Beauty, Buzzwords & Business Models: What a John Oliver Episode Can Teach You About Franchise Research

Earlier this month, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver aired a revealing segment on the fast-growing med spa industry—now worth over $17 billion annually. The episode highlighted just how easy it is for an aesthetic treatment center to appear polished, professional, and profitable… while operating under questionable medical oversight, vague state regulations, and, in some cases, outright unethical practices.

You can watch the segment if you haven’t already, but here’s the short version: what looks like a safe, attractive business on the surface may be little more than a loosely regulated medical franchise with glossy branding. In other words, the appearance of legitimacy can be as skin-deep as the services they offer.

I Like John Oliver… But Let’s Not Treat Comedy as a Primary Source

I’m a fan of Last Week Tonight. John Oliver often surfaces issues that deserve more scrutiny. That said, his show isn’t an investigative journal—it’s entertainment, with all the editorial compression that implies. You won’t find all sides of a complex industry in 30 minutes of comedy.

Still, if you're an entrepreneur or franchise buyer, there’s a lesson worth hearing: you need to look past the hype. Whether it’s med spas or any other high-margin, fast-scaling concept, due diligence can’t stop at the brand story.

While the episode focuses on one industry, it’s a sharp reminder that the business model behind any franchise deserves just as much scrutiny as its brand presence. That’s where PeerView AI comes in.

Due Diligence Is Easier When You Start in the Right Market

At PeerView AI, our goal is to help you start your journey in the right place—by identifying business categories with strong revenue fundamentals, high demand, and long-term viability. It’s not the whole process—but it’s the smartest place to start.

When you're confident the market itself has legs, you’re in a much better position to do the next step well: evaluate each franchise or business offering not just for profit potential, but for how it's operated—and whether it aligns with your values.

Because the truth is, many questionable business decisions don’t come from bad intentions. They come from pressure.

When you’re constantly struggling to meet payroll, hit sales targets, or dig out of a slow-starting business, it becomes easier to justify:

• Cutting corners

• Overlooking regulatory gray zones

• Saying yes to practices you wouldn’t normally accept

That’s why we believe choosing the right market is a key part of maintaining ethical business practices. When the fundamentals are strong, you can build something profitable and principled.

No Franchise Is Truly “Turnkey”

It’s tempting to believe you’re buying a finished product when you join a franchise. But you’re not. You’re buying into a system—and it’s your responsibility to understand how that system actually works in the real world:

• Who’s delivering the service?

• How are customers treated?

• Are there guardrails in place to ensure safety and compliance?

• Do the economics make sense without cutting ethical corners?

PeerView AI is built to help you find opportunities with real potential—so your time and energy can go into the deeper due diligence that every smart business decision requires.

Because whether you’re buying Botox or a business model, surface-level beauty doesn’t tell the whole story.

Start in the right market. Ask the tough questions. Build something you’re proud to own.

PeerView AI helps you get there—by grounding your decisions in real-world revenue data, not just brand gloss.