Power Balance Bracelets--- a Lopsided purchase

Following the surge of the Q-ray bracelets, power balance bracelets erupted as a new product that many professional athletes were swearing by. When they had first emerged, I admit I was a skeptic, but I too fell for the scam. One of my teammates, who had played volleyball for a while and was also an avid surfer came to practice one day wearing the bracelet. This silicone band with a magnet located in the center was supposedly capable of improving athletic performance by using a magnet to stimulate the electro energy of our biological makeup---"Power Balance is based on the idea of optimizing the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many Eastern philosophies. The hologram in Power Balance is designed to respond to the natural energy field of the body. The Mylar material at the core of Power Balance has been treated with energy waves at specific frequencies. The resulting Mylar is believed to resonate and work with your body’s natural energy flow to help enable you to perform at the best of your ability." This quote comes directly off of power balance's website under the frequently asked questions tab.

After hearing my teammate's claim and fascination with his new band, I decided to take a look at the website. When you enter the website you see a horde of celebrity athletes who are part of the "power balance team", including Shaquille O'Neal, Shane Victorino, and beach volleyball legend Todd Rogers, just to list a few. I bit the bullet and made the purchase for a discounted price (luckily because these ripoffs were selling for $30.00). I began using it for volleyball and can say with the utmost certainty that the bracelet had absolutely no affect, or at least none that I could feel.

In fact, the only result I had at all was a negative one, in the form of a perfectly round rash after sweating while wearing the bracelet due to the magnet rubbing against my skin. Since that accumulation I now rarely wear the bracelet at all. This negative experience of wasting my money, compiled with the assignment lead me to do some research on this product and confirm the illigitmacy of this product. The results were by no means surprising...

　

"Power Balance has admitted that there is no credible scientific basis for the claims and therefore no reasonable grounds for making representations about the benefits of the product". In Australia, Power balance is currently dealing with legal issues including the refunding of money by any customers who believe they were seriously misled by power balance's advertising. Power balance admits to their mistake and has already begun removing any claims of definite improvement in athletic performance.

On a comedic note, power balance has warned their customers of a man selling fake bracelets... Yes, you read that correctly. Pot calling the kettle black?