A Watch Powered by Snake Oil Uses all Three Magic Words

The Federal Trade Commission has recently cracked down on four companies that sold devices to protect people from electromagnetic waves from cell phones, alleging false advertising. All of the cases have settled. Now, rising to meet the challenge of suckering-by-using-magnetism-or-electricity-claims comes the ugliest $2000 watch you’ll hopefully never buy.

First, the psycho-babble:

The PHILIP STEIN TESLAR is engineered to produce a non-Hertzian/scalar wave shown to screen or shield the body from other ELF signals. The watch sits on the wrist over the triple warmer meridian, an important acupuncture point, in the body’s energy system. It emits a specialized signal spread that surrounds the body within a bubble or cushion, so most other frequencies cannot enter. Those frequencies that do penetrate this reinforced “cocoon” are more easily eliminated by the brain’s natural frequency screening mechanism. In other words, the body, rather than being radiated with radio or television signals, radiates its own natural earth environment 8 Hz signal.

Now the Reality:

Wired News: A Watch Powered by Snake OilThe watches are currently available at Bloomingdale’s New York and Royal Jewelers in Massachusetts. Prices range from $600 for the basic to $2,000 for a diamond-encrusted model.

Critics dismiss the company’s claims as ridiculous.

“We’re not aware of any scientific evidence that supports these claims,” said Barbara Anthony, regional director of the Northeast office of the FTC. “Consumers should be highly skeptical. Don’t fall prey to the come-ons that are used to market these products.”

But who needs science when celebrities swear by the mystical, magical properties? “Celebrities like Madonna, Sharon Osbourne and Barbara Walters are fans of the timepiece, People magazine reported. Several players on the Oakland Raiders football team and a handful of elite track and field athletes training for the Olympics also wear the watch.”

Attention marketing majors – if you want to sell scam products based on unfounded fears to the public remember the magic words: “Magnets, Electricity, and Celebrities.”