Shampoo claims

Spin Echo · Post by **Spin Echo** » 2006-06-04 10:20pm

I was reading the back of my shampoo bottle and it's making claims such as "3x stronger hair" and "5x shinier hair". How the hell do they come up with the number for these claims? Did they actually measure the tensile strength of the hair or break out the photometer to measure exactly how much light it reflects? I know advertising often has dubious claims, but I'm assuming there must be some (if extremely weak or spun) facts to back them up so they don't get smacked down for false advertising.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-06-04 11:23pm

Something tells me the "5x stronger" crap wasn't determined by using a stress-strength analysis of hair.

muse · Post by **muse** » 2006-06-04 11:31pm

User testimonials, selective quoting, and a quick trip through the marketing department would be my guess. For shininess someone likely eyeballed the before & after and blurted out a number which was handed off to marketing, and for strength I have no clue, but I'd venture it was the eyeball test once again. "It looks stronger so let's say ummm..3!"

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2006-06-05 06:48am

I'm sure conditions could be manufactured where someone's hair is 5x shinier after using a shampoo (head caked in mud anyone?) but it's hard to imagine any way hair would become 3x stronger by cleaning it, seeing as hair is dead and all.

Spin Echo · Post by **Spin Echo** » 2006-06-05 07:05am

muse wrote:User testimonials, selective quoting, and a quick trip through the marketing department would be my guess. For shininess someone likely eyeballed the before & after and blurted out a number which was handed off to marketing, and for strength I have no clue, but I'd venture it was the eyeball test once again. "It looks stronger so let's say ummm..3!"

Eh. I had figured as much. My naïve inner nerd had been hoping that it more scientific than On a scale of 1 to 10, did you feel that the shampoo made your hair stronger? There have been tensile strength studies on hair for its possibility as a "renewable biomaterial resource", but I suppose they wouldn't go for that trouble just for a marketing claim.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2006-06-05 08:30am

I have a shampoo bottle here that says:
"[Scientifically] Proven! 100% beautiful hair!"

So they proved something scientifically (a feat in itself) to be 100% (absolute proof, no less) beautiful (a subjective experience)