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Author Topic: "Power Balance" bracelet, an international mega-fraud!  (Read 1402 times)

Richfield

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"Power Balance" bracelet, an international mega-fraud!
« on: March 27, 2011, 05:13:44 AM »

Quckwatch email newsletter reports:

[*quote*]
Power Balance flunks scientific tests.

A controlled trial of college athletes has found that wearing a Power
Balance bracelet did not enhance their performance. The study,
sponsored by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), was conducted by
John Porcari, Ph.D. and other researchers from the University of
Wisconsin. Each athlete completed two trials of four tests: trunk
flexibility, balance, strength and vertical jump. For one trial, the
subjects wore a Power Balance bracelet ($30), and for the other they
wore a placebo ($0.30 rubber bracelet). The order of bracelets worn
was completely randomized and double-blinded so that neither the
subjects nor the examiners knew which bracelet was being worn for
which trial. Analysis of the data showed no significant difference in
flexibility, balance, strength, or vertical-jump height between the
Power Balance and placebo trials. Curiously, the subjects did better
in the second trial than the first, a phenomenon called the "order
effect." ACE's report stated:

"The improvements in the second trials were attributed to the fact
that subjects were either: (1) more warmed up, or (2) habituated to
the task. This would explain why the public sales demonstrations of
Power Balance and similar performance-jewelry products appear to have
beneficial effects on flexibility, balance and strength. But in
reality, these sales demonstrations are essentially carnival tricks.
By altering the way you apply force to the body, explains Porcari,
you can easily change the outcome. 'If I'm pushing a certain
direction, and then I change the angle of pull or push a little bit,
I can get you to lose your balance easily,' he says." [Porcari JP and
others. Power Balance or power of persuasion? ACE Web site, March
2011]
https://www.acefitness.org/certifiednews/images/article/pdfs/ACEPowerBalanceStudy.pdf

Power Balance reportedly has sold three million units during the past
three years. In December 2010, the Australia Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) announced that Power Balance Pty Australia admitted
that there is no credible scientific basis for the claims and
therefore no reasonable grounds for making representations about its
wristbands being beneficial [6]. To settle ACCC's concerned, the
company signed an undertaking in which it promised to stop making
unsupportable claims and to offer refunds to consumers who feel they
have been misled. For a detailed account of the product's history,
see http://www.devicewatch.org/reports/power_balance.shtml
[*/quote*]
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