June 2008 - Posts
By Paige West, director of interactive projects
What it is: Kinoki Detox Foot Pads; $19.99; www.buykinoki.com
What it claims to do: The foot pads collect “harmful toxins” from your body while you sleep, says the manufacturer, by “cleansing and detoxifying your skin’s outer layers,” boosting your energy level and improving your health and wellness.
My experience: I was surfing the Web on a rainy Seattle night with the TV on in the background when whatever late-night show I’d been watching ended and suddenly, images of a woman in a kimono filled the screen as a voice-over told me about an ancient Japanese secret that would give me better health and well-being. The claims were so fantastic that it took me a while to decide whether I was watching a satirical sketch or an ad for a real product.
The item in question? The Kinoki Detox Foot Pad – and it’s real, all right.
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By Linda Dahlstrom, health editor
What it is: Hula Chair; $129.95 at www.gadgetuniverse.com
What it claims to do: “Beautify” and build the body and “obese waist and belly.” The manufacturer also says it will enhance circulation and, somehow, relieve hemorrhoids.
My experience: Promotional materials that come with the Hula Chair say that a “fat waist and belly are caused by the lack of sports and accumulation of fat on these parts.” That is exactly my problem: No sports and fat on my waist have resulted in, well, a fat waist.
Part carnival ride, part hefty office furniture, the Hula Chair looks rather respectable. It’s when you press the “on” button that things get weird. I’ve never been on a mechanical bull, but I suspect I’m in the ballpark of accurate comparison. On the lowest settings, the Hula Chair feels a little like being in a rowboat during a storm. On the highest, the chair bucked, thumped, crept across the room, threw me against its unpadded arms and generally beat me up. At no point did I feel like I was doing the hula.
But working your muscles isn’t supposed to be comfortable, right? That’s the point. No pain, no gain.
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