Makers of Crowdfunded “Gravity Blanket” Withdraw Unsupported Medical Claims

https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/12/gravity-blanket-anxiety-fda/

by simon_acca • 9 years ago

58 56 9 years ago

Fricken• 9 years ago

I had a phase of clinical depression, a long time ago now, but I started sleeping in the 14 inch gap between the bed and the wall, to feel squeezed. I did that for months. Who cares what somebody else's science says about it? I liked it and I did it. Does an extra heavy blanket sound nice to you? Then get one. Or don't.

tedmiston• 9 years ago

The concern I might have with it is if they raised the money with the claim then removed the claim after people had pledged. It wasn't clear to me from the article what the timeline was with changing the language and the end of the campaign.

stefanwlb• 9 years ago

Shouldn't there be some protection from editing original claims, and if changed, that its clear when and what changed in the wording? I find the whole thing ridiculous.

dstaley• 9 years ago

Gravity backer here. They sent out an email to all the backers about the change.

That said, we wanted to clarify that our blanket is not an FDA approved medical device, and as such, we've tweaked the language on our Kickstarter accordingly. We hope you understand, and we’re very excited for you to try this out for yourselves.

Broken_Hippo• 9 years ago

The problem is more about not having customers expect the blanket to cure their psychiatric problems. Such language makes it easy to take advantage of someone who isn't in a mentally strong place at the moment - and puts their hopes of being "normal" into such products when the evidence isn't there.

I don't think the product itself is so bad: I like the weight of blankets when I sleep and like them to touch the bed on both sides of me. I'd completely understand a lightweight but weighted blanket during the summer, and I'm guessing it would make some folks feel comforted and so on. I'd much rather them have this sort of honesty in their advertising than the language they had.

URSpider943• 9 years ago

Yes, exactly. Get one, or don't. But the seller shouldn't tell people that their blanket cures these disorders, unless they have some proof.

naravara4• 9 years ago

They never said it cured it. They said it can help.

ebbv• 9 years ago

If they had just advertised it as "a heavy blanket" do you think it would have gotten funding?

It got funding because they made unsubstantiated medical claims, which is illegal for good reason. Otherwise I could sell you "anti-cancer rocks" from my driveway.

DonHopkins2• 9 years ago

Maybe so, but then you'd be misrepresenting anti-tiger rocks as anti-cancer rocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSVqLHghLpw

vilhelm_s• 9 years ago

Tons of people (particularly on the autism spectrum) like weighted blankets, I don't think it's unreasonable that such a project could get kickstarted.

draw_down• 9 years ago

Oh wow, I did that for a long time too. I don't even remember when I stoped.

DonHopkins2• 9 years ago

Will it cancel out the therapeutic effects of my Space Blanket?

robg• 9 years ago

You would agree though that a blanket that claims to cure, without evidence, is misleading and should be regulated?

coldtea• 9 years ago

Who cares what somebody else's science says about it?

People that dislike snake oil salesmen and don't think there is "my science" and "somebody else's science", but just one science?

obstinate2• 9 years ago

Precisely. I have no problem hearing about what worked for you. The moment you start telling someone else it'll work for them, especially if you're looking to get paid based on that claim, you better back it up with evidence.

mst3• 9 years ago

I read that to mean "somebody else's scientific (counter)claims", similar to how en_US might contain "according to person X's math". Took me a while to stop being annoyed by the latter, admittedly.

pbowyer2• 9 years ago

Good. I feel sorry for the people who have already backed it; it's hideously expensive for what it is. A nicer finish I'm sure than a home-made one, but crying out for cheap knock-off copies to be on the market within 6 months.

naravara4• 9 years ago

A couple hundred isn't that expensive for a comforter. Ever been to Williams Sonoma? And that's basically on the lower tier of the high end.

If anything, the only thing backers should be worried about is if they wind up having to spend all their money on litigation defense and not being able to go produce the thing.

afarrell2• 9 years ago

Ever been to Williams Sonoma

Its worth pointing out that Williams Sonoma is known for having weirdly high-priced goods. See this, which comes out every year: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-2...

pbowyer2• 9 years ago

Ever been to Williams Sonoma?

No, wrong country. I have been to John Lewis [1] many times; their duvets can be expensive too. The thing with the weighted blanket is you'll need one of these duvets as well - or other blankets - for much of the year. It's an extra.

1. https://www.johnlewis.com

hueving• 9 years ago

The "lower tier of the high end" is still the high end. More simply, that's expensive.

bvttf• 9 years ago

A "knock-off" like the dozen or so companies who have been selling weighted blankets for years? Forget six months, you could have one before this campaign ends.

on_and_off• 9 years ago

A friend backed it.

It felt really scammy from the get go but it is an anxious and well off person so I haven't tried to knock down this idea (since worst case scenario the placebo does not work).

I have still shared this article, they will conclude whatever they want.

blhack• 9 years ago

it's hideously expensive for what it is.

Is it? I looked around for a similar product, and this one seems quite a bit cheaper than the ones that exist now:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3...

silencio• 9 years ago

Try etsy, there are a lot of small shops on there that make weighted blankets with all kinds of fabrics and sizes.

URSpider943• 9 years ago

Within 6 months? These aren't exactly new. We just bought one for our daughter two or three months ago.

afarrell2• 9 years ago

The usual way these types of products have been advertised is has previously been infomercials, where a person is shown struggling with store-bought products in a way that looks ridiculous enough that multiple comedians have done stand-up bits about it to the effect of: "who is it that has these problems?"

The answer: people with disabilities.

But by advertising in this way, infomercials appealed both to those with disabilities (who recognized the implied relevance to their condition) and those who benefited from the curb-cut effect[1]. They were able to sell more units for a lower price and also avoid making explicit medical claims.

This kickstarter, possibly following from the popularity of fidget toys, decided to be more explicit.

---

[1] The Curb Cut effect is a generally useful observation in UX design you can read about in a few places. Here is one: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_curb_cut_effect OXO-brand kitchen tools for arthritis are another example of it.

sctb• 9 years ago

We've updated the link from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/makers-of-crowdfu..., which points to this.

Houshalter• 9 years ago

Why does kickstarter allow so many awful projects on their site? This is very far from the worst of them. I enjoy reading https://www.reddit.com/r/shittykickstarters/ but they have nothing to gain from being associated with this kind of stuff.

ohazi• 9 years ago

Kickstarter appears to have become this generation's version of the late night infomercial, which is a shame.

toexitthedonut2• 9 years ago

Two kinds of bad crowdfunding projects come to mind: One where the product is in the realm of possibility with today's engineering and can be reproduced in mass quantity, but the creator dropped the ball in terms of logistics and communication.

The other kind is the one where the product is very pie-in-the-sky, requires multiple breakthroughs in the process of making said product, and the creator shows a clear lack of expertise or reputation in the disciplines for making the product.

Often, the people that take the bait in the second group are an extreme case of wishful thinking of wanting their past vision of the future (which is today) to be full of wonderful tech products, and they see something remotely futuristic and throw their money at it.

danso• 9 years ago

Misleading medical claims aside, this looks like another Coolest Cooler, in which the creator is in over his head. His original goal was $21,500, and since going viral, he keeps adding more spots to the "Early Bird" backers. The creator has listed no other team members and has no production experience himself. If you read his bio carefully [0], he alludes to having production experience, but lists no names or links whatsoever except to his media company, which is literally a Youtube channel with ~50 subscribers. [1]. That his campaign had misleading medical claims seems to be a hint that he doesn't have medical experts or designers who have experience in this area.

[0] https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1620645203/about

[1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwIXCnpTwZQaRtzyNOyzkfA

toexitthedonut2• 9 years ago

This can actually require less overhead than Coolest Cooler, due to its particular usage of materials. The only big logistical issues will be shipping super heavy blankets and sourcing those materials. That said, adding more early bird backers is another sort of over-promising, and where you're gonna end up biting off more than you can chew.

PhasmaFelis• 9 years ago

A friend of mine has a weighted blanket, and it's been a godsend for her anxiety. But she's autistic. Temple Grandin wrote quite a lot about the therapeutic value of pressure for autistic people, but I haven't heard of it for neurotypicals before.

elvirs• 9 years ago

after reading all these comments now I want to buy a weighted blanket but not from kickstarter

eigenvalue• 9 years ago

I actually bought this as a result of seeing it here. I can totally see how this would work. I'm excited to try it out.

goldenkey• 9 years ago

Are you aware there are reputable and cheaper (non ripoff) weighted blankets on the market and have been for years? You bought into a glitzy video..

Makers of Crowdfunded “Gravity Blanket” Withdraw Unsupported Medical Claims

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