I'm skeptical about Balance Walker

Some infomercials set my BS detector off by a very large margin. The Balance Walker infomercial is one of them.

It's not the craziest infomercial on TV, but it happened to be convenient for me to record the infomercial in it's entirety the other night, so I'm posting about it here.

The product is arch-supports. AUD $99 for one pair, or a "limited time offer" of AUD $189 for three pairs because "you'll need a set for each pair of shoes you own". (That's USD $76 for one pair, or USD $145 for three pairs.)

But if all they were doing was trying to sell us over-priced arch-supports with hyperbole about the potential benefits to our feet, ankles and knees, I wouldn't bother mentioning it. That's standard advertising practice.

No, they go much further than that. They claim that it can improve your balance, health and strength.

They also say it can make it easier to get down and out of your chair easier, which is obviously aimed at the elderly. They also claim it can reduce the chances of falls. At one point they try and convince the younger audience to buy them as "an investment" for their elderly parents and grandparents in order to help reduce the risk of these people falling over and injuring themselves.

They give a very implausible anecdote about weightlifters using them as their "secret weapon" to beat the competition, and boast about their hundreds of testimonials, but don't even show us a single example.

But what really caught my attention was the "balance test", which reminded me of those rubbish Power Balance wristbands.

If you watch it, pay close attention to the angle in which the older woman is pushing down on the younger woman's hands before and after the Balance Walker supports are placed beneath the younger woman's feet, and the trick becomes obvious.

Later they claim that this balance test, of their foot supports, even works when you're sitting down, although they don't give us a demonstration of that test.

If you're willing to subject yourself to almost half an hour of this nonsense, I've uploaded it to YouTube:

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https://youtu.be/zcEwFvFjmk4


If you'd rather not bother watching it, here are some of the highlights:

"Did you know that poor posture, sore backs, big bellies, aches pains and all sorts can come from just plain old tired feet?"

"[...] when put under your feet you will get a lift and a sense of balance that you may not have ever had before."

"Our customers love this product because when you're wearing them you can feel your stomach pull in, your shoulders fold back into place, in a natural way, your chest opens up, and you'll feel yourself being able to breathe more deeply."

"[...] 85% of people in the world have some sort of foot related problem that could benefit from foot supports."

"Well, when your foot is more properly positioned, your entire body is realigned. And these foot supports, being properly under your feet, identify your centre of gravity, and that's what works all the way up to balance you."

"[...] and wearing it enables you to get up and down out of your chair more easily [...]"

"[...] and it's in a secret blend, called a bionic blend, simply because it warms instantly to your body temperature."

"Well, actually everybody needs supports, balance supports, everybody needs better balance. Nobody wants to feel like they're going to be knocked over or fall over, especially senior citizens."

"My chest feels more open and my shoulders do feel further back, because I'm a bit of a huncher. I am a bit of a huncher, so I can breathe more easily." / "You know why we're all a bit of hunchers? Because when you're driving in your car you're hunched forward. When you're working at your computer, you tend to hunch forward. It's just a hunching forward type of world now."

"Patented with power of lift."

"Balance walker, with the balance box, finds your centre of gravity and creates a gentle force that travels up through your entire body, improves your body by aligning joints and muscles, making you look taller, slimmer. while enhancing your natural strength and making your breathing deeper and easier."

"They have better balance, they feel stronger, they feel straighter [...] and they actually feel healthier because they can breathe more deeply which gets your circulation going."

"Well, if you have flat feet you could use some foot supports. If you have very high arches, you can use some foot supports. If you have very pretty feet, and they feel just fine, you need foot supports to preserve them [...]"

"Have we got a special offer for you: Why would you spend hundreds of dollars buying foot supports that just don't work? If you call now, to order your first pair of foot supports, they will be only $99. But hang on a minute, because if you order a second or third pair in the next ten minutes, we'll give you an incredible 50% off, making the additional pairs only $45 per pair. Now, the thing is, two is okay, but you'll need a set for each pair of shoes you own, so take advantage of this limited time offer and get your complete foot support set of three pairs of balance supports for only $189. And this is a limited time offer, so you really must call now."

"Okay, now these are great, but are they affordable?" / "Absolutely. Because having been in the business of foot supports for over twenty years we know that you can pay up to $800 for a simple pair of foot supports that probably won't even balance you."

"And can any age wear the foot supports?" / "Oh, that's a good point. Not until you're eighteen. Because under eighteen the cartilage in your foot is soft, like the cartilage in your nose. It becomes solid bone when you're eighteen and over."

"I can't even tell you how many hundreds of testimonials we have, saying how people feel so much more confident, stronger, and the senior citizens who walk down the side-walk with their foot supports in their shoes aren't feeling like 'oh my gosh, what happens if I fall over and break something'."

"[...] and you don't want your grandparents, or mums and dads, to feel like that. You want them to feel confident and comfortable, so it could just be an investment for them as well [...]"

"Just tell us your shoe size, and we'll send you the right size."

"Can I tell you a quick fun story? We had four weightlifters from New Zealand who went to competition in another country. All of them slipped these in their shoes. Each one of them won their competitive category. So we said to them, can we have testimonials from you? They said: Not on your life, this is our secret weapon."

"And by the way, that balance test we did on you, that works when you're sitting down as well."

"[...] and don't ask me to explain it, but your body is so aligned that you're solid sitting down, with your foot supports [...]"

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1MIcdVm