Update: Body Vibes has released a statement apologising for the miscommunication. "We apologise to NASA, Goop, our customers and our fans for this communication error. We never intended to mislead anyone. We have learned that our engineer was misinformed by a distributor about the material in question, which was purchased for its unique specifications. We regret not doing our due diligence before including the distributor’s information in the story of our product. However, the origins of the material do not anyway impact the efficacy of our product. Body Vibes remains committed to offering a holistic lifestyle tool and we stand by the quality and effectiveness of our product.”
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Read our original story below:
We have some feelings about Goop here on the R29 Health team and, for the most part, they're not too favourable. Time and time again, the Goop crew has dished out questionable health and beauty advice that mostly amounts to people spending a whole lot of money on something that won't actually do much to benefit their health (other than provide a possible placebo effect).
In a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Gwyneth Paltrow actually admitted that she doesn't "know what the fuck we talk about," when trying to explain a Goop product. Us either, girl.
And we're definitely not the only people who feel this way. NASA, for example, basically just called a Goop-endorsed product out for misleading consumers.
The agency was well within their right to do so because the product is claiming to use a NASA material to “rebalance the energy frequency in our bodies.” In reality, it's just a sticker — a sticker that'll cost you between $60 and $120.
The Goop-endorsed company is called Body Vibes. According to their website, the stickers are made with the same material NASA uses to line spacesuits. It's a "waterproof, carbon fiber compound [that] can hold specific frequency charges that naturally stimulate the human body's receptors."
However, NASA calls BS.
In an interview with Gizmodo, a NASA representative said the agency doesn't "have any conductive carbon material lining the spacesuits.” And Mark Shelhamer, Sc.D., former chief scientist at NASA’s human research division, told Gizmodo that even if the suits were lined with this material, it would be to add a layer of strength — not to monitor or control the astronauts' vital signs. "The logic doesn’t even hold up,” he said.
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Following Gizmodo's questioning, Goop pulled their claim about NASA from their website, though it is still up on the website for Body Vibes. They then released a statement that's basically the epitome of #SorryNotSorry:
"As we have always explained," the statement says, "advice and recommendations included on goop are not formal endorsements and the opinions expressed by the experts and companies we profile do not necessarily represent the views of goop. 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. Based on the statement from NASA, we’ve gone back to the company to inquire about the claim and removed the claim from our site until we get additional verification."
For now, we recommend not dropping well-earned dollars on anything that claims to be "embedded with a specific combination of bio-frequencies designed to enhance and activate particular targeted systems." At least not without NASA's blessing first.
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