link for you to look at:
http://www.mlm-thetruth.com/userfiles/file/COMPARE12MLMs-vsSellingvsNPSvsVegas-2pBarChart6-06.pdf
Good luck, and don't forget to "keep it real!"