Someone pitched me on the EFX Power Balance wristband the other night.

I was totally unprepared for two things - how convinced these people were that there is such a thing as holograms that emit a 'frequency' attuned to the body, and the carnival style gimmicks used to convince lemmings that the technology works.

There are many resources you can find on the internet debunking the effects of Applied Kinesiology. Basically, applied kinesiology is this total fraud science whereby people believe that their body responds to either items worn, items ingested, or items held. That somehow, the muscles react and are either weaker or strong depending on contact with these objects and the bodies 'electrical field."

These same people would sneer and laugh if they saw say a evangelist lay his hands on someones head and then suddenly they had greater strength or flexibility, but the principle is exactly the same. Except with items like teh EFX USA scam and Power Balance wristband scam the person doing the test actually believes and thus helps bring about the placebo effect result that one normally sees when they do these kind of parlor tricks.

Lifewave got hammered on sites like WorldWideScam for promoting these Hologram Stickers that supposedly provided all kinds of benefits ( even used for improved gas mileage ) but now these other companies like EFX are selling their Power Balance bracelets to people who in ages gone by would've lined up for snake oil.

This friend tried to demonstrate the power of the Power Balance wristband on me. He asked me to pput my hands together and rotate as far as I could to the right. Then marked how far my hands would reach. Then he said, okay, now I'm going to put the wristband on you - I said, wait, let me do it one more time. This time, I stretched as far as I possibly could - an extra few inches - till it actually hurt. Then I said lets do it. He put the bracelet on me. I was able to turn just as far, no further.

He did the same test to three other people. Each time, I encouraged the people to go as far as they possibly could - not just as far as was comfortable. Each time when they put on the bracelet, no further result.

Then he did a test where he had me stand on one foot and tried to push down my arm. Again, he wanted to push down on my arm after I held the bracelet. I told him, no, just push down again without the bracelet. The second time, I held my arm and balance much longer. And the third time, even longer. I said, "Is that the result you were expecting with the EFX Power Balance Wristband? He said yes. I said, the bracelet doesn't do anything. You simply adjust and balance better then next times.

It led me to also do research on the placebo effect for these items. What's sad is that the same crap we hear when people are pitching certain MLM products ( PRO ATHLETES ARE USING IT!!!) is being used to promote this totally worthless piece of plastic and a hologram sticker ( like you would find on your credit card ) for 60.00.  "Pro Hockey Players are using it". Really? Which ones. Apparently a couple of pro surfers gave testimonials. Honestly, the only pro surfers I ever knew where such gullible stoners I could've sold them green beans as magic beans and they'd have tried to grow a magic beanstalk. No offense to any intelligent pro surfers.

Here's a link to a scambusting video, but instead of the EFX hologram scam its a 'crystal' that is supposed to have the same effect - and the guy just destroys the phony crystal healer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_MzP2MZaOo

I then challenged the friend to do the same test, but without me encouraging the person to stretch as far as possible the first time, with a simple rubber wristband - essentially a "Live Strong" bracelet.

The person turned six inches further the second time. The funny part, the rubber band wasn't even a Live Strong - it was a silicone band made for marking beer cans and wine glasses at parties ( all different colors ).

But no matter how many times I pointed out the silliness of the claims, or the fact that it couldn't pass a double blind test, or the placebo effect, or the expectations on the tester of the net result, could not get a response indicating it might be a fraud.

Emperor's New Clothes effect in play. Even when scammed, no one wants to admit it - they won't admit something like the EFX wristband scam sucked them in, because then they would seem like idiots.

Reminds me of the Uri Geller key bending and Pyramid Power craziness of the 70s.

Anyone actually using this EFX USA Power Balance bracelet that is willing to do a blind test?

Is EFX USA an MLM? Or do they just have an affiliate program? Or an MLM disguised as an affiliate program?

We have bought one for our dog, which he does not know what it is or wearing.  He suffer from stiffness for years after his leg was broken and the metal plate was not removed. The cold weather effect his leg so he suffer even more.  The day we put the EFX USA Power balance for pets on our dog, he started to move around with a sense of youthfullyness of a younger dog. He start getting up and down off the couch which he has not done in a years. We were very surprised because a dog would not be able to tell what they are wearing. If it is a mind game then EFX must be a dog whisper.  I found our dog still moving around very well after 90 days and counting. Our friends have notice the same thing, and are very surprised of his health. Scan maybe, but it works on our dog!

I have heard about a product that sounds like this, but I can't remember the name of it right off hand. I go to a church & there is a rep there & he uses this & so does many more people. They all have several different types of pains & everyone has said that it has helped their pain to some level. I am not saying that these things work as I have not used them, but it does make me want to try it out & see what it does do. I am working on a product trade so that I am not out of money as I have a autoship to keep up with anyway.

I would love to hear more about this.

Power Balance bankruptcy filing in Santa Ana, California on Friday.

Not soon enough for consumers who lost their money, but kudos to WatchDog for being spot on on this EFX bracelet scam.

Good review.... but I draw the line when you drag the power of Crystals into this discussion!  Ancient 'secret' known by only the Kings and Emperors of the Ancient World and only recently re-discovered by Western practicioners!

JP

Are you implying that if the dog knew he was wearing an EFX Power Balance wristband that he would have demonstrated a placebo effect? Therefore, since he didn't know, and showed signs of improvement, that it appears to be proof of it's effectiveness lol? I think a dog barely understands the function of a collar, he's certainly used to it, but I'm almost certain that mechanically they don't get the gist of it......None the less, I love dogs and I'm happy that he is doing so well whether its the EFX Power Balance Band or not. I sort of just, wanted you to get to the core of your reasoning and kind of glance at it a little, that's all :P.

I have a friend whose 19 year old son got one of those "Wands" that are said to contain the micro elements, metals, stones, crystals and other strange things. He paid around $120  for it and has since seemed a bit quiet and semi-disappointed at least on the outside. I'm really not into this kind of new age thing, and I am fairly solid fan of medical science. If we were as sensitive to energy as many of these companies would have us believe, then I think we might all go completely insane and jump off rooftops every time the sun had a ray burst or whatever you call them. The universe is pulling on us all time in much heavier ways than a basic magnetic field! So I'm skeptical about it, but kind of like you Travis, I try to keep my skepticism in check as well, because you just never know what the next breakthrough is going to be, and no one wants to be like the people that laughed the world being round. At the very least, I would try it most definitely, but I wouldn't pay for it until I saw that it worked. :)

lol, well all joking aside, its very possible that the product could work. I didn't say likely, but possible. Science and medicine changes all the time, and 50 years ago if you had talked about something like the Hadron Collider you'd have been laughed out of your 9-5. Now keep in mind that in this post I'm not endorsing EFX, because it is [likely] to be BS, but its not definite. I've always been fascinated with energy and physics, and we do have magnetic fields, that is scientific fact, and we are effected by them, but its not known to what degree. It could very well be that understanding energy and how it functions in our bodies could lead to longer life spans, super immunities, faster healing and even bigger bodies, as science "fictiony" as it all sounds. I personally wouldn't shell out the dollars for this product, but I wouldn't dismiss this particular area of study either.

Interesting,

I research them all and make a list of every new deal to come along.  Then I go back over my list from time to time to see how many of these businesses still exist.  Much to my shock, very few, so unless you have absolute proof of a product working as promoted, not the usual hyped up lies we so often see, forget about it.  If you can't save people money and provide a high quality alternative to what they are currently purchasing, forget about it.  This industry of home businesses is difficult enough, and scams just keep making it more difficult.

Success to all

My concer is about the people-distributors getting really pumped up and excited about every new product that comes along JUST because it is new and the soil is virgin for them to make money. So they do until the company goes out of business and they just move along to the next one. But even more strange is that they are followed by the same and same people every time! That shows something about the personal integrity. I am not saying to wait 5-10 years to see if something is valid, but do a research about the people that are recruiting you or the management. If you see that kind of background, would you like to be involved with that kind of people?

Products come and go....