Fitness Product Fails with Angela Giarratana, Jeremy Culhane and Kylie Brakeman | 94

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Hey, besties.

Some of you might be too young to remember this, but back in the day, there was a pair of biceps that took the world by storm.

A set of guns that had the people yelling for more.

A couple of arms that inspired an intrepid entrepreneur to invent the shake weight.

Get pumped, bestie, because today we're lacing up our Skecher shape-ups, slapping on our power balance bracelets, and double-fisting our shake weights to see which fitness fails were the floppiest of them all.

You've probably seen the infomercial.

Maybe you've seen it parodied.

They're called shake weights.

Parodies?

We're demonstrating.

It's nothing more than a simple bracelet.

Rubber, lightweight, and comes in multiple colors.

The power balance bracelets website does say that they are not guaranteed to work on everyone.

The popular shape-up shoe from Skechers.

Taglines like get in shape without setting foot in the gym are kind of sketchy.

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From Wondery and Atwill Media, this is The Big Flop, where we chronicle the greatest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time.

I'm your host, Misha Brown, social media superstar and currently smooshing my organs together in a waist trainer at your bestie, Misha.

And folks, I'm so excited because on the show today, we have three of the funniest people on the internet.

I mean, the cream of the crop of multi-hyphenants.

You can hear them all on the podcast, artist on artist on artist on artist.

It's Angela Gioratana and Jeremy Culhane and Kylie Brakeman.

Hello.

Nailed it, Misha.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

Yes.

You would not believe how many people call our podcast actors on actors on actors on actor.

And it's not, it's artists on artists.

Artist on artists.

Don't type that one in.

Type artist on artists on artists on artists in.

So today we're talking about a few fitness flops.

Have you ever been duped by a fitness product or program that was too good to be true?

I hate the fitness world.

I hate all of it.

So you'll have to pull me back, Misha.

I just bought one of those walking treadmills you put under your desk.

Okay.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

From TikTok specifically because I saw somebody walking on it.

Well, now you lost me.

It's like walking treadmill, great.

Walking works.

TikTok shop.

I don't know.

I love the fitness industry because I love sitting on an exercise ball.

I think that's so fun.

Are you sitting on one right now?

No, but I wish.

I really wish I was.

Well, at the dawn of the new millennium, Americans were inundated with like low-rise jeans, high-tech gadgets, and the overwhelming pressure to get really, really toned.

And they wanted quick and easy solutions.

So entrepreneurs...

They heated the call and some truly wild products came out on the market.

So today, we'll focus on three that failed to cut the flab because they flopped spectacularly.

Okay.

Here we go.

Today we're covering the shake weight, of course.

Infamous.

Gotta

gotta do it.

The power balance bracelet.

I don't know this one.

Oh, no.

Okay.

All right.

We love that.

Will it work on me?

Should I buy one?

We'll find out.

And finally, Skechers Shape-Ups.

Oh, my God.

Oh, fun.

I don't know those either.

Okay, I'm excited.

So we'll start with the gadget that had people literally quaking the shake weight.

So let's take a look at it first.

Oh,

wow.

Yeah.

Look at this.

The woman is having fun.

The guy is not having fun.

He's very serious about this.

Is that his face?

Yeah, that's his face.

It really looks like his face is a different body.

Yeah.

So there's one woman.

It's as you don't see one woman is smiling, holding the shake weight.

So strong.

The arms are so strong.

That's not her face either.

Guys, I think these faces aren't right.

And then there's a man next to her

that is so serious.

Like, this is the best thing that he's ever done in his life.

And also the biggest arms I've ever seen.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah, this is before men found therapy.

So

basically, they just worked out.

So

do you remember where you were when you had your first shake awakening?

I definitely remember seeing this commercial.

Oh, for sure.

This was definitely on like late night.

Yeah, infomercial.

It was there.

Infomercial hours.

Wasn't the idea that it was really like attractive to people because you didn't actually have to do a lot.

Right.

You just shook it.

Yeah.

Have you ever held one?

No.

Have you?

Yes.

I've held a broken one.

Yeah.

A broken one.

Yeah.

I once working at a theater in Pennsylvania.

Hello, Summerstock.

It was a white elephant gift exchange and I got the shake weight.

Yeah.

Nice.

That's a good gift.

Did it hurt?

Did it feel like a good workout?

No.

No.

It just felt strange and uncomfortable and a little bit naughty.

So, well, the shake weight was dreamed up by a man named Johan Verheim, an entrepreneur from South Africa.

He's the CEO of a company called Fitness IQ.

And you might assume that Verheim is a one-hit wonder with the shake weight, but according to his LinkedIn, he's actually founded or been the CEO of a number of companies, including a skincare company called Dog Face for Men.

Dog Dogface for Men.

Because why not?

That's my dream.

Because why not, Misha?

Why not?

That's what I'm trying to do with my face.

I'm trying to look more like a labradoodle.

There we go.

But he's, of course, best known for the shake weight.

So let's go back to 2009.

And Verheim, as he always does, is looking for the next big thing.

So what do you think inspired him to create the product at this time?

God, I mean, 2009, we're all wearing our shutter shades and

the black-eyed peas are playing.

Yeah, it was probably the black-eyed peas.

I think it was the black-eyed peas, probably.

Well, it was actually all the news coverage of Michelle Obama's biceps.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Everyone was obsessed with how toned her arms were.

Yeah.

And he was like, I can capitalize on this.

Absolutely.

As entrepreneurs do.

Yeah.

He notices how more women want to show off their arms, but they don't know how to achieve that strong-toned look.

So hello, light bulb moment.

A free weight that gives you an extra burn by oscillating as you lift it.

Verheim, he gets to work developing the shake weight with a private equity fund called JH Partners.

The device he comes up with is basically a shaky dumbbell that looks like a car shock absorber and according to verheem it's designed specifically for women who don't like heavy gym equipment or are too scared to use it oh i expected more from you verheem i really did i expected more from you and your dog face your dog face

Yeah, how would you advertise this product though?

Like, what would you, what would be your viral TikTok moment?

I think I would just do it and be like, there's nothing wrong with this.

And then people would be like, Do you not see?

And they'd be like, No, what are you guys talking about?

I would just keep on doing it over and over again.

Yeah, I think I would do what I think was the thing, which was giving it to like

menopausal women with a big grin.

And they're like,

big grin, strong grip.

Yeah.

I see you remember also the trailer, like the infomercial had the strongest men going, like, damn it, that was hard.

That's a good catchphrase.

Damn it, that was hard.

That was hard.

Well, Verheim draws some inspiration from the goats of workout equipment.

Think Thigh Master with Suzanne Summer.

So here's a quote from Verheim.

Quote, there were a couple of jokes going around the set about what it looks like if you do it a certain way, but that wasn't our master plan.

I'm cue wink wink in there.

So we've been talking about it.

Let's watch the infomercial.

Yes!

You just shake it back and forth.

There's no motors, no batteries, and you get the results you want.

I'm feeling it in my chest and my biceps and my triceps.

Tiffany, not Tiffany.

This is way worse than I remember.

Oh my God.

It's so that.

You can't escape it.

You can't escape it.

Verheim and company do a test run of the infomercial to see how it performs over the course of a weekend.

They spend $10,000 to $20,000 on airtime, which is not a lot.

Monday morning, the numbers are about what they expected.

By Monday afternoon, however, the ad totally viral.

The company's servers crashed.

Oh my gosh.

Wow.

And that week, the Shakeway is a punchline on huge TV shows like Jimmy Kimmel and The View.

And by Friday, the official Shakeway ad has millions of hits online.

And I'll tell you, it's The View.

Get that in the girly's hands at the view.

I'll watch that.

You get the view talking.

I'll watch that.

And this is like going viral in 2009 to me, that's like making butter with your hands.

Yeah.

Like you did, you went viral hard.

And if you went viral, yeah, you would like get on Ellen.

You'd get on late night.

You'd do the whole circuit.

You were really, really famous.

Now, if you get viral, you get a couple comments and you're like, whoa, what a cool day.

You get Jacob

Slay Adiva, and then that's like the best you can hope for.

No, you used to be able to go viral for months.

Yeah, and then you're like, Can I get a taco?

And they're like, No, I don't, I'm not responding to this.

I don't know what that is.

I'm an intern, and I just have to comment on things that mention tacos.

Well, the shake weight, like most novel workout equipment, comes with a lot of claims.

In just six minutes, it promises to burn as much muscle energy as a 42-minute workout with a standard dumbbell.

Wow.

It contracts your muscles 240 times a minute.

It works out not just your arms, but your entire upper body.

Okay.

Okay.

How does it achieve so much?

The shake weight says you'll get a buff up or bod through something called dynamic inertia.

The exercises are supposed to work in six minutes by keeping the muscles constantly tense with fast movements.

Just keep shaking.

We'll go for a little time here.

She's shaking too hard there.

Starting to notice any type of burn at all?

Look at this.

Where are you feeling it at mostly?

This woman's face.

This personal trainer doesn't want to be there as much as she does.

This is a really tough watch for everybody involved.

That was painful.

Were those people, Misha, were those people trying to dispute it?

Yeah, was that late in the middle?

No, were Were they pro or anti?

I couldn't tell.

I felt like she was doing it wrong.

I don't know why, but she was doing it wrong.

Yeah.

I don't know what the right way to use a shake weight is, but that felt really, really wrong.

That felt wrong.

That felt wrong.

There we go.

So yeah, we just want to play as many naughty clips as possible because we are children.

Like that, we didn't learn anything from that clip.

As mentioned, comedians from all corners of the entertainment establishment pounce on the shake weight, they all want that easy laugh.

Most talk show hosts just play around with it on camera and bask in the innuendo glory of it all.

But SNL Sketch goes viral.

It's an infomercial within an infomercial where the shakeweight ad is sold as DVD pornography.

Wow.

Now, because of its suggestive appearance, a lot of fun was had with the shake weight.

Time for a super cut.

Producer, roll the tape.

wave.

Maybe I thought I could use it for like practice or something.

I mean, not practice for that.

So for it, Chuckster.

Go with the two-hand, Chuck.

I don't need two-hands.

Look, it goes both ways.

You don't have to put batteries in this.

No, you have to.

I used to the best.

I got the battery one at home.

Gosh, America was different back then.

I know.

It really was.

We need to bring this back.

It could really bring all of us together.

Yes.

The Shakewake is the great unifier.

Yeah.

It's the imagined video of its time.

Bringing together all those celebrities.

Now, you might notice that many of these clips are from Ellen.

Well, Ellen was actually a big part of the viral promotion of Shakewate.

Did she have a steak?

She did not.

Oh, that would have been so good.

She just thought it was a hoot.

She devoted months to this gadget for free.

Wow.

Wow.

She would just get every guest using a shakeweight.

See, that also shows the time because that was free spawn con.

No one would be caught dead doing that.

Absolutely not today.

Yeah, this publicity, which would have cost Verheim millions of dollars to buy, translates into cold, hard, shaky, dumbbell-shaped piles of cash.

In the the first year, half a million shake weights are sold.

That's $40 million

worth of sales.

Wow.

$40 million?

Yeah, in the first year of this thing.

Do you think dog face wash came before or after?

I don't know.

I don't know.

Do you think it's making 40 million?

I meant like, do you think the 40 million went into making

skincare for men?

He blew it all on dog face for men.

Maybe, maybe.

Everybody's got shake weights.

Everybody.

Well,

not everybody, because if you remember, Virheem specifically said the shake weight was for women.

Yes.

Finally, do you make a boy one?

He launches shake weight for men.

Ah, this is the one.

This is where the guys are going, dang, that's hard.

This is not a workout.

This is a revolution.

This should be for you.

As you shake the weights that you can fire and recoil rapidly.

Yeah.

So you build definition, size, and strength fast.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

They have to be so serious.

Yeah.

The women were having so much fun.

No emoting.

No, this was life or death.

Yeah.

I love the very first line of that advertisement.

This is not a workout.

Yeah.

They're like, let's get alt with it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So what do you think differentiates the shake weight for women from the shake weight for men?

Probably physically the weight, right?

Yeah.

Or what I hated about, what I hate about this question is I feel like for the women, it was like, look how easy this is.

Yeah.

And for the men, it was, look how hard this is.

Like, like, look how like, this is a feat.

And for the women, it was like, I could do this sitting down.

Where it was like,

I could do this while feeding my kids.

Meanwhile, the guy is like in just an industrial room with nothing to do.

He's a prisoner of war.

So, yeah, physically, I think, Jeremy, you were just, you were about to head there.

Instead of two and a half pounds, it weighs a whole five pounds.

No way.

Yeah.

I'm sorry, that man in that advertisement has not picked up a five-pound weight since middle school.

Literally.

You know?

He could eat a five-pound weight.

Yeah.

All of us together.

Yeah, literally.

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Why are there ridges on Reese's peanut butter cups?

Probably so they never slip from her hands.

Could you imagine I'd lose it?

Luckily, Reese's thought about that.

Wonder what else they think about?

Probably chocolate and peanut butter.

Well, with this new product, Verheem hopes to move 10 million units before the public catches on that the shake weight cost four times a normal dumbbell.

Verheem claims the two and a half pound shake weight is as effective as a 12 pound weight.

So imagine what doubling that would do, right?

Wow.

Well, it turns out, nothing.

After everyone gets their fill of watching simulated sex acts, folks start to wonder if dynamic inertia is a real thing and if the shake weight is actually good for bodybuilding.

Lots of fitness gadgets claim to be good for this or that, but few actually deliver.

So, researchers, they get on the case.

And the American Council on Exercise, a fitness nonprofit, studies ShakeWaite's claims.

The big one being that the device burns 300% more energy than normal run-of-the-mill dumbbells.

Ace finds it only burns 66%

more energy.

No, no.

Uh-huh.

Wait, it's better than nothing.

At least it's not a complete lie, right?

Except that's only compared with the weights of an equal size.

So what about the special shaking feature, you might ask?

Because you could also pump a normal weight up and down, you know, just like shake a heavy object.

Regular weight.

Yeah.

You know?

You might drop it, but it does the same thing.

Also, just the American Council of Exercise sounds like a room full of my bullies.

So it's not that the shakeweight doesn't do what it says, it's just that you don't need to buy it.

Yeah.

So like a lot of info famous products, the shake weight quickly loses its luster.

And anyone who owns one eventually throws it into the bin.

They keep their flex belt and their ab wheel.

Uh-oh, what happens to Vahim?

I know.

Unfortunately, the company behind the shakeweight is private, so we don't know exactly how much sales plummeted, but it's pretty hard to find one nowadays.

Now, since the success of the ShakeWeight, the Fitness IQ Corporation has dissolved and Verheem has pivoted a few times.

He still seems to own the trademark for the ShakeWeight, but he's moved on with various other projects.

Another way he's keeping the lights on is teaching as a graduate professor at the Parsons School of Design.

Parsons?

Yeah, Parsons.

Like from Project Runway?

Yeah.

So there are grad students right now who might be inventing all sorts of suggestive products under his tutelage.

Wow.

Wow.

Oh my gosh.

We gotta go.

So now I have a question.

What is the most ridiculous piece of footwear you've ever worn?

Me?

Everybody dunks on my flip-flops.

I love flip-flops.

I love flip-flops.

You're allowed to wear flip-flops if you're going to a body of water.

I don't get it.

Crocs are fine.

Crocs are ooh, ironic, but flip-flops aren't cool anymore.

Because there are enough holes to obfuscate the toes.

Well, in 1996, a Swiss engineer named Carl Müller founds a company to market a new type of shoe concept.

Now, you might be wondering, what kind of shoe hadn't been invented yet?

Well, the kind that makes it harder to walk.

Yeah.

That's what we need.

Yeah, he's trying to create a shoe that simulates walking barefoot, which is supposedly good for your back and your legs.

How do they work?

They have rocker bottoms, which means if you wear them, you're always a little bit off balance.

And when you're trying to balance, you work certain muscles.

That's the gist of it.

So in 2007, a lot of people want the harder to walk on shoe.

Enter Skechers.

I have only ever understood Skechers in the context of eight-year-olds because I thought that's what eight-year-olds wear.

And now everybody's wearing them.

I don't get it.

I don't get it.

But what if they corner the market on these rocker bottom shoes?

Okay, so maybe they could finally be the go-to and not the good enough brand.

So they launch shape-ups and they're a runaway hit.

So let's take a look at a picture.

Angela, could you please describe what we're looking at?

What you're seeing is basically a shoe on top of a mountain.

There is the biggest, big, okay, so like I would call it, I don't know,

the stage in which the shoe sits, the boring.

Always a theater girl.

All the shoes are stage.

I don't know how to describe the sole

bottom.

Thank you.

The sole.

So the sole is triple the size of the shoe.

And in the back, it's massive.

Not to mention, looks like we are in the rhinestone era.

This thing is bedazzled.

It sure is.

And it's got that S.

It's got that skecher S.

It's got the Skecher S.

Yeah.

What's the K for?

Yeah, I was going to ask about that K.

They've got a rogue K in there.

K shape-ups.

I think it's because it was personalized.

I think this was a personalized show.

Bedazzle.

Not K-shape-ups.

We'll find out about that K, I'm sure.

Uh-oh, spoiler.

Okay.

Okay.

The big thing about the shoe that sticks out to me is just how severe that back slope is.

You know, you are literally walking on the shape of a U, basically.

So Skechers claims by wearing these shoes, a person can passively tone their legs, abs, and behinds.

Skechers even says the shoes can help folks lose weight and strengthen their hearts.

Now, in the first two years, Skechers moves at least 20 million pairs of shape-ups.

Now, once you have a hit on your hands, what do you do?

You do it again.

You do it again, but bigger.

And you do it for men.

You do it for men.

Reboot, too.

You do it for men.

We've learned.

Shape-ups too for men.

You do it for boys.

You do it for boys.

Yeah, Skechers wants to spin these shape-ups into its own line.

Whoa.

With special shoes for different activities, like sandals that make it harder to walk.

What?

I'm in flip-flops.

There is a big except here because in 2010, our old friend, the American Council on Exercise,

Our bullies are back.

Yeah.

They just have no fun.

Exactly.

Those same people who found that the shake weights weren't very effective also discovered that toning shoes seemed to be a scam.

Quote, our findings demonstrate that toning shoes are not the magic solution consumers were hoping they would be.

That makes me sad.

And simply do not offer any benefits that people cannot reap through walking, running, or exercising in traditional athletic shoes.

Okay, that sucks.

Just

I wanted it to work.

I wanted it to work.

However, unlike with Fitness IQ, a bad report card from ACE means more than just sales tapering off.

For Skechers, there were legal consequences.

Oh.

Yes.

Oh, no.

Not shoe lawyers.

Armed with the findings from ACE, an Ohio woman files a class action lawsuit against Skechers' sketchy claims.

Go, girl.

Go, girl.

Women get stuff done.

Yeah.

She unfortunately develops stress fractures in both of her hips and blames it on her shape-ups.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

Do you think that's fair?

I think so.

So, Skecher's stock, as a result, tumbles.

Now, ACE's report, they say, has not been peer-reviewed.

So, the investor freakouts and the lawsuit are for sure premature.

And so, the company tries to find a marketing solution for their bad PR.

In 2010, who is the spokesperson you want for a shoe that tones your ass?

2010.

Is this Kim K?

Kylie, do you remember the letter that was on that shoe?

Kim K.

K.

K.

Kim K.

K.

Kim K.

Kylie, it was right in front of you.

You already got it.

Ding, ding, ding.

So, yeah, Skechers doesn't just sign Kim, but also Chris Jenner, her mother.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

The campaign has a cursed name.

Any of you want to guess what the campaign name was?

Ketchers.

Kim.

Kim Ketchers.

Kim Ketchers.

Kim Ketchers.

No, it was.

How did you get that?

Did you read it?

No.

I got it a millisecond before you said it.

Wait, oh my God.

I can't believe it.

That's crazy.

Shaping up with the Kardashians is brilliant.

Yes.

Wow.

Wow.

I feel alive.

That's amazing.

Now, this campaign, it was going to be some sort of fitness challenge where Kim and Chris compete.

And Kim is very vague about it.

Quote, I won't give away all of our secrets,

but we have some really exciting, fun stuff that we're going to do.

Wow.

So nothing.

So she wasn't briefed.

Not at all.

That's what I say right when I'm about to cancel my plans.

Kim shoots a steamy ad for the Super Bowl.

Let's watch.

You're amazing.

The best I've ever had.

But things just aren't working out.

Hello, shape-ups.

Wow.

She's going to break up with him because she's too busy wearing shoes.

So Skechers quickly expands its line of toning shoes.

They have the OG shape-ups, the resistance runners, tone-ups, and toners.

Wow.

Each pair of shoes costs around $100, and people can't open their wallets fast enough.

In 2011, sales of toning shoes from all brands reaches a billion dollars.

Wow.

Yeah.

Unbelievable.

And remember, this is despite ACES findings.

By 2012, the feds have had enough of the lies.

So they start investigating.

Feds.

Yeah, and then they sue Skechers.

And according to the FTC, these quote-unquote studies that Skechers keeps referencing in their ads are complete BS.

Two of them have been led by a chiropractor.

Sorry to any chiropractors who are listening.

That's already sketchy because 17 U.S.

states do not consider chiropractors to be actual doctors.

Yes.

Bam.

Mic drop.

Sorry, chiropractors.

We're coming for you.

Sorry.

Now, this chiropractor they use also happens to be the ex-husband of an exec at Skechers.

So, yeah.

So it's not even chiropractors.

It's a husband.

So this is getting messy.

This is getting messy.

So the FTC alleges that this doctor didn't set up a control group as part of his first study, and he only used eight people, which is a ludicrous sample size.

They say the second study he did was even worse.

He used a larger sample size, 80 people, but he just straight up made up results.

Wow.

Wow.

For example, people who gained weight were listed as having lost weight.

Also, some of the people who were part of the study were relatives of him.

Oh, my.

So this is awesome.

I got to get in this business.

Whatever this is, that's where I need to go.

This sounds easy.

You don't have to tell the truth.

Perfect.

Just fill out an Excel sheet, kind of.

That's near you're done.

Make shit up.

Yeah.

Pull together some of your family on Christmas and ask them how much they weigh.

Hire your wife, hire your family, just call it a day.

Yeah.

So at this point, Shape Ups better find some better footing.

Nice.

There we go.

You're welcome.

Come on.

Actually, the FTC uses way better puns in their press release.

Quote, the FTC's message for Skechers and other national advertisers is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims.

Wow.

Wow.

Yeah.

Okay, creative.

Very creative.

Yeah.

Only something the FTC could come in with, come up with.

A slogan like that.

Yeah.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission isn't alone.

A team of attorney generals from 44 states investigate Skechers as well.

Now, the company could defend itself in court, but they don't.

Skechers immediately caves and settles for $40 million.

Holy moly.

Wow.

But they're a billion.

They made a billion dollars.

They made a billion in one year.

Now, except they, of course, like every other company I've ever covered on this podcast, admits no wrongdoing.

They'd rather pay up now rather than waste more money on lawsuits, or so they say.

So from this point on, Skechers is not allowed to advertise that shape-ups can strengthen anything.

They can't say shape-ups will help you lose weight, improve your circulation, or do anything about your muscle tone.

So using the settlement money from Skechers, the FTC builds a website for folks who've purchased toning shoes to be able to get a refund.

Wow.

Well, that's nice.

After the lawsuit, Skechers discontinues their rocker bottom toning shoes.

I guess if you want, you can probably still thrift a crumbling pair on eBay and prove they don't work for yourself.

And I will.

And I will.

And I shall.

ebay.com slash skechers.

So that's that.

Now, wow.

I honestly thought,

I thought they kind of worked because I did see so many people use them.

Yeah.

I didn't hear that they didn't work.

It's nice to know.

Yeah, straight up didn't work.

That publicist for Skechers did a good job.

She just quieted it all.

Yeah, they're just like, let's pay Kim Kardashian $25 million and we'll make a billion.

Easy.

Wild.

All right, coming up, a bracelet marketed to help improve your balance through holographic magic.

You literally can't make these things up.

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So let me back up a few thousand years.

Huge.

Yeah, huge jump.

In Eastern medicine, there's a concept called qi.

Have we heard of it?

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

For anybody who hasn't, it's the body's vital life force.

And for centuries, humans have tried to harness and enhance this chi with various potions and charms.

Now, cut back to the mid-aughts when sporting, sporty wristbands was all the rage.

You might remember the Live Strong band that folks wore all the time.

Yeah.

Those weren't claiming to do anything.

They were just a fundraising/slash PR tool inspired by Lance Armstrong's battle with cancer.

You know, they did not claim to make you better at cycling or anything ridiculous like that.

But what if a bracelet could do that?

Spoiler, it can't, but people will say that it can.

I was about to say, I'm in.

Let's do it.

Yeah, right.

Enter Josh and Troy Radarmel.

The Radarmals are brothers from Orange County, California.

Now, older brother Troy Radarmel is trained to build computers, but he can't fight his Orange County roots.

In 2006, when his younger brother Josh graduates from Yale, Troy starts coming up with a business idea for them to pursue.

He's thinking, what if I could program the power of expensive magic crystals into something else?

No, really, that's what he, that was a quote.

Wow.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

That's a good place to be.

You don't have a lot of problems if that's what you're thinking about on a day.

Yeah, that's bills are covered type thoughts.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, he realizes that mylar, the stuff party balloons and heat blankets are made of, could be used to embed signals into holographic discs and then be attached to wearables like wristbands.

So, what do you think these wristbands will do?

Good vibes.

Yeah, good vibes.

It's like a mood ring.

Tell you if you're sad.

Yeah,

just kind of give you a little alert if you're cold.

That's how I assume mood rings work.

Well, they do nothing, absolutely nothing, but they claim claim to enhance your body's energy field.

I've heard that claim before.

Yeah, big claim.

You were like, that's what I was going to say next.

I'd say Tequila claims to enhance my body's energy field.

Nice.

But sometimes I'd say those claims are false.

Nice.

Way to sell it at the end there.

These privileged bros, they put their valuable education to good use and sink their entire life savings into a company they call Power Balance, where they intend to make these magic bracelets.

So they set up their HQ in a minuscule 150 square foot office space and off they go, trying to hawk their neoprene and mylar bracelets held together with Velcro on the internet and at trade shows.

So let's see what these two cooked up.

These are the bracelets and the bros.

Could you describe for the listeners what we're looking at?

Okay, these are, so there's two, really awesome dudes, first of all, really awesome guys, but they have these balanced wristbands that half of them seem to be made of cloth and half of them seem to be like rubber with like a sort of eye in them.

And the color scheme is, I'm just going to say it's whack.

It's really aesthetically bad.

Yeah.

It's just cheap looking bands with a shiny circle in the middle.

I'm assuming the ones on the left are the massive bro ones for their big wrists and the other ones are are like the dainty little ones for all of the ladies.

I was drawn to the bigger ones.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Jeremy was like, yeah, I didn't like the little one at all.

I was drawn to the thick ones.

I was drawn to the thick ones.

I cannot explain why.

So with the power balance band, the brothers claim you can enhance your chi for just $29.95 plus tax.

Oh, gosh, 30 bucks?

For a bracelet?

Mm-hmm.

No.

And how do you check on your Chi?

How do you know?

The little holographs on that little circle band in the middle.

Oh,

what?

Yeah, this is not a piece of technology.

It is a cheap little wristband.

So, and because of that, almost nobody wants it.

Josh and Troy only make $8,000 in their first year, which is still over 250 people that they convinced, though.

Right?

Because I do feel like I saw saw these around.

Listen, here on the big flop, we would not be punching down at people.

We only punch up at people.

So this is just the beginning.

All right.

All right.

All right.

Yeah.

Their first year, not so good.

And within a few months, the brothers are flat broke, right?

Josh, who has a freaking Yale degree, refuses to do a normal nine-to-five job like some plebe.

And instead, he sells luggage and tutors Spanish.

Troy, who again can build computers, collects recyclable bottles and and cans.

I should mention that he does this in Sweden.

I have no idea how he affords a ticket and a visa, but okay, he's doing that in Sweden.

Kind of the place to be to be collecting bottles and cans and getting paid.

What survival gig would you get to not do a nine-to-five?

I got TikTok famous.

You're like, so

I want to be like a...

like a personal assistant who just drives somebody's mail from one place to the other.

I want to get paid to just go to somebody's P.O.

box and then drop it off at their house.

Do you want to be a mailman?

You want to be a mailman, Kylie.

I want to be the person that reviews children's picture books.

I was reading one the other day to my niece.

Reviews?

Yeah, my niece.

And a full page of like, this book changed me.

And I'm like, this is for four-year-olds.

What the heck is going on?

I think I want to be in the event planning business.

Oh,

so that is a nine to five.

Yeah, that's like a full-time job.

So what was the question?

Yeah.

So in 2008, the brothers, they doubled down.

They hit the pavement or rather sand and do live demonstrations on the Orange County shore.

They put their wristbands on surfers and ask them to do simple balancing acts like standing on one foot or light stretching.

And the sales pitch works.

Folks are convinced the wristbands are helping them stay upright.

And suddenly, all the beach babes want one.

Wow.

Now, weirdly, the brothers link up with an Italian dude who's pretty certain he can sell the power bands abroad.

And they slowly start to take off in Italy.

So after their little rendezvous at the bar, they start to take off in Italy, the rest of Europe, then Asia, until they become big in Japan.

And now, folks in America, especially the well-traveled, have their eye on this cool new international fad.

So

very basic question.

If you're selling athletic wearables, who needs to be wearing them to actually move the product?

Athletes.

Gotta go athletes.

Ding, ding, ding.

Yes.

So Josh used to play football with a guy who now plays college football at USC.

Of course, he did, Misha.

Of course he did.

Look at his face.

Of course he did.

And he gets his buddy to wear a power band and bam.

Now all his USC teammates want them too.

Then USC fans want them.

Then USC haters want them.

And in 2009, Josh's old football buddy and another top performer wear their bands to the NFL Combine and get drafted immediately.

Must be the band.

Yes.

Yes.

That's insane.

So now Josh gets a little bolder.

He tracks down the team physician for the Phoenix Suns.

The doctor gives power bands to the team for a game and they win by over 50 points.

Okay, now I want a band.

Right.

I got to get one of those.

Hello?

They're over the moon.

I wish I had a band on for my show last night.

So the word continues to spread with more random athletes starting to get their hands on the wristbands.

Like L.A.

Laker forward Lamar Odom says it keeps him from falling over.

Yeah, he says he feels more energized and flexible when he has the bracelets on.

So soon, athletes from all types of sports, from pro and college teams, start wearing them.

I mean, we're talking UCLA football players, the USC men's tennis team, even celeb athletes like A.

Rod of the New York Yankees.

Okay, big get.

And soccer deity David Beckham.

You didn't get Beckham.

How'd you get Beckham?

How'd you get Beckham?

Offended like.

Offended like.

So now the company balloons up from $187,000 the previous year.

2009 has power balance raking in $5.6 million.

Wow.

See, I knew I saw them everywhere.

Oh, yeah.

That wasn't crazy.

Everywhere.

Now the power bands are being sold everywhere.

We're talking dicks, Models, any big sports equipment store.

Three-fourths of Power Balance revenue comes from international buyers.

So Jeremy, you must have been doing a lot of overseas travel that year.

At that time, it was just all overseas for me.

Sorry.

I developed an accent because of it.

Cool, bro.

The bands are sold in 30 countries across six continents.

So now counterfeiters start making power bands overseas.

But my guys, these are already fake.

Strange.

Then there are the copycats that aren't technically counterfeits, just competing brands of bands.

Now, the real power bands start cropping up on the covers of magazines and newspapers, and famous folks unconnected to sports start wearing them too.

Poker players, Ryan Seacress, Kate Middleton, Lindsey Lowen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, at least one Kardashian, even

Diddy.

Wow.

Oh,

so those bracelets don't work.

No, everything in hindsight.

Bad cheat.

You wear one, look what happens to you.

Of your own accord.

It's a slippery slope, everybody.

Good save.

Good save, Kylie.

Good save.

I stand on the right side of history.

Let's continue.

Of your own accord.

Of your own accord, of your own accord.

That's for sure.

Of your own accord, of your own accord.

So obviously the brothers, like, they're feeling pretty good about this.

Any marketer would kill to have just one major celebrity endorsing a product.

Power Balance has hordes of them and they're not even charging.

The free publicity is staggering.

Over 2.5 million bands are sold.

That's a lot of risks.

That's a lot of risks.

That's a lot of risks.

Power Balance makes $35 million.

That's a six-fold improvement over the previous year.

Sixfold.

Sixfold.

Amazon listed as one of its top-selling holiday gifts for 2010.

And CNBC names Power Balance get this this product of the year.

Unbelievable.

Sexiest man alive.

Not CNBC.

MSNBC's product of the year is the sexiest man alive.

Okay, I mean, things have gotten out of control here.

So somebody rational has to step in.

This time, it will not be Ace.

Thank God.

That delivers the critical hit on power balance.

Because the bands are so popular overseas, action is going to come from abroad.

Not the

United Nations?

They're charged for war crimes.

Yeah.

In late 2010, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission takes umbrage with the claims that power balance bands have some sort of performance technology and that they're supposedly designed to resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body.

Now, for for the bands to have technology, there would need to be science.

And there is none, never has been.

It's pseudoscience.

Well, how do you science chi, you know?

The ultimate question.

Yeah, it is.

Someday we're going to find the answer.

If anybody listening knows, let us know in the comments.

Write in.

Mail me a letter.

And you will carry it around.

I'll carry it to the next place.

So tell me where you want it to go.

Some researchers, as much as they hate the player, they don't hate the game.

They concur that $30 is kind of the perfect price for a placebo.

They don't want it to be too cheap, otherwise people think it's worthless and don't believe the woo-woo, but you want it to be attainable enough so that a bunch of people are seen wearing them.

Now, to their credit, Power Balance doesn't make any explicit claims on their packaging.

They just let the wearer infer a bunch of benefits.

But promotional videos on the Power Balance website do make a ton of claims.

So they're removed.

And the Power Balance bros insist they're not lying,

but that they are also happy to refund anybody's money on set.

The problem is, Power Balance has possibly violated an Australian law, the Trade Practices Act of 1974.

Do you know it?

Trade Practices Act of 1974.

Oh, yeah, mate.

I'll remember that like it was yesterday.

No,

not the the Trade Practices Act.

Oh, no, Trade Practices Act of 1974.

Misha, where did you get that archival footage of those Australians?

That was, yeah,

our researchers dig deep, dig deep.

So after this, other governments start joining in on the chastising.

Power Balance gets fined by the Spanish and Italian governments for deceptive marketing and false claims.

Okay, but it was kind of the Italians' fault.

To begin with.

Hello?

And a BBC whales investigation confirms that the bans make no difference in improving the wearer's athletic abilities.

So,

yeah.

How do you think the company responds to these accusations?

I think they go silent.

Yeah, I think they go like, ooh, BBC Wales?

Boring.

Yeah, where is that?

I think they go, that's bad cheat.

That's good.

Well, cornered, power balance officials make a statement: Quote, we admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims and therefore we engaged in misleading conduct.

Whoa.

But they also counter, we believe in power balance, as do athletes across the world.

Every day we continue to see, hear, and learn about how people around the world believe that our products have positively affected their lives.

Wow.

I'm going to start using that.

That's good PR.

It's kind of cool.

Yeah.

Just admit what you've done.

And then say, but people still like it.

People still like it.

Yeah, you can't really disprove that we like it.

Yeah, you're right.

There is nothing saying that these are good, but people still like it.

Yeah.

Well, following the hubbub down under, a bunch of consumers in the U.S., instead of each asking for a refund, band together to file a class action lawsuit.

We love those.

I love to see people come together like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Again, it's bringing people together, everybody.

The customers feel ripped off, claiming they actually believed that the holograms were scientifically proven to improve athletic ability.

Okay, any sentence that starts, I actually believe the hologram you're already done.

It's your fault.

Yeah.

It's your fault.

You know,

it might sound silly, right?

That they believed that, but they want a very unsilly amount of money.

$57 million.

$57.

Wow.

Yeah.

And they get it.

Yeah.

The lawsuit forces Josh and Troy to file for bankruptcy.

That's bad energy, dudes.

You can still buy a power balance band if you want from the official website.

You can even pay a little extra to get the more stylish steel version.

But should you?

I'm doing it.

Yeah.

I'm doing it.

I'm mailing it to myself and I'm letting Kylie grab it for me.

Oh, yes.

Yes.

I always say do something nice for yourself.

There you go.

So here on the big flop, we try to be positive people and end on a high.

So are there any silver linings that you can think of that came about from all of these fitness fads?

I think the silver lining is probably people being like, kind of, I don't know.

I sometimes get overwhelmed with the fitness industry.

So when something is made to look easy for me, I kind of get over that hump and I'm like, like I'm, I think a silver lining is a woman being like, you know what?

I'm glad I put myself out there and ordered this because it didn't do much, but like I got in the driver's seat.

I'm trying to do something.

Yeah.

And I'm like, I'm doing, I'm making steps forward in my fitness journey.

And that's like the hardest is the, it's like the mindset.

It's like an entry point into something where it's like, I'm, yeah, like you said, I'm doing something for myself.

I'm, I'm going to be like, this is the first step in maybe me going to like get a personal trainer or go to a gym or go to a class or whatever.

so I think ultimately if you have a placebo that's okay and the bracelets feel like that to me too they feel like a little bit like oh I'm wearing this so I'm gonna kill this football game I'm gonna really be awesome yeah like space jam bugs bunny juice yeah the best part I think is these flops is that the scientists eventually were able to convince the public that they didn't work So people were believing science back then, guys.

It was crazy.

A crazy time.

Yeah.

So hopefully that comes back.

That'd be great.

That'd be so cool if it comes back So now that you've heard about these three products shake weight shape-ups and power balance Which would you say was the biggest flop?

I think skechers for me do they still make them?

No, I feel like the skechers and the bracelets didn't make people look dumb as hell on the way to losing money.

You're so right

Yeah, like everyone lost money in all three but the thing about the shake weight wasn't like and nobody was championing it going like this is amazing everybody was buying it as a bit, as a meme, almost.

Yeah, you can only ride the white elephant thing for so long.

The others, at least, I feel like it's like, at the worst case, you got a bracelet or you got a pair of shoes.

I'll double down.

Yeah, Skechers was actually the stupidest because it made people look that silly.

It made people,

but not as a bit.

Like, they were seriously walking around with giant like arcs on their feet and going, like, no, it's helping.

And it's not.

They were walking around uncomfortable

for years.

Yeah.

Well, thanks so much to our well-balanced trio of guests, Angela Girotana and Jeremy Colhane and Kylie Brakeman for joining us here on the Big Flop.

And of course, thanks to all of you for listening and watching.

If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a rating and review or subscribe.

We'll be back next week with another flop.

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