Power Balance, the maker of those brightly colored silicone bracelets that promised to improve balance and flexibility, increase strength, end all political strife, etcetera, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The news is no major shocker because last December, the Laguna Niguel-based company admitted that “no credible scientific evidence” supports its claims. (Though it's clear they made David Beckham even more ruggedly handsome.)
The company made a killing last year–$11.7 million in profit–when suckers people raced to buy the $30 celeb-endorsed, hologram-embedded bracelet that turned out to be not much more miraculous than a rubber band.
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When the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission challenged the product's healing claims, Power Balance was forced to come clean. Numerous class-action lawsuits followed, costing the company millions of dollars in legal fees.
Hope those bracelets can protect them now.
