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 miles per hour (4.8 km/h).[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 pounds (1.13 kg).[3] The male version weighs twice as much at 5 pounds (2.27 kg).[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] When Emma Stone visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2010 and host Jimmy Kimmel asked her if she had heard of "this great invention", her spontaneous reaction was "it's practically pornographic!".[7] The Shake Weight commercial has also been parodied by Saturday Night Live,[8] The Daily Show, Two and a Half Men, South Park,[9] Regular Show, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, RuPaul's Drag Race, Deadpool, and Thor: Ragnarok.[10][11]
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 17 December 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
- ^ "Shake Weight for Men website". Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ a b Mapes, Diane (29 October 2010). "Stroke of luck? Shake Weight (kind of) works to tone arms". MSNBC. Retrieved 14 July 2011.[dead link]
- ^ "Hilarious Shake Weight Exercise for Women Video". Viral Video Chart. Unruly Media. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ https://okmagazine.com/news/video-emma-stone-shakes-late-night-jimmy-fallon/
- ^ "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. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Thor Ragnarok shake weight" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "In Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Skurge's shake weight actually belongs to director Taika Waititi. He bought it while filming Green Lantern in 2011, and jokes that it's a "DC crossover"". 14 June 2021.
This page was last edited on 15 February 2024, at 18:57