Power Balance: Where's The Science?

Funnily enough I was looking at a "Power Balance: bracelet the other day in a sports apparel shop. I was having a little chuckle to myself as I was thinking about how much of a killing the makers were making when retailing these things for AUD 60 a bracelet. I saw some young bloke wearing two of them, on each arm! To be honest the chuckling was because I had not seen any "science" that backed up the claims that the bracelets in any way supported or improved performance.

The reality was a simple one; get a few famous people on board and wearing them. then let the marketing take care of itself. There are people in all markets who would want to be like David Beckham, Christian Ronaldo, Shaquille O'Neal, Rubens Barrichello, Kate Middleton, Benji Marshall, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss, and I think I have seen a few NFL players like Mark Sanchez wearing them too. The reality was an easy sell. I have seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of people wearing them.

The reality that people have been missing though is that these bracelets are currently a sham. There is no science to support claims that the bracelets improve athletic performance. The science is so lacking in this case that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has stepped in to ensure that the Australian arm of the company apologises to consumers for misleading them. 

Furthermore, Graeme Samuels, who heads up the ACCC, has demanded that the company offer to refund any disgruntled consumers who bought the bracelets thinking they were going to beat the world, in a sporting sense, but did not.

So, if you are wearing one right now, ask yourself this question: "Has the Power Balance bracelet made any significant changes to your balance, strength and flexibility since you started wearing it?" 

Truth be told, the Power Balance bracelet looks nothing more than a rubber band with a hologram on it. And, maybe that is exactly what it is: a AUD 60 rubber band!

Deliberately misleading the public about the claimed benefits of a product is likely to be a breach of the 1974 Trade Practices Act in Australia.

I wonder if the Indonesian National Soccer (Football) team has been wearing them? The national team has been doing very well of late. Their success might be all the "scientific proof" that the company needs to justify its claims!

These bracelets were first big in the United States. As far as I can tell, they are still big in the US. So, if the science is available in the US that makes the marketing of these performance tools legitimate there, then why cannot this be transferred to the Australian market? After all, I have seen Kobe Bryant in the advertising material along with Lamar Odom (Mr. Khloe Kardashian), Drew Brees, Matt Stafford, Willow Koerber, and Ricky Romero among others. Surely, all these people have not been duped into thinking that the bracelet works, have they? Surely, they would have seen the science and tested the product out and had results with it, right?

Sarcasm is not really my strong suit, is it?

Ho hum...

Marketing 101: Distribution of Pornography...

A distribution of pornography case that does not on face value appear to involve Nazriel "Ariel" Irham of Peterpan (aka Peterporn) fame. Then again, when it goes to trial maybe the perpetrator in this case will claim that he was influenced by Ariel's attempts to distribute porn videos on the internet in order to boost sales of future albums.

This case is an interesting one because it involves the distribution of pornography to minors. The case is also one of stupid marketing ideas and no understanding of how easy this "dirty little secret" was going to come apart at the seams.

Mohammad Hisyam, a 21-year-old bakso seller and the father of one, decided that the best way to boost sales of his product was to provide free pornographic video content as entertainment while his clients ate their meatball soup (bakso).

However, the truly sad part about this is that Hisyam thought it was a good idea to show these skin flicks to primary school children. After all, the mixed-up logic here seems to be that he was parked right in front of a primary school and his largest demographic was primary school children, so pornography is the most likely gimmick to get more kiddies into the meatball soup of a morning and afternoon; idiot!

Apart from the stupidity and serious harm that Hisyam could conceivably do to impressionable primary school kiddies, it beggars belief that he believed that this marketing tactic was not going to be exposed in next to no time. The ever-increasing numbers of children knowing about the gimmick meant an ever-increasing chance of Hisyam being exposed, and he was. Hisyam's little scheme came undone when students started talking about the bakso vendor showing porn videos over a bowl of meatball soup.

It did not take the teachers very long at Kepuh Jarak State Primary School to get onto the police about this foolish man selling bakso with his free porn video entertainment side-line.

However, on the truly sublime front is that the marketing tactic saw sales rise from IDR 70,000 per day to a whopping IDR 80,000 per day. This is where common sense should have kicked in. If I get caught doing this then I potentially go to jail for 12 years and get fined a huge sum as well, are the risks worth the consequences. Common sense says NO!

So, Marketing 101: Distribution of Pornography, Mr. Mohammad Hisyam gets a FAIL!

My Butt is Big: Nike Women...

I will let the picture speak for this post!

Or this version from 2005.

Marketing & Selling: Underwear...

This is why I would never have been good at marketing and selling anything, let alone underwear.

This is an underwear advertisement from Brazil. It has a very Christmas-y theme. Although, I do not get how a man in a pair of tight boxers / trunks about to jump out from behind a door where there is a young boy on the other side of that door sends a message to buy these boxers. Do you?

Drinking and STDs...

The owner of this wine and liquor store must surely have a sense of humour, right?

I guess this means that the link between excessive drinking and STDs is no longer anecdotal, is it?

The photo came courtesy of The Huffington Post this time (I have seen it before as it has done the rounds of the internet and email inboxes).

I Tried Cocaine...And Lived!

I tried cocaine, the energy drink, and lived!

It was certainly an experience, and not one that I will be repeating anytime soon. Not even really clever marketing would get me to try this drink again. To be honest, with so many energy drink options to choose from I am certain that I will find another one that is a little easier on the palette.

I am not even sure that I can honestly say that I am glad that I tried it so that I will never die wondering.

All Blacks Rugby...

If anyone wants to see why the All Blacks are the No. 1 rugby team in the word at the moment then you need look no further than this video.

There are a few questions as to whether this is real or whether it is just some well-crafted viral video marketing strategy leading into the Rugby World Cup. Me says, who cares! The tricks real or not are still amazing to watch.

Marketing a "D+" Education...

Drake University has just embarked on a new marketing campaign in order to attract new students to its campus. Drake University is located in Des Moines, Iowa.

I am trying to reconcile why anyone would want a D+ education, particularly when one considers that an A+ education might hold you in better stead in garnering some gainful employment post-graduation.

It is amazing that none of the marketing gurus involved in the development of this campaign noticed the obvious "alternate" interpretation of the "D+" slogan. It is even more interesting that no one at Drake University picked up on it either.

Is a refund possible for current and / or prospective students that no longer want a D+ education?

Ho hum...

The Menstrating Ghost of Puncak...

Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan is a horror film that includes a rather large number of 'pornographic' scenes. Pornography in this sense is the Indonesian definition of the term and means that the film includes some skin shots and some sex scenes. For most discerning adults the film might not even make it into the soft porn category, but to each their own. The whole premise of a horror movie with some soft porn seems to be tailor-made for controversy in a nation that is predominantly Muslim such as Indonesia.

To their credit the Muslim Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia / MUI) did not disappoint. They have been vocal in stating that the film is not in-line with Muslim values. However, they acknowledge that if people choose to make these films and they pass the censors, then it is up to the individual Muslims themselves to decide whether or not to watch it. Nevertheless, the MUI is lobbying hard for the Indonesian Film Censorship Board (Lembaga Sensor Film / LSF) to ban the movie.

However, the Islam Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam / FPI) has no such reservations. They have threatened to use violence to prevent the screening of the film if movie theatres do not 'voluntarily' opt to not show the film.

The movie has already passed the LSF and can be screened in Indonesia. This suggests that it does not contravene any prevailing laws and regulations according to the peak body tasked with these decisions. The rumor mill and the controversy is sure to see what is reportedly a very poor B-grade horror flick become a bit of a hit.

There is one thing that you can be sure of, when the MUI, LSF, or the FPI get involved in a discussion about a movie then this is likely to become some of the best free marketing a movie studio could hope for. But, then again, it sometimes signals the death knell for other films such as 'Kidnapping Miyabi'. And, then sometimes, the controversy just disappears such as with the film 'Suster Keramas' starring Rin Sakuragi.

Here is a trailer for the film (courtesy of You Tube):

Viral Videos -- Marketing Tools of the Future...

Here are two prime examples of what might be possible. Both of these videos relate to Jill and Keith. The first is their marriage and has had some 17 million hits on YouTube. The second is their divorce and it has already had some 1 million hits, also on YouTube.

The wedding first...



Now the divorce...



The idea of marketing using a viral video, providing you could get the format right and make a video that would indeed go viral, then this would be a good way of getting your product out. Viral videos could be used for all manner of things other than just selling something. For example, a viral video could be used as part of a funding campaign for, say, Amnesty International. Or it could be used to promote awareness of a particular disease like breast cancer.

The possibilities are endless. But, these two videos have been fun to watch.

Show Me The Lolly!

On first sight this would seem to be the kind of confectionery that you might find in a sex shop. It could have been just a simple case of trying too hard and getting it wrong on pretty much all counts. I am not sure why one would want to eat lighthouses or what genius thought that making a lolly that is supposed to resemble a lighthouse would be a big seller.

Yet, the unintended outcome here is that perhaps the lolly might just become a big seller after all because it not only resembles a lighthouse, but for those of us with a little bit more of a creative imagination can see a completely different shape on display.

Now, who would have thought for $1.99 you could get yourself 50 or so multi-coloured penises?

Football Salaries

The news world is reporting that Christian Ronaldo may be on the move from Manchester United to Real Madrid. The fact that Ronaldo wants a move is not new news but the fact that Real are prepared to pay him the equivalent of about AUD 380,000 per week. Yes, that is an after tax annual salary of some AUD 19.8 million.

I get great enjoyment out of watching football (or when I was growing up soccer) but I wonder whether footballers are really worth that much money. I understand that they bring business to the clubs they play for in terms of sponsorship and apparel and all the other marketing associated things but is one player worth that much to a club?

He might be the best player in football at the moment so I guess you may as well capitalize while you can.