Gwyneth Paltrow’s “modern lifestyle brand” Goop offers customers a range of tips, tricks, and products to make their lives better and healthier — some which are polarizing or just plain weird. For instance, the Goop website sold “healing” stickers that it claimed were made from material designed for NASA space suits. But the folks at NASA say that’s all a bunch of overpriced hooey.
Gizmodo reports that Goop removed claims that the Body Vibes stickers sold on the site were related to NASA after the agency said its space suits don’t, in fact, use the same material the company claimed were in the wearable stickers.
On Thursday, Goop created a post promoting the wearable body stickers — which sell for between $60 and $120 a pack — that claim to “rebalance the energy frequency in our bodies.”
“Body Vibes stickers come pre-programmed to an ideal frequency, allowing them to target imbalances,” the site states. “While you’re wearing them—close to your heart, on your left shoulder or arm—they’ll fill in the deficiencies in your reserves, creating a calming effect, smoothing out both physical tension and anxiety.”
The post, which has now been altered, originally claimed that the stickers were “made with the same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line space suits so they can monitor an astronaut’s vitals during wear.”
This, NASA tells Gizmodo, is not true, as they “do not have any conductive carbon material lining the spacesuits.” Instead, the spacesuits are actually made of synthetic polymers, spandex, and other materials, a rep for the agency said.
Former chief scientist at NASA Mark Shelhamer was a bit more blunt in his reaction to Goop and Body Vibes’ claims telling Gizmodo, “Wow. What a load of BS that is.”
Shelhamer likened the product to snake oil — an actual thing that was eventually transformed into a sham medicine claiming to relieve inflammation on sore and tired muscles — adding that the logic behind the stickers doesn’t seem to add up.
“If they promote healing, why do they leave marks on the skin when they are removed?” he asked, referencing Goop’s warning that some employees who wore the stickers for the prescribe three days were left with visible marks.
Gizmodo reached out to Goop and Body Vibes for information on their research that concluded the stickers contained material used by NASA and peer-reviewed research that found the stickers actually work.
In response, Goop provided a statement to Gizmodo, noting that “advice and recommendations included on the site are not formal endorsements and the opinions expressed by the experts and companies profiled do not necessarily represent the views” of the site.
“Our content is meant to highlight unique products and offerings, find open-minded alternatives, and encourage conversation. We constantly strive to improve our site for our readers, and are continuing to improve our processes for evaluating the products and companies featured,” the company said.
As for the statements about the conductive carbon material used in the stickers, Goop says based on NASA’s comments it has sent Body Vibes an inquiry on the matter and removed the claim from Goop, “until we get additional verification.”
Body Vibes did not return comment to Gizmodo.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist