Celebrity endorsements that are science fiction trashed in annual list
Campaigners name and shame stars for dodgy health and diet claims
Have you heard the one about the bracelet with holograms that can improve your strength and flexibility, or help you lose weight? Did you know that sperm was highly nutritious and something to be reabsorbed into the body, particularly before a fight?
For the past 12 months a range of celebrities have endorsed and promoted a whole range of scientifically dubious ideas. Fortunately, for anyone concerned that people might take the celebrity nonsense seriously, scientists and doctors are on hand to dispense some corrective wisdom on the dodgiest of these claims.
The campaign group Sense About Science (SAS) has collated scores of examples of scientific abuse from the past year and today publishes its annual list of celebrity-science shame. “When people in the public eye give opinions about causes of disease, cures, diets, or products we should buy or avoid, that’s it, their opinion goes worldwide in seconds,” said Lindsay Hogg, assistant director of SAS. “It gets public attention and appears in every related Google search for months. So if it’s scientifically wrong, we’re stuck with the fallout from that.”