Hologram bracelet

{{Short description|Unproven performance-enhancing device}} thumb|right|A Power Balance branded hologram bracelet {{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}} A '''hologram bracelet''' or ''' energy bracelet'''<ref name="SBD29102011" /> is a small rubber wristband supposedly fitted with a hologram. Manufacturers have said that the holograms supposedly "optimise the natural flow of energy around the body," and, "improve an athlete's strength, balance and flexibility".<ref name="Telegraph15102010" /> Only anecdotal evidence supports these claims and tests performed by the Australian Skeptics,<ref name="Guard01082010" /> the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff,<ref name="BBC22112010">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11805616 Power Balance band is placebo, say expert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801145613/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11805616 |date=2017-08-01 }}, BBC News, 22 November 2010</ref> and the RMIT's School of Health Sciences<ref name="Brice" /> have been unable to identify any effect on performance.

==Products== Hologram bracelets include a small hologram which manufacturers say is "programmed" through an undisclosed process.<ref name="SBD29102011">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/energy-bracelets-embedding-frequencies-in-holograms-for-fun-and-profit/|title=Energy Bracelets: Embedding Frequencies in Holograms for Fun and Profit|publisher=Science-Based Medicine.org|author=Harriet Hall|author-link=Harriet Hall|date=26 October 2010|access-date=29 July 2011|archive-date=8 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708033857/http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/energy-bracelets-embedding-frequencies-in-holograms-for-fun-and-profit/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EFXFAQ">{{Cite web|url=http://www.efxusa.com/FAQS.html|title=EFX Performance: FAQs|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=10 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310062904/http://www.efxusa.com/FAQS.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="PBFAQ">{{Cite web|url=http://www.powerbalance.com/faqs|title=Power Balance: FAQs|access-date=26 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725070109/http://www.powerbalance.com/faqs/|archive-date=25 July 2011}}</ref> Power Balance, who have manufactured the bracelets since 2007, say that the programming "mimics Eastern philosophies".<ref name="PBFAQ" /> The holograms are most usually installed in bracelets and wristbands but are also sold as pendants or necklaces, anklets, shoe inserts, pet tags, or separately for users to apply to the back of a watch, for example.

Manufacturers including Power Balance and EFX Performance make no claims on their websites for their products, but carry testimonials from users who say that they improve athletic performance.<ref name="PBFAQ" /><ref name="EFXTestimonial">{{Cite web|url=http://www.efxusa.com/Testimonials.html|title=EFX Performance: Testimonials|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515161213/http://www.efxusa.com/Testimonials.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.powerbalanceuk.com/news/statement/|title=Statement on Media Coverage|publisher=Power Balance|date=5 January 2011|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714112700/http://www.powerbalanceuk.com/news/statement/|archive-date=14 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Until 2010, Power Balance said that their bracelets helped improve an athlete's strength, balance and flexibility<ref name="Telegraph15102010">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/8065032/Power-Balance-bracelets-source-of-energy-or-just-a-gimmick.html|title=Power Balance bracelets: source of energy or just a gimmick?|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=15 October 2010|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=27 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127181937/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/8065032/Power-Balance-bracelets-source-of-energy-or-just-a-gimmick.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph04012011">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/8238255/Power-Balance-come-clean-and-offer-refunds-after-admitting-wristbands-do-not-enhance-performance.html|title=Power Balance come clean and offer refunds after admitting wristbands do not enhance performance|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=4 January 2011|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=27 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127181707/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/8238255/Power-Balance-come-clean-and-offer-refunds-after-admitting-wristbands-do-not-enhance-performance.html|url-status=live}}</ref> because the holograms are embedded with an "electrical frequency" that restores the body's "electrical balance" on contact with its natural energy field.<ref name="stabmag">{{cite web|url=http://www.stabmag.com/features/power-balance-lewis-samuels|title=Balance of Power: Can holographic stickers make you rip like Andy Irons?|author=Lewis Samuels|date=17 February 2010|access-date=27 July 2010|publisher=Stabmag.com|archive-date=7 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307061133/http://www.stabmag.com/features/power-balance-lewis-samuels|url-status=dead}}</ref> In December 2010, following a successful legal action by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Power Balance admitted that there was no credible scientific evidence for these claims.<ref name="Telegraph04012011" /><ref name="heraldsun">{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/power-wristbands-banned-and-refunds-ordered-by-accc/story-e6frf7l6-1225975163514|title=Power wristbands banned and refunds ordered by ACCC|publisher=Herald Sun|date=23 December 2010|access-date=26 July 2011}}</ref>

==Response== Mark Hodgkinson, writing in ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2010, called hologram bracelets a fad<ref name="Telegraph15102010" /> with many professional athletes seen wearing them and several actively endorsing them. Footballers David Beckham<ref name="Telegraph15102010" /> and Cristiano Ronaldo<ref name="Guard01082010">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/aug/01/sports-sensation-power-balance|title=Sport's latest sensation: a rubbery bracelet|work=The Guardian|author=Patrick Kingsley|date=1 August 2010|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=27 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127182926/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/aug/01/sports-sensation-power-balance|url-status=live}}</ref> have worn them, and tennis players Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish both wore them during the final of the 2010 Queen's Club Championships.<ref name="Telegraph15102010" /><ref name="Guard01082010"/> Endorsements for the Power Balance bracelet have come from Shaquille O'Neal, Rubens Barrichello,<ref name="Telegraph15102010" /> and the London Wasps rugby team,<ref name="Guard01082010"/> while ice hockey team the Cardiff Devils announced a partnership with Power Balance in early 2010.<ref name="BBC22112010" /> NASCAR reported in 2011 that many drivers wore EFX Performance bracelets with the Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart–Haas Racing teams entering into licensing deals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nascar.com/news/110513/efx-hendrick-stewart-haas/index.html|title=EFX Performance partners with Hendrick, SHR|publisher=NASCAR.com|date=13 May 2011|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=15 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015035954/http://www.nascar.com/news/110513/efx-hendrick-stewart-haas/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several groups have investigated the effects of hologram bracelets on athletic performance. A 2011 study by RMIT University's School of Health Sciences found that there was an overall decrease in the balance and stability of wearers, although it was not statistically significant, and the overall conclusion was that the bracelets did not affect performance.<ref name="Brice">{{cite journal |journal= J Bodyw Mov Ther |year=2011 |volume=15 |issue = 3 |pages=298–303 |title= The effect of close proximity holographic wristbands on human balance and limits of stability: A randomised, placebo-controlled trial |vauthors=Brice SR, Jarosz BS, Ames RA, Baglin J, Da Costa C |doi= 10.1016/j.jbmt.2011.01.020|pmid=21665105 }}</ref> The Australian Skeptics group found that the bracelets have no more than a placebo effect.<ref name="Guard01082010" />

Research by the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, commissioned by the BBC, also found that wearing the bracelets did not affect performance in standard sports industry tests, adding that neither the physiology nor the biology of wearers was changed.<ref name="BBC22112010"/> However, Dr Gareth Irwin, who carried out the tests, said that there may be changes in performance because of the placebo effect, a view which has been echoed by sports psychologists.<ref name="Time04102010">{{Cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2021057,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927180524/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2021057,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 27, 2010|title=Wrist Watch|publisher=Time|author=Bruce Crumley|date=4 October 2010|access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref> Sports psychologist Victor Thompson says the bracelets play on superstition, simply giving people the expectation that they can improve their sporting performance.<ref name="Guard01082010" /> Cricket coach Jeremy Snape said he prefers that athletes have belief in themselves rather than in an external product, while Roberto Forzoni described the bracelets as "gimmicks" which allow athletes to avoid addressing real issues in their performance, with the high-profile endorsements giving the sense of belonging to an elite group of athletes.<ref name="Telegraph15102010" />

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

Category:Holography Category:Pseudoscience Category:Energy therapies Category:Consumer fraud Category:Bracelets