Woo-time; Embedded holograms with, er... frequencies?

MyloD · **Joined:** Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:41 am **Posts:** 89

Yes! you can buy these holograms for yourself, conveniently encapsulated in a silicone, or neoprene wrist band!

A recent visit to a reputable sports shop in on Suffolk street in Dublin drew my attention to these:

http://www.powerbalanceuk.com/

I stood agog as I read the following publicity:

"Power Balance® is a performance technology that uses holograms embedded with frequencies that react positively with your body's natural energy field"

The shop assistant informed me that they were "very popular". My jaw must have dropped further because she then added "I know, it's amazing the shite some people will buy".

I mean seriously, why is this blatant pseudo-scientific kn*bcheese permitted? OK, I believe that a fool and their money are easily parted and that a Darwinian ethos can apply, but I'd rather the purchasers of this shite spent their money on contraceptive devices instead.

Here endeth the rant.

bipedalhumanoid · **Joined:** Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:55 pm **Posts:** 2675

LMAO. These guys have made it to the UK now?

Australian Skeptics tested them out on Austalian National TV last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0Gb9EgkHA

Ygern · **Posted:** Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:23 pm

Quote:

why is this blatant pseudo-scientific kn*bcheese permitted?

There's a huge amount of rubbish on our shelves masquerading as medical remedies.
Any Boots store, and in fact most private Pharmacies will have at least one large shelf devoted to homeopathy, herbal remedies & magnetic bracelets. They sell it because it makes money.

As to why it is allowed, I can only hazard a guess that it is because Ireland tends to copy whatever the UK does on these matters.

If you look at what the UK does, it lets politicians make decisions for them even when it flat out contradicts all the available science. As recently as June this year the British Medical Association likened homeopathy to witchcraft and called for it to be banned from the NHS. But politicians decided to ignore the science and continue to spend millions dispensing water to patients. They defended their decision thusly:

Quote:

"We believe in patients being able to make informed choices about their treatments, and in a clinician being able to prescribe the treatment they feel most appropriate in particular circumstances"

Read all about it

bockedy · **Joined:** Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:18 pm **Posts:** 98

MyloD wrote:

The shop assistant informed me that they were "very popular". My jaw must have dropped further because she then added "I know, it's amazing the shite some people will buy".

It's incredible that they have that attitude. Not just the particular store in question but pharmacies etc as mentioned earlier. To make a homeopathic pun, they're diluting their credibility with every piece of credulous tat they sell.

MyloD · **Joined:** Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:41 am **Posts:** 89

Ygern wrote:

There's a huge amount of rubbish on our shelves masquerading as medical remedies.
Any Boots store, and in fact most private Pharmacies will have at least one large shelf devoted to homeopathy, herbal remedies & magnetic bracelets. They sell it because it makes money.

Fair point, but this was in the shop where I used to buy my focking rugger jerseys...

Ygern wrote:

Quote:

"We believe in patients being able to make informed choices about their treatments, and in a clinician being able to prescribe the treatment they feel most appropriate in particular circumstances"

Yeah, I saw this statement at the time and the one word that jumped out at me, and had me spitting at my laptop screen, was informed. They're not actually making an informed choice, because if they were properly informed, or educated, they would see that it's tosh.

Ygern · **Posted:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:54 am

Quote:

They're not actually making an informed choice, because if they were properly informed, or educated, they would see that it's tosh.

The other problem is that this is not a case of a cynical doctor knowingly prescribing a placebo to soothe or mollify an over-excitable patient. Doctors are not allowed to do that anymore. It's viewed as unethical.

The problem is this bit: "...clinician being able to prescribe the treatment..."
This means that semi-educated people with either no medical training or flawed training in one of the so-called "alternative" fields can blithely dispense incorrect medical advice & useless treatments to people.

Part of me wants to say that idiots ought to be left to throw away their money on useless products. However as you point out a lot of people are not making an informed choice. They are under the mistaken impression that this stuff really can help them. IT's not only unfair and unethical to give people false advice, it can also have tragic results.

inedifix · **Posted:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:59 pm

Just checked out their website, the Powerbalance crowd. This warning made me crack up...

You can imagine the board room meeting: "How dare these charlatans rip off our fake product instead of coming up with one of their own! What do we do now?"

Ygern wrote:

Quote:

"We believe in patients being able to make informed choices about their treatments, and in a clinician being able to prescribe the treatment they feel most appropriate in particular circumstances"

Translates as: "We're used to voters electing governments based on our half truths and false promises, so we don't see why commercial enterprise shouldn't be able to offer products... ahem, sorry "treatments" to our voters... ahhh, I mean "patients" on the same basis. It's all about re-election, damn! I mean, choice."

bipedalhumanoid · **Joined:** Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:55 pm **Posts:** 2675

Australian Skeptics wrote:

Online US news and gossip website TMZ, which specialises in current court cases, reports that a class action lawsuit has been filed against the suppliers of Power Balance wristbands.

According to TMZ, the suit “filed this week in the LA Country Superior court, alleges consumers were duped into believing the hologram-embedded band was scientifically proven to enhance balance, flexibility and strength. There was just one small problem — there’s no hard proof to back those claims.”

The Power Balance is worn (and in some cases endorsed) by many celebrities and sports stars around the world, including football star David Beckham, actor Robert de Niro and cricketer Kevin Pietersen.

While not saying who has brought the class action, TMZ adds that “the suit claims Power Balance honchos admitted they had ‘no credible scientific evidence that supported the representations’ — but continued to ‘mislead’ the public anyway … selling 3 million units in just three years.

“The lawsuit claims Power Balance needs to shell out more than US$5,000,000 to make things right with consumers.”

This has been a bad month for the suppliers of Power Balance around the world, who have been hit with extremely negative publicity following a finding by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that Power Balances were no more effective than a rubber band wrapped around someone’s wrist.

http://www.skeptics.com.au/latest/news/ ... literally/
http://www.tmz.com/2011/01/05/power-bal ... be-bryant/

ctr · **Joined:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:23 am **Posts:** 929

Worried about the price??

See Placebo Bands they do exactly the same as the Power Balance and for fraction of the price.

bipedalhumanoid · **Joined:** Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:55 pm **Posts:** 2675

Was at a party on Friday night and saw a guy wearing one of these. It's the first time I've seen one in real life. It's very sad that so many people falling for it.

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