Shake Weight
The Shake Weight is a modified dumbbell that oscillates, purportedly increasing the effects of exercise. As a result of the perceived sexually suggestive nature of the product, infomercial clips of the exercise device have gone viral.
A 2011 study in Consumer Reports states that for the chest, shoulder and triceps, the Shake Weight's exercises are inferior to conventional exercises that target the individual muscles. For the biceps, the results were similar. Additionally, the report found that the Shake Weight routines burned fewer calories than walking at 3 mph.[1]
Specifications
The Shake Weight has a female and male version, though it was initially released as a product "designed specifically for women".[2]
The female version weighs 2.5 lb.[3] The male version weighs twice as much at 5 lb.[4]
Reception
Shake Weight has gained popular attention and parody because its use involves the appearance of pumping a phallic object.[5] The product's commercials have been described by Diane Mapes of MSNBC as "slightly pornographic".[5] Following its July 2009 debut, clips from a Shake Weight infomercial quickly went viral. The viral YouTube clip has more than 4,000,000 views.[6] The Shake Weight commercial has also been parodied by Saturday Night Live,[7] The Daily Show, Two and a Half Men, South Park,[8] Regular Show, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Beavis and Butt-Head, Rupaul's Drag Race, Deadpool, and Thor: Ragnarok[9].
References
- Darren Rovell (20 August 2010). "The Shake Weight Hits $40 Million In Sales". CNBC. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- "Shake Weight website". Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- "Shake Weight ®". Archived from the original on 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
- "Shake Weight for Men website". Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- Mapes, Diane (29 October 2010). "Stroke of luck? Shake Weight (kind of) works to tone arms". MSNBC. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- "Hilarious Shake Weight Exercise for Women Video". Viral Video Chart. Unruly Media. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- "Season 35: Episode 19". Saturday Night Live Transcripts. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- "Shake Weight - South Park Video Proved It Was A Joke All Along". CryptoGeography. 2019-05-25. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- Cinematics (2018-06-05), Shake Weight, retrieved 2019-03-25