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- Newsgroups: misc.fitness
- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!doug.cae.wisc.edu!wittmann
- From: wittmann@engr.wisc.edu (art wittmann)
- Subject: Re: NordicFlex Gold, Amazing product!
- Organization: College of Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
- Date: 25 Jan 93 15:53:32 CST
- Message-ID: <1993Jan25.155332.13480@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
- Originator: wittmann@muskie.engr.wisc.edu
- Keywords: unrealistic, advertising, expectations
- References: <1993Jan23.152653.6614@doug.cae.wisc.edu> <1k1dr8INN33d@thor.genrad.com>
- Lines: 91
-
-
- In article <1k1dr8INN33d@thor.genrad.com>, rep@thor.genrad.com (Pete Peterson) writes:
- |> In article <1993Jan23.152653.6614@doug.cae.wisc.edu> wittmann@engr.wisc.edu (art wittmann) writes:
- |> >
- |> >I was watching a bit of TV the other day when a saw an ad for
- |> >an amazing product. The NordicFlex Gold is much like the soloflex,
- |> >but much more impressive. As the ad started out, the machine
- |> >didn't look all that impressive, but the announcer explained the
- |> >way it could transform your body into exactly the one you wanted.
- |> >
- |> >Not only did our hero get some new mass, BUT he also lost significant weight,
- |> >lost all the hair on his upper body, got a new hair cut and began excreting
- |> >baby oil from his pours! Now I don't mind telling you, I was impressed.
- |> >I mean the announcer said the device was better than soloflex, but how
- |> >could I have expected this? No where on the machine did I see any device
- |> >that appeared capable of shaving this guy's chest let alone give him a new
- |> >hair style. Very impressive indeed! On the other hand the baby oil
- |> >secretion has he a bit worried. What might this machine be doing to cause
- |> >such biological changes. I don't think this is likely to be good in the
- |> >long run. Always secreting oil like that, it might be hard just to stay
- |> >seated in a chair.
- |>
- |> There are lots of plausible possibilities that you've overlooked. Why do you
- |> assume that the hair was shaved off by the machine or even that it was
- |> shaved off at all?
-
- Ad claimed the change we where seeing was a result of using the machine. I've
- come around to thinking that it was probably just a bad skin reaction,
- probably the subject had some reaction to the cloth that covers the bench.
- |>
- |> Perhaps it disappeared as a result of Adriamycin (doxorubicin) therapy
- |> which would also explain the weight loss. Alternatively, since it doesn't
- |> seem likely that all the muscle gain was due entirely to using the Nordic
- |> Flex according to their recommended schedule of 20 minutes per day, three
- |> days per week, perhaps he was also taking some drugs that, in addition to
- |> building up his muscles, caused his hair to fall out. Then in either case,
- |> perhaps he went to Hare Club for Men to get a formed rabbit-pelt to cover
- |> his head.
-
- It could happen. Of course what you say would seem to make the ad out to
- be less than honest, I don't see how the FCC could allow such a thing to
- happen.
- |>
- |> Now, how do you know you saw baby oil? Who would ever use baby oil on
- |> other than a baby --- is this even legal --- is there not a "not for use on
- |> persons over 2 years of age" statement on the bottle? As most of us are
- |> aware, the hair on our heads gets greasy if it's not washed every day.
- |> Maybe body hair is the same way and if the hair all falls out, the grease
- |> is emitted anyhow from the remaining hair holes, causing a greasy body.
- |> Can any bald persons verify that the top of the head gets greasy even with
- |> no hair growing there? Another possibility is that the greasy look is from
- |> some kind of ointment put on to deal with some skin disease that also
- |> caused the hair loss.
-
- I refer you back to my reaction-with-the-cloth-on-the-machine theory.
- |>
- |> Note that the advertisement also promotes the decrease in body fat. This
- |> makes it clear that the hair loss was not intentional, but rather an
- |> undesirable side effect. After all, hair is primarily protein with no fat;
- |> clearly shaving it off increases the percentage of body fat, making them
- |> able to claim less fat-percentage decrease.
-
- the claims where made based on the visual, nothing was really said about
- tangable measurables, so I think the jury is still out.
- |>
- |> >Anyway, now on to my question; does anyone have one of these truly remarkable
- |> >devices? If so, tell us how it works, I mean if it's not a secret or
- |> >something like that. I know some times, with these revolutionary products
- |> >they don't want you to tell unless people buy.
- |> >
- |> >Gotta love advertising!
- |>
- |> Someone does indeed have one of them. On this newsgroup, on 11 January,
- |> there was a testimonial from a satified user who, while pointing out some
- |> of the limitations and deficiencies of the machine, said that, over all, he
- |> liked it very much and would recommend it.
- |>
- Wonder if it was the guy in the ad... (Seriously, all you Nordic Gold fans,
- the product may be fine, but the ad is a joke. Don't send hate mail)
- |>
- |> Do you really expect advertising which straightforwardly describes a
- |> product and its relationship to other products in a neutral, unbiased way?
-
- No, I prefer the ones like this that insult our intelligence.
-
- |> Note that I have not used any of the above products/services; the
- |> descriptions are based on information I have read.
- |>
- You probably have an amazing career in advertizing ahead of you.
-
- Art
-