Nuga Best's Star Trek-style woo

This fabulous piece of kit, which looks like it has been injudiciously removed from the set of Star Trek, is actually a CE-certified medical device from Korea.

The chap attempting to climb onto it is none other than that famous veteran of science fiction movies, errr... Ronnie Corbett!

(Image credit)

Nuga Best are the manufacturers of the Nuga Best NM-5000 pictured above, a couch with a bewildering array of pseudoscientific gadgets built in.

Among the most impressive components is the "LF Weight Control Pad", whose

"...use during a night's sleep can produce the same effect as running 20~30km..."

What's more, the "Special Nano Ceramic" is "known to burn up to 1000 calories" and has "miraculous healing properties".

Are any of these claims actually true? A Nobel Prize awaits if they are, and while you're waiting for the phone call from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, here's an ASA complaint!

"I write to complain about a leaflet I picked up at the CamExpo exhibition in London on 24th October this year.

The leaflet, for Nuga Best, promotes the Nuga Best NM-5000 device.

I suspect that the leaflet may be in breach of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code). I can provide the original leaflet by post, if necessary.

1. The "Nuga Best NM-5000" is a CE-certified (according to the leaflet) couch with a number of in-built "gadgets" for which the leaflet makes therapeutic claims.

2. The claims made for two of the gadgets are of concern.

3. The leaflet promotes the "LF Weight Control Pad" with the following text:

"Regain Your Self-Confidence with LF Weight Control Pad of [sic] NM-5000... Fat Burn: When combined with a controlled diet, excessive fat can be decomposed without the yo-yo [diet] effects... Passive exercise: Nuga Weight Control is a muscle activating system using Low Frequency Therapy and can be used while sleeping. ts [sic] use during a night's sleep can produce the same effect as running 20~30km..."

4. The leaflet promotes the "Special Nano Ceramic" with the following text:

"Specially developed using 4 unique stones; Tourmaline, Germanium, Volcanic Rock, Elvan Rock. Tourmamium abundantly emits Far Infrared Rays and Anions naturally, Providing its miraculous healing properties... Fat burn: FIR increases enzime [sic] activity, metabolism and body temperature. Breaking down cellulite[,] trapped water and fat cells. 1 hour of FIR therapy is known to burn upto [sic] 1000 calories... FIR and Anions improves [sic] cardiovascular system..."

5. Under Sections 12.1 and 13.1, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) The LFT Weight Control Pad can "decompose" "excessive fat"
(ii) The LFT Weight Control Pad can "produce the same effect as running 20~30km"
(iii) The Special Nano Ceramic has "miraculous healing properties"
(iv) The Special Nano Ceramic can burn fat, increase enzyme activity and break down cellulite
(v) "1 hour of FIR therapy is known to burn [up to] 1000 calories"
(vi) FIR therapy "improves [the] cardiovascular system"

6. I confirm I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser."